Red Lobster

Five stars yet again. I do not usually visit chain restaurants much anymore, but my dad wanted to go here for his birthday dinner. So Red Lobster it is. And, fortunately, my mom had a gift card, as well. Even better!
I ordered the four course meal– offered Mon-​Thurs, I think. You get salad, soup, entrée with side, and dessert. I chose caesar salad, baked potato soup, steak with brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes, and brownie sundae. My dad got shrimp scampi. My mom got Walt’s favorite shrimp. My brother got Admiral’s Feast. Everyone, of course, indulges in the cheddar bay biscuits.
I was surprised with how much food I got with the four course meal. I couldn’t eat it all. My dad ate some of the soup (he loves baked potato soup and I knew he would want some). My brother also assisted with the soup, steak, and sundae. Salad was meh. But that’s ok. The soup was enjoyable. Steak was pretty nice for a seafood restaurant. Brussel sprouts were a bit overcooked, but quite good once I added a bit of salt. Mashed potatoes were fine. The brownie sundae was amazing. I was a bit nervous about it as I am not a huge brownie fan. However, I didn’t want to pay the upcharge for a different dessert (it was $ 3 or $ 4) and my brother said he would help eat it. I really didn’t want to share it once I had tried it, but I handed it over anyway. Everyone else liked their food, as well.
The young man serving us was quite good and patient with us as we were all figuring out what we wanted. Well, me, my mom, and dad. My brother gets the same thing everytime. We were even offered drinks to go. How nice.
Red Lobster is never first one my list, but we always have a great time when we go.

About 4 years ago, (has it really been that long?) Kridz and I started going to Red Lobster on Xmas eve. I’m not exactly sure why we started this, but we’ve done it ever since. Part of the reason has to be that… after about 5pm, it’s practically the only restaurant open on N. Prospect.
We pulled up around 630 or so on xmas eve, the parking lot was pretty packed, but we found a spot. Walked in and noticed many people sitting there waiting (again, everyone else was closed). I’m not sure why they were waiting, One was like a party of 6 (sadly, no reservations, not that they appeared to be reservation making people), the other was a party of 2. We go to the host stand and ask if we can just sit at the bar, she asked if we were going to wait for a table, and we are like… nah, we are bar folk. So we sit at the bar.
The draft beer selection is not great. There are so many different versions of the same thing. Budlight, … other things. I went with a Sam Adams. After finishing, I noticed they have Lagunitas IPA in bottles, so way to sell that Clint! Red Lobster isn’t really a place for craft beer drinkers. It’s a fancy place… for people who don’t know how to be fancy. It’s a place for some people to splurge (monthly, semi-​annually, annually???).
I ordered the stuffed mushrooms appetizer. I believe they have recently changed/​adjusted their menus, as there was really large pieces of (lobster or crab?) (apparently lobster AND crab) in the caps. There was a healthy (or was it unhealthy) amount of butter in the bottom of the dish as well, which is excellent for being sopped up by their biscuits.
Seriously, the biscuits is probably a good enough reason to go to Red Lobster, but you already knew that.
Around here, everyone always raves about Beef House Rolls. Oh, you went to Beef House… how many rolls did you eat? And how was your salad bar? And finally, how was the steak? If you are a restaurant and you are known for something other than the words in the name of your restaurant, you are doing something wrong. Most people who go into Red Lobster will never eat a full lobster. They may do scrimps. but not the lobster.
When the exwife and I drove back from Alaska, there was no Red Lobster in Alaska, heck, there really was no live lobster in Alaska, so when we were driving back, and finally saw a sign on the side of the road for a Red Lobster, we pulled over to go eat lobster! (she’s from Maine). They had a special then, that you could get a lobster tail, to go with your meal (probably still have that) So we each got a lobster… with a second lobster tail. They looked at us funny. We didn’t care.
For dinner this time, I went with the Bar Harbor Lobster Bake (or should I say Bah Hahbah Lobstah Bake). (Actually I did say Bah Hahbah Lobstah Bake). Kridz went with scrimps 2 ways, popcorn and like a popcorn coconut.
The Bah Hahbah Lobstah Bake is really good. Extremely large scallops, 3 lobstah tail halves, loads of scrimps, and plenty of mussels. While I’m ok with mussels, I’d prefer clams. Clams seem to have disappeared. Everywhere has mussels. No one has clams. While I appreciate the aesthetics of mussels and their black shells providing a contrast on the plating, I prefer the taste (and memories) of clams.
For sides, Kridz got the Brussels sprouts, I went with the asparagus. The Brussels sprouts were apparently cooked in a browned butter, then sautéed, They were even better with extra butter drizzled on it. The asparagus was very good.
After eating my (and Kridz) veggies, and eating all of the seafood in my Bah Hahbah Lobstah Bake, (and a biscuit, and the stuffed mushrooms) there was really no room for the pasta in garlic and white wine sauce. It was tasty, I just couldn’t eat any more.
Everytime I go anywhere, I always run into someone I know. These instances can be expected (of course I will know someone in Champaign), or extremely odd. Like the time I went to a hockey game in Charlotte NC, and ran into the girl who lived in the room next door to mine, from the barracks in Alaska. At basic training, I ran into the guy who was in my brothers grade in school, from Green Bay, who in 5^th grade jumped up onto the table and yelled G-​FORCE, and said «I PUT A CURSE ON YOU MRS. PELLETIER!!!» That’s just the way life goes for me. I always place a line on an over/​under bet, whenever I leave the house. Red Lobstah was no exception. It was only 1 person though. Robert (I believe it’s Robert) from Black Dog. The guy with the really really big afro. He was out with his grandmother and his kids.
Our total for the app, beer, 2 entrees was only 66. We were expecting it to be more, but were pleasantly surprised.

Service is typically great. But this time I sat at the bar and that bartenders/​servers in the bar area seemed distracted. Like hella distracted. Like we had to ask for things twice and try to get their attention. When I am sitting at a table, that almost never happens. I’ll probably go back to sitting at the table and leave the bar alone.
Otherwise, this is the only place I trust to eat seafood (judge me! IDGAF!) around here. I also get the crab legs and it never fails me. NEVER. Although this time my corn was burnt (took one bite and left it alone).
If you are looking for good seafood, go here. Seriously.

I had to spend dinner with a large loud group. I ask the lady that was hosting if I can sit somewhere else she said no because they had just clean and because the staff was short. But that’s funny because I saw 3 girls at the front door talking and laughing doing everything but working. I would give my waiter 5 stars, he did a great job. This occur last night

Only have seating for 2 parties of 8 or larger. Avoid this restaurant if you have a large group. They do not have reservations or call ahead seating. VERY DISAPPOINTED!!!

— Food
I loved their biscuits, and all the salads were just fine. We had the bar harbor lobster bake, wood-​grilled lobster shrimp and salmon, and the lobster meat taco with mashed potato. With lobsters being lobsters and shrimps being shrimps, what I didn’t like was the linguine inside the bar harbor lobster bake. It is not a pasta. Nobody cooks pasta that way. I deeply regret for once considering ordering a shrimp pasta here. Also, since they were out of salmon, we were served of some scallops instead. It wasn’t too bad.
— Service
There were too small number of waiters, so that we waited for like 30 minutes looking at the empty tables.
Two and a half stars were earned by a waitress who served us tonight. Katherine B, (if i am remembering that B correctly) was really kind and careful. I wish I could have given a half star more to this restaurant solely for her service.

9÷14÷2015
My wife and I took out my mother for afternoon lunch at the Champaign, Illinois Red Lobster on Monday 9÷14÷2015. Was greeted as we entered the restaurant and with a quick scan of the seating area, noticed that it was really clean. We were seated, received menus and had our drink order placed in a timely fashion. My wife and I each ordered the endless shrimp special while my mother had the popcorn shrimp. Our waitress, Lori B., was very nice and prompt. Did not have to ask for refills on our drinks and did not have to wait for our next plate of shrimp. I will be asking for Lori B. as our waitress next time. If I had to come up with one complaint, it would be the price of their sodas and ice tea. At $ 2.69 a drink, even with free refills, a glass of water is a bargain.

My family and I had never been to Red Lobster before. We thought it would be exciting to try because it’s «so American» and its marketing is ubiquitous. And, as a bonus, when we walked in, we noticed that every single patron was morbidly obese. I took this as a sign that the food must be irresistibly delicious.
After this experience, I will never use those three criteria for selecting a restaurant. The food was one of the worst I’ve ever had in my life. It tasted like butter, not seafood. Everything was dripping with butter. It was so salty and buttery we felt queasy. My family and I were just… It was so bad we laughed and were like «wtf lol» and vowed never to come back. We were so surprised that such an apparently popular restaurant could be so bad. Over the years, I’ve learned that this kind of poor quality is common at American chain restaurants. Such a sad waste of money. I fell for the marketing. Now I know better.

So it’s my first time ever going to Red Lobster and I must say that I’m pretty darn impressed. The quality of the food is a notch above a chain restaurant; however, you have to pay $ 5-​$ 10 more than your average chain restaurant to get this quality. The alcoholic cocktails are amazing and the lobster pizza is a dish that’s worth trying.

We had a nice and funny waiter. We loved the service here, lovely manager.
The appetizer (calamari) — it was below average. It was too salty that we could not taste the calamari itself. And the calamari was small too!

Went her with a party of 4 and a 3 year old. We put our name down to wait, we were told 45 minutes. We waited an hour told there were not tables available yet, so we waited another 30 minutes. By this time myself and my friends are upset because others who came in after us have been seated. So we ask again about our table, they tell me that they accidentally checked our name of the list. They do not have there act together, it’s a chaotic mess. I would my recommend it.

Carry out service at red lobster is TERRIBLE! Called and was told it would take 20 – 30 minutes. I showed up 35 minutes later and then waited another 30 minutes before my food was finally ready. To top it all off it was cold when they have it to me.

I feel like for a Red Lobster this place is great. Service is excellent, food is decent, and the place itself is pretty nice (I’m surprised they remodeled recently).
Considering the price it’s a top rating for me as the service is excellent and the food is good enough.

I like the dank lighting but always feel yuk afterwards. Hard to rate a chain place but as RLs go it is ok.

This review is purely for the service. Red Lobster food is Red Lobster food, and you’re going to get subpar seafood pretty much no matter what. You’re in the midwest… what do you expect?
The service here is fantastic. My salad had something funky going on with the lettuce, and the waitress handled the situation beautifully. She apologized, and promptly offered me a new salad, and went to get the manager. I declined the salad (eh.), but the manager was very sweet, and took my meal off the bill. Additionally, my boyfriend wanted dessert, and they paid for that too! Despite the fact that it was a small mistake and not their fault, they dealt with the situation by putting the customer first. We will be back because of that great response… and maybe the cheddar bay biscuits.

The food are quite decent and the service is great, although it’s a little bit pricey.

We went to RL for lunch today. They still have the shrimp tacos that I raved about but this time I tried one of the lunch catches. I just want to send a shout out about the portion sizes. I ordered the wood grilled shrimp and chicken. The chicken breast was about the size of a chicken tender — very thin and small. The shrimp and potato were small too. The potato was about the size of my fist and the shrimps about an inch big. The flavor was wonderful. Everything tasted really good and although it sounds like I am complaining about the size I am really not because that was all I needed to eat for lunch anyway. I just wanted others to know the scaled down size so they don’t leave hungry. It was only 8.79 so the price is scaled down as well.

The food is okay. It tastes decent but there is nothing amazing. Service is pretty good. For the most part, it is just overpriced seafood.

Pretty darn good! It wasn’t a busy night. It also helped that we didn’t arrive until after 830pm this evening.
More than 3 decades ago, I worked in the 1^st Red Lobster of Champaign as part of the opening crew until about 18 months later. At Red Lobster I learned to cook all manner of food. Other than their grilled food, I imagine the food is prepared and cooked the same way as in times past.
That being said, I am not a fan of seafood (unless grilled outdoors) and generally defer to a nice steak and baked potato. My guest will most always choose the seafood side of the menu.
I had a good NY Strip steak. She had a «Festival of Shrimp». The shrimp was reported to be completely delicious. The steak was… OK. A couple of times I’ve had to send back steaks that are overcooked or tough. This time wasn’t one of those times. It was cooked to medium doneness properly with a warm pink center.
Good food. Certainly not the least expensive. Which is probably why Red Lobster is only visited about once every 3 months. Had it been maybe $ 10 less expensive, it might have earned 5 stars.

After sampling many chain restaurants, I know that not all chains are created equally, even if they operate under the same name. I’ve stopped by Red Lobster restaurants in other towns and have been overwhelmed by delightful, positive experiences, so I thought I’d give the local one a try.
When I went on a weekend night packed with other customers, I was concerned about wait time but fortunately my party was seated almost immediately. With so many patrons vying for the attention of their servers, we were overlooked and felt we got the cold shoulder because of our age (a young college group).
The interior is old and ragged, which conveniently fits the «shipwreck» theme. We were pushed into a dark corner (intended to be «romantic lighting,» I think), but I could still make out the wear on our seats and the carpet.
For dinner, I ordered one of their «daily catches» and had it cooked on the grill. The fish was bland, unmemorable, and did not justify the cost; the only flavor came from the lemon that I judiciously squeezed on top. As for my side dish, I was horrified by my broccoli. It had been cooked beyond redemption, with each bud shriveled and blackened. The saving grace of the meal was the biscuits (crunchy outside, hot and buttery inside), which have been consistently good between all of the Red Lobsters I have visited.
At the end of the meal, the bill for my boyfriend and I came out to about $ 40 (including tip). Not a happy customer.