My DH and I have only been to Outback for their Sashimi (SP?) Tuna appetizer and that's it. We avoid big box restaurants because it is never good. We are lucky enough to live near Traverse City, MI, which is a trendy city with lots of great places to eat.
My DH and I worked at Red Lobster. That is where we met. I worked there from 1995-2001. We saw how it degraded over time. When I started we wore pressed white oxfords, ties and pressed black pants. It went down hill from there. They were trying to compete with Bennigans, Applebees etc. and create a fun atmosphere. They downgraded the food. It is fatty and everything is laden with butter. The company that owns RL also owns Olive Garden. I have no desire to ever go to a restaurant owned by that company. When I worked there we at least got 50% off of our meals and I was a poor college kid. I took advantage of that. You can order everything dry (no butter) and when I had a baked potato I always rubbed all the salt off that they put on them and put salsa on it instead of the other stuff. They made those ahead of time.
As for the employees at a big box place......I have not had a bad one, but like I said, we don't really go to those places. They train the employees well, at least when I was there. I was a server trainer at RL and you had to be trained for at least a week, maybe two....can't remember. You had to taste the food, describe it, learn how the drinks are made, work in the back of the house etc. The new people were not allowed to go on the floor unless they were approved by me. By the way, I am a picky you know what......just ask my DH.
My point is that they are hard workers, some better than others. They run their butts off to give good service. I know, I did it. It is a hard job and you deal with a lot of you know whats. It is hard to be nice to everyone like you are supposed to be.
Anyway....just my thoughts. I hope I am not off topic.
