The menu is almost as eye-popping as the decor of the establishment, which sits along the Braden River. Surrounded by several taxidermy animal wall hangings, customers will feel like they're inside an actual Florida swamp.

And in the near future, Linger Lodge's eclectic style will be broadcast to the nation.

A video crew from The Travel Channel stopped by the restaurant last week to document the establishment's alligator specialties and other southern fried dishes for its "Food Paradise" series. Continue

Don MacKenzie of Niantic, Conn., purchased the lobster from a local restaurant but never took a bite. Instead, he released it back into the Long Island Sound Tuesday because he thought the lobster, nicknamed “Lucky Larry” by the locals, deserved to live.

“It takes seven years for him to even become a lobster big enough to keep,” MacKenzie told The Day of New London. “For a lobster to live this long and avoid lobster traps, nets, lobster pots … he doesn’t deserve a bib and butter.” Continue

The gay rights group Equality Illinois is launching a campaign, 'Flick-the-Hate,' which urges people to sign a petition to evict Chick-fil-A restaurants from universities and malls, reports CBS Chicago.

In a statement, Equality Illinois said: “As we challenge the company’s anti-LGBT policies, we must also ask these universities and mall owners why they want to do business with a company that holds up hate as a family value." Continue

The number of U.S. restaurant locations increased by 0.5% in spring 2012 versus the same period in 2011, marking the first growth since 2009, according to The NPD Group's ReCount census for the period.

NPD said that the improving economy is driving revival in the industry, hard-hit since the start of the recession.

A restaurant owner, cited by police for allegedly refusing to serve a disabled customer because he was accompanied by his service dog, is denying those claims.

Eric Sloan was waiting with his service dog, Rocky, for a table inside the J.A. Shao Buffet off Route 61 in Tilden Twp., Berks Co., on the afternoon of July 10 when he was told by the restaurant's owner, Qui Wang, that he had to leave because of the dog, police said. Continue