I never really considered it Italian cuisine, but did enjoy the soup salad and bread stick lunch. Haven’t eaten there since we moved 8 years ago and now there isn’t one within 50 miles.
Red Lobster was always the pits, because all the fish and seafood is frozen, they use nothing local. To me that begs the question of what’s the point when you live on the coast and are surrounded by fishing and crabbing towns?
I love going into a local restaurant and know that when they tell me what is the catch of the day, not only am I pretty sure it is the catch of THAT day, I generally know that guy or gal who caught it!!
The son of my dad's old Army buddy (who lives near him) is the captain of a shrimp boat in Darien GA.
When we're down there, we eat FRESH seafood -- as in "we held the bucket under the sorter" fresh.