Red Lobster

I placed a take out order with Chris on the phone. He did not know what the Admiral’s Feast was (it’s been on the menu forever) kept telling me I meant the Seafood Trio. Finally got him to understand what it was (think he looked at the menu). Went to pick up the order after 40 minutes and it wasn’t ready. Chris had no idea what my husband was talking abut and tried to give him the wrong order. Completely clueless he start handing my husband salad boxes while trying to find the order. Another woman came over (not sure who because she did not have a name badge on) and starting picking up the food asking if it was hers. Then she just laughs and walks away. Chris packs up the order and spills dressing on the boxes but doesn’t attempt to clean it up, so my husband had to ask for a napkin to wipe it up. I ordered the lobster bake and the lobster was so rubbery I couldn’t chew it. The gave me three little tiny round potatoes and a burnt ear of corn. The admirals feast was cold and the clams inedible. I had ordered an additional 12 biscuits in addition to the ones that came with our dinner. We just received the 12. I understand that Red Lobster is not a real seafood restaurant and there are plenty of better places, but I really like the cheddar biscuits, but I will make my own from now on. We will NEVER eat there again — EVER, and as residents of Sarasota I will definitely tell everyone.

First time to red lobster in many years, the commercial for the lobster fest won me over. We went there for lunch and were surprised there is no lunch menu and the prices were super high. For two of us lunch here cost us $ 70, I was I. Shock, this is not a 5 star place it is a chain. Will never be back

Seeing as one day has passed and I’m not dead from food poisoning I’ll give this Red Lobster 1 star. The most disgusting, nasty, repulsive and sticky place.
My whole family was gagging on the way home and my mom threw the food up. Please don’t go here. It will ruin all future Red Lobsters for you.

Service of this place is just terrible! Cold food, wrong orders, waiting too long for our food, the lady who is the manager is a mess! When we talk to her, she blamed it on the fact that they were too busy and that was why their service was so poor, she didn’t even apologize but told us we weren’t the only customers with the same problem, other customers around us were complaining too at least 4 tables more and she said the same thing to all of them, one couple told her they weren’t coming back there either, I love red lobster but this location in Sarasota seriously needs help!!! We are not coming back

I used to frequent Red Lobster (which we always nicknamed Dead Lobster). The cheddar biscuits are addicting and probably undid my cardio work out for the day. All that sweating to be able to munch on those cheddar biscuits. Worth the guilt! However, I haven’t been here in years as chains are so predictable and I’ve been trying to expand my food horizons.
But it was my daughters birthday, and she was craving this so she got the choice. So I ordered a salad with dressing on the side as I absolutely hate when it comes swimming in dressing. This was the first fail, as server brought it swimming in dressing. Easily rectified, but since the place wasn’t packed, it shouldn’t have happened. Actually, this was Fail #2 as we had no silverware or napkins on the table. I fixed that myself.
I ordered the garlic shrimp scampi with green beans. Was glad to find out that the beans were fresh, and I really used to enjoy this dish, however, again, the shrimp were «swimming» in garlic butter sauce. Way too much. Maybe the love affair is over and I should do a better job of dissuading my daughter from choosing chains again.
The next fail was when they came over to sing happy bday but never offered dessert. I mean, not even asking for comp, but never offered. And most restaurants upon hearing it is your actual birthday will at least give the recipient a freebie. Not here. So not blown away by the experience or food (cept for those addicting biscuits) and those are the reason for 3 stars.

The two stars is ALL about the service from our server Kevin. We went on NYE at noon and the restaurant was pretty deserted. Not quite sure what distracted Kevin from servicing us – as I saw he was pretty attentive to two other tables. (Could it be that we both chose water as our beverage?)
We ordered the lunch specials (Shrimp Salad /​Soup, and the Grilled Shrimp Tacos). After finishing the soup and a salad that accompanied the tacos, I had to get up to go find Kevin to bring us some of their «to die for» biscuits. And when they finally did show up, no acknowledgement that he forgot them (or served them to 2 other tables seated after us). Lucky for me I was able to get a refill on my water then, as he never returned until clearing the plates.
So the end result was a 10% tip — because he did at least deliver the tip. Little did he know I had in mind to add $ 20 to my server’s tip today cause it was NYE. Couldn’t bring my self to do this for the bad service. No sign of a manager to complain to either.
We’ll go local next time — probably to Walt’s Fish Market up the trail a bit.

Jennifer L was our server. She was attentive, warm, friendly and personable. Very good!
Shrimp, crab legs and lobster was awesome!
Have nothing bad to say. It was a great dining experience! (It is our 42^nd anniversary and we were glad we came.)
I heartily recommend it!

I’m not a fan of seafood so I avoided that upon coming here but I do love their biscuits and Caesar salad or pasta with Alfredo. Their servers were super nice and welcoming

Try to get Patti as your server, she is great. I have lived in Europe for many years and I guess I had become spoiled by the amazing way the Europeans take pride in food preparation and plating. I spend $ 60 on my meal but the presentation looked worse than a truck stop meal. I guess this a chain that I will no longer spend my hard earned money on. The next time I crave lobster I will find a local family place. Don’t waist your money on substandard food preparation and plating. Our server way awesome though!

This was the worst dining experience of my life! Thanks to them I got food poisoning.
Don’t be fooled by how the inside of this particular location, and how it looks nice. They are still serving bad quality seafood.
Do yourself a favor and avoid this place!

I stopped there with my family during Christmas — very clean location and great service. Food was good as always — shrimp, biscuits etc. Some redlobester are not as clean but this restaurant is very different.

The waitress was very friendly and nice but the service was very slow and the food salty. I asked for a classic Cesar salad with salmon and the salad came with American lettuce not with romaine as it was supposed and also was really salty, so i heard red lobster is going to bankruptcy now I realize why. It is a shame because the whole concept and waitress and the restaurant itself are really good, it is just the food that is not right, get a chef, get a new Menu and you are gonna keep going.

Typical chain restaurant! When we walked in we were ignored for almost a minute by the hostess desk despite 2 ladies standing there (neither one of them even looked up to greet us). When we ordered our meals we were not offered an option on sides, so our Server (Skyler) must have decided that everyone was having rice that day because the same meal was ordered at the table next to ours (different server) and they were offered a selection of sides. The food was so-​so and we had to ask for cocktail sauce and lemons for our fried shrimp. We complained to management and they really didn’t seem to care about our experience. Like I said, typical chain restaurant.

Is it fresh or frozen? I think frozen although the staff is told all seafood is fresh. The salmon just can’t come out as you want it due to Red Lobster having to cook all fish to 150 degrees according to the dining room manager. I found that a little hard to believe. The lobster special with mini lobster tails does not look like it does on the menu. It wasn’t my choice to go there. About 2 years ago we were there and a server tripped and spilled a soda over my wife hair and shoulder. It wasn’t pleasant then either. Hope no one asked me back there again, at lease not to this one.

They should have let us know their AC was broke before they even sat us down. It was too hot in the restaurant for my liking, wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Food (admirals feast) was good, like their cheddar biscuits and our server was great!

I will not waste my time writing about this place. Service: terrible!

Had an excellent dinner here. Shrimp bruschetta was extremely flavorful, peach margarita was a bit too sweet but overall very yummy. The service was a bit slow but overall very nice staff, clean, air conditioned and always had a short wait going on while we were there. Will return!

Our waitress, Sandy made our dining experience a delightful one~!
Great shrimp taco’s (new appetizer~) and warm apple dessert~!
Family feel, at home atmosphere with warm, yummy cheddar biscuits
Wonderful~! All around great food and nice prices for good quality~!

I go to Red Lobster when I need a good seafood fix. So much to choose from and for any type of budget. Very good value and very good food!
The Red Lobster I choose to go to is on US41 just south of Stickney Point Rd. in Sarasota FL
My favorite dish is the Admirals Feast which includes scallops, shrimp, clam strips and 2 good sized pieces of flounder. All breaded. I ordered the french fries too. This is really good food!
My guest had crab linguine Alfredo and both come with scrumptious bread and a salad, very fresh!
What makes this Red Lobster excellent is the service and cleanliness. This visit our waiter, Brett L was very attentive, fast and happy to be alive and working at Red Lobster. A very conscientious guy and great asset for this restaurant. I will ask for him my next visit.
I would highly recommend Red Lobster, this one in particular when in Sarasota.

My mom likes the place. Me, I think when you’re in Florida, you should really eat at a Florida seafood place (see Saltwater Café). But, we were taking my mom out, so…
The good parts of this — my mom loved her flounder — great price and nice portion. Enough for my mom to take home… My wife’s salmon was also great, a little overdone on the wood grill for me, but just the way my wife likes her salmon. The cheesy rolls are also good, if a little greasy for me.
The bad — my lobster, scallops, shrimp was not so good. The lobster was cooked to the point of rubbery, the shrimp had so much grease on them they could had been scampi, and the scallops were 3 seconds worth of grilling away from inedibly tough.
Good service, though, and they ARE patient with the Seniors down here. Nice, comfortable bar, too, although a little short on TVs.
TIP: Arrive EARLY — like 4:30 — to avoid the rush. This crowd wants to eat and be home before dark!