I joined my wife for lunch yesterday at the downtown Pittsburgh location and ordered the Lobster Cobb Salad. \n \nFor $19.95 the Lobster Cobb Salad was nothing short of a major disappointment. \n \nFor starters, the presentation was a monstrosity. It looked more like a Jell-O mold one would see sitting on a picnic table underneath a pavilion, during a 1980's family reunion versus a pricey lobster salad in a respectable restaurant. Had the server not said what she was handing me I would have had no clue. \n \nAfter I toppled over my cylinder of \"salad\", I discovered a base of shredded/chopped iceberg lettuce. I can somewhat understand using only iceberg lettuce in a cobb salad, but must say I was a little surprised. My surprise quickly turned into disillusionment with regards to the quality of the lettuce; it just might have been borrowed from the Subway sandwich shop next door. Used as filler for a $5 Footlong fine, used as the base of a $19.95 salad, not fine. \n \nThe entire production had clearly been premade and kept in a refrigerated area for some time. The lettuce was soggy and extremely cold. It wasn't cool, but cold to the point it felt as though it was pulled out just prior to freezing. The salts from the bacon, blue cheese and dressing broke the lettuce completely down, giving it an watery leftover taste and consistency. I could easily envision myself eating this straight out of a Tupperware container. \n \nThe avocado was discolored and turning brown, another indication it had been premade and stored. I understand avocado can quickly discolor, but this sure didn't give me the feeling I was eating anything freshly prepared or of anything of quality. \n \nAt one point I bit into something that was inedible. I thought perhaps it was a tiny piece of shell from the lobster, turns out it was a piece of bacon that must have been dislodged from the bottom of the fry pan with force as to not waste any product. It was burnt and had the consistency of bone, not a pleasant bite to say the least. \n \nAs for the lobster, it was really difficult to tell if it was any good or not. Again the entire dish was so cold and sloppy, I could have just as easily have been shoveling it into my mouth with a plastic spoon straight out of Ziploc bag over top of my kitchen sink at midnight. \n \nIn the past, I thought McCormick was a great establishment and for a brief time suffered from some quality issues that were resolved. I am sad to say it appears as those quality issues have resurfaced. It will be a while before I dine at McCormick again and am extremely disappointed that I passed up so many quality local establishments to eat at a place that is clearly more worried about cutting costs and customer volume versus food quality.
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