Red Lobster

I LOVE RED LOBSTER… but there’s something about FOOD in Greater Kansas City area that is SO much more exceptional than eating anywhere else. Like every other Red Lobster that I have ever been to across the United States and Canada, it was crazy packed. Expect long wait times (approximately 45 minutes) for a table. As always though, the wait was well worth it. Food was excellent, came really quickly, hot, fresh and most importantly, tasty.
No matter if it’s your first time to Red Lobster or not, order a Shirley Temple and ask for a splash of orange juice in it. Then, order a shot of vodka (Red Lobster sells them as 2 oz. shots for $ 9.45), and put it in the Shirley Temple. You can thank me later. :)

Brought my mom here for her birthday. It was a group of us and its affordable. But the service wasnt great. Even after the waitress said it was her birthday also. Drinks were slow to refill, my food order came out wrong and there was a speck floating in my glass. And I though you get a free dessert for your birthday… you have to request that or something? Anyway… it was just ok.

Lobsterfest full of awesomeness. The alcohol drinks were on point. It’s was a Saturday night real slow and easy. Was a great date night.

This is another chain that I’ve now blacklisted. Sadly, this is a place I loved to come to as a kid, teenager, and young adult. But the quality & quantity of the food has greatly diminished over the past few years. New ownership did nothing to improve the experience. Service has gotten worse as well. My last 3 experiences here (much like Chili’s) were all misses. August 23^rd, 2014: It took 20 minutes to get seated even though half the tables were empty (was told by a manager that staffing was dictated by corporate); so beating the dinner rush was impossible. The waiter didn’t bring out biscuits until after we ordered (which is awesome when you’re starving). The Caesar salads were pretty bland, nearly dry, and petite to say the least. The food took a good long while and my ultimate feast was very much overcooked as the the shrimp had black burn marks on them and were a very dark brown otherwise, the lobster was chewier than leather, and the scampi/​crab legs were both lukewarm to cool. After leaving a nasty-​gram via their online survey, I got a $ 25 gift card with a note asking to give them another chance. Against my better judgment; I obliged. October 3^rd, 2014: Waited the requisite hour at 6PM to get a table and proceeded to have a nearly identical experience as before. And for $ 60 for a meal for 2 that didn’t include booze… it just seemed bad in general and atrocious for the value. Then April 19^th, 2015: I got dragged here against my will for a friend’s birthday. After discounting my last 2 visits; I figured I’d change the game and try something else; the crab linguine Alfredo… there was approximately 4 discernible pieces of crab (not joking) and the linguine was actually fettuccine noodles… and it was almost dry as a bone. *heavy sigh*. This is not the same experience I had in my youth and it’s shocking how far downhill this chain has gone (note that I had a similarly disappointing experience, though with a very friendly and attentive waiter at the Legends location November 14^th, 2014). Joe’s Crabshack isn’t much better. When it comes down to it; there’s just not an affordable option to eat good seafood in the Midwest. McCormick & Schmick’s or Bristol’s are great, but quite expensive. :(

Great service the waitress is from Spain great attitude I like her. My tea was great. Every single thing was great. Will come back for sure.

The food was wonderful! We started with an appetizer of fried calamari with vegetables. It was wonderful! I had the admiral’s feast and my bf had the coconut shrimp, both were yummy! I love their blueberry vinaigrette for the salad.
The service was tad slow at the end, but our sever ended with quite a few tables. So I totally understood!

I hate giving bad reviews but this was a terrible experience. We waited at the bar for 20 minutes and didn’t even get drinks. The bartender just ignored us. Waited on other guests and didn’t do anything for us. So then we wait 20 more minutes to get sat and they sit us at a table with a large loud party right next to us with a plethora of other tables open. We then had to continue waiting for yet another table that was, again located next to a large party… the server then acknowledged that we were the 3^rd table tonight to complain about the bar. It took us over 45 minutes to even get a salad.

When we arrived the restaurant was only half full and they told us there would be a 90 minute wait. We luckily (or what we thought) found seats at the bar. We didn’t get acknowledged until we had been sitting there for 20 minutes. In the first hour we were there we saw 2 different groups at the bar come in and go due to lack of service at the bar, 3 groups have complaints about their to go orders, and multiple groups leave at the front due to all the open tables. The staff did not wash their hands (one reason a group left) and they were not washing and sanitizing the bar glasses (another reason a group left). Finally at 9PM they had someone come and wish the mound of bar glasses due to the fact the bartenders wouldn’t pour any «clean» drinks for over an hour. Working in a restaurant for 5 years this is some of the worst service from the staff to the management I have ever witnessed. My suggestion is to find a different restaurant or drive to the other location and try your luck!

Seriously, I don’t want to give it a three. I fell in love with the one in Orlando, and that’s why I went to the ones in here. But it was soooo saulty, I hate it.

Service was slow, but okay. The portion size for my crab cake and salmon was really small for the money I paid. This restaurant could be so much better!

We went here tonight for my birthday dinner and, as usual, the food was delicious. The lobster mashed potatoes were awesome, as were the lobster tails, crablegs, salmon, various shrimp dishes, scallops and flounder. The highlight of our meal was our fantastic server, Hassan H. He was extremely personable, attentive and professional. It’s so nice when your server makes you feel like you’re their only table and takes the time to be friendly. I wish all servers were as warm and inviting. It was a wonderful birthday dinner, indeed.

Red Lobster, in general, tends to get knocked for their seafood, but I think it’s excellent. At this location, the drinks and food are always very good. The service is also great. There have been several occasions when I have called the manager over to my table to compliment the servers. This is probably my first choice of restaurants, and I always go on my birthday.

I really only came here for the cheddar biscuits, but overall I thought the food was decent and the servers were fast and friendly. The host made us wait 20 minutes to be seated, even though there were open tables all around and it was a busy Sunday evening. Maybe they were short staffed, but I really hate seeing empty tables while being forced to wait. I ordered the popcorn shrimp and shrimp scampi combo and would get it again. This place is definitely not my first choice in seafood, but it’s not bad either.

If you come across this review, the others are right. The Olathe location has better service, better food, and nicer atmosphere.
We had a group reservation for a our 16-​year old niece birthday. When arrived, water wasn’t on the table until everyone showed up (30min after we seated). When my brother-​in-​law (the niece’s father) and I ordered drinks, the waitress carded me (which I’m used to it) and carded my brother-​in-​law who is in his 40s. My brother-​in-​law doesn’t even bring his ID into restaurants anymore, but the waitress insist to card him. To protect his inconvenience of him having to walk out to the car to get this ID, I explained to the waitress that he is the birthday girl’s father. She still insisted to card him, really?
I understand it’s her job, but you can’t teach common sense these days. Managers, please teach all your wait staff water etiquette (always have water ready, before the reserved large group party arrives or 2min seated rule for water) and ID etiquette (if someone fathered a 16-​year old, he is older than 21).
Seriously, for the price you pay here just go to Bristol.

Yup. Four stars :-)
I’ve got a three year old so seafood fine dining isn’t exactly going to happen on a family night out. Not for a least a few more years.
My wife loves crab. Daddy loves lobster! RL can get us both of those things.
Now what I found to be incredibly shocking, is that I could come here and get a damn good steak. For a while, the NY strip with the lobster and crab Oscar was my absolute favorite. Now I am sure it can’t hold a candle to M&S or Pierponts. But I can’t really see myself being at one of those places, two bites into my meal and needing my dinner packed up because daddy’s princess is having a surprise meltdown. That has actually happened to us here… TWICE. On both of those visits we actually had the same server, who packed up our meals with a smile. Lucky for us, she’s waited on is several times and has always given us exemplary service.
At RL, you can count on leftovers. You can count on fresh lobster (kill one from the tank. That’s what they are there for!) and you can count on those damn biscuits!

Decent food, great biscuits, and decent service (sometimes it’s a hit, sometime’s it’s a miss). It’s not gourmet, but for the most part, you aren’t paying gourmet prices. The meals usually arrive in a prompt manner, my refills are usually timely. If you’re in a small town in rural Kansas, this is fine dining. In the KC area, it’s mid-​dining. It doesn’t stack up againt Bristol, McCormicks, or many others. But it is cheaper, in many ways, and you don’t need to be dressed beyond a Tshirt and jeans.
Celiacs beware! Do your homework and question the server/​manager about the meals. Even the BROCCOLI has gluten on it! Many items have added seasoning where you wouldn’t expect it (everyone knows the biscuits are off limits), and their ‘menu’ they currently provide is a greasy sheet of paper that has a spreadsheet that is nearly impossible to interpret or read, as it has all ‘allergies’ listed on one sheet, and tiny dots indicating acceptability (and all in VERY small print). A national chain can do better.
Their recent announcement (Darden’s) regarding changing their staffing policies so they can avoid paying insurance bothers me, too.

Lobster good. Shrimp good. Chocolate Molten Cookie… holy moly I’m in love! Little expensive but for the heavenly dessert I had, I’ll indulge every once in awhile!

Okay, people, everybody knows you don’t go to Red Lobster for premium seafood. You go to Red Lobster for something easy that isn’t going to break the bank. The Guy & I shared an Ultimate Seafood Feast — that, + appetizer + drinks + tip, set us back less than $ 50. Where else are two people going to be able to eat lobster & crab legs for that price? It was a ton of food, too, we just barely finished everything.
That being said, the whole experience was kind of mediocre. Salad was boring iceberg with a slice of tomato. The lobster was sweet, but the broccoli side consisted of three or four sad, oversteamed florets, as if the chef had decided everyone was there for the fish & he wasn’t even going to try on the sides. The service was a bit slow, but friendly enough.
This place is always packed on the weekends, so there’s obviously plenty of folks that think this is just fine. You’d probably be doing yourself a favor, though, if you steered away from the crowd & tried something off the beaten path. Unless you are just plain craving the cheddar biscuits, which happens sometimes.

I’m not going to lie. Yesterday we ate at Red Lobster. A week or so ago my bf and I were talking about those delicious cheesy garlic biscuits. Then a coupon for RL showed up in my inbox. So, yesterday, we indulged our craving and headed out for lunch.
First off, our server was awesome. Her name was Krystall and she was so friendly and upbeat. She must have known we were there for the biscuits because she brought us a million, and they were straight out of the oven. Still hot, delicious, yummy…
Let’s face it, the rest of the meal doesn’t even matter. Those biscuits were damn good.

If you are looking for something like Bristol’s, this isn’t for you. But if you are looking for fresh seafood, fast service, ordinary preparations, and reasonable prices, you might like it a lot.
We were there on a very busy holiday, but we were seated and served rapidly. I was impressed. The fish was fresh, and all was fine. But upscale, it is not. They had «sunshine bass» on the menu. I asked two of the servers what it was. Neither knew. One went back to the kitchen, and came back with an explanation — which was wrong. We ordered a bottle of wine. The server didn’t have a clue about how to serve wine, so I told her not to serve it and leave the bottle on the table for me to deal with. It was fine. Maybe I should have left a tip for myself for serving the wine.
This Red Lobster is like all of them. They are very successful at what they do. In fact I wish there were one in Lawrence. But Red Lobster is not my kind of place.