Red Lobster

It has been some time since I ate at a RL, but it is a long-​time seafood go-​to place, even if I usually prefer non-​chain. Complaints that it uses mainly frozen fish are pretty disengenous considering even those who advertise «fresh, never-​frozen» somehow manage to maintain basic menus even when some varieties are off-​season at least locally… and imports are usually frozen. RD is great for families because of variety offered even for kids who insist they hate fish. Their specials are highly alluring on TV and portions are usually generous. And of course… the cheddar rolls… enough to create an enduring rep on them alone.

This is my favorite place to get affordable lobster. My husband and I usually come here when they have promotion on TV. The place is clean and not so busy. The food is a little salty, but just a little. My husband loves their biscuit and always asked to bring some home. We had Crab Love, Ultimate Feast and Mussels.

I enjoy coming to this location vs the Busch one because of the people. The Busch location brings in some of the worst people to have to deal with while you’re trying to enjoy a decent meal. Every time I have come to this location it has been quiet and enjoyable. I generally order the same thing, shrimp Alfredo, and it is always well done. I will definitely continue to return to this location.

Yesterday me and my fiancé decided to call in an order. Unfortunately by the time we reached the restaurant I was still on hold, so I went inside to place my order. To my dismay there was a women manning the desk and the phone stopped ringing once I hung up. I placed my order with a not so enthusiastic young lady. I returned in twenty mins as she quoted. Although a few disappointing events occurred the meal was good none the less. To our dismay we both had very undesirable flatulence this morning. This is one of those things you have to put up with when you consume seafood in a chain restaurant.

15 minutes for a drink while sitting at the bar is unacceptable. You are in the service business where is it!!!

We celebrated my husband’s birthday with 10 of us. First of all the service was excellent. The food was reasonably priced and deliverd promptly. Our experience was worth noting to all.

I’ve visited Tampa twice in the last year and I remember going to this Red Lobster the first time and having a pleasant experience. Unfortunately this time wasn’t so good. I just spent all evening bloated and gassy after eating there.
We decided on the crispy calamari seaside starter because we thought that sounded nice. What we got was a plate of maybe twelve small rings hidden underneath deep-​fried florets of broccoli and strips of capsicum. This dish was greasy and heavy because the oil the cooks used to fry it probably hadn’t been changed in weeks. The ranch sauce and marinara it came with was nice, but not enough to save this sloppy starter.
I don’t think the lobster/​crab that we had was anywhere near fresh because it had a fishy smell to it. The butter and herb sauce that my Maine lobster bake was drenched in was way too salty. The potatoes weren’t cooked all the way through so they were hard in the middle. The best part of this dish was the corn on the cob because it was only thing that was edible. I managed to eat three out of six lobster tails before I couldn’t eat any more.
My boyfriend had never been to Red Lobster before as he doesn’t usually eat seafood. He ordered the crab tacos because he thought they might be the only thing he can stomach. The crab meat smelled fishy and the tacos were overcooked and the whole thing was drenched in spicy mayonnaise. He took three bites of one taco and boxed the other two. They are now sitting in his fridge. I will probably dispose of them tomorrow because I do not want anyone to be subjected to the low standards that we were met with.
The table service was good for the busy period that we went in. (Lots of old people dining in, they probably can’t taste anything because their tastebuds are almost gone so this restaurant is okay for them.)
As usual the Cheddar Bay biscuits were nice, and the flavoured sweet tea was good. For the service and these two items I’ll give two stars. The seafood was sorely disappointing. Perhaps the kitchen was rushing our order and just overdid some things because the restaurant was full with people waiting and they wanted guests to dine and quickly leave.
I think I will avoid Red Lobster for the rest of my trip because honestly this experience has left me feeling ripped off.

This restaurant was very nice I went there was my sister since it was her birthday. There was very nice seafood and we obviously order some LOBSTER. But it was too salty but I think it was because the season was right. I am giving it 5 star because the service was right and everything else was wonderful. The Pina Colada was wonderful my favorite drink they just made it better. Basically, it’s great.

Hubs wanted #EndlessShrimp, so we visited this Red Lobster a couple of weeks ago. Everything was good… nothing outstanding, nothing terrible.
For a Thursday night, we had a surprising bit of a wait (15 minutes). And a few more minutes before our server arrived. But, THEN, he was excellent — very attentive. And he made sure we had plenty of left-​overs to bring home!
Some of the shrimp entrees were salty… Ok for me, maybe even ideal, but hubs mentioned the Garlic Shrimp Scampi was too salty for him (I acknowledge that I have eccentric tastes). But, YES, the cheddar biscuits were incredibly delicious, as usual. My only food complaint was about the Teriyaki Shrimp Kabobs: the shrimps on each end of the stick were dry from being overcooked, but the rest of the shrimp in-​between on the stick were amazing.
I got a selfie with a lobster while we were waiting to be seated so that definitely spiced up an average evening.

Before I start, just like to rate 5 stars for service. Our waitress Samantha was amazing, very attentive and courteous. Thank you so much for making our first experience a fun one.
Yeap, 3 stars for food.
Most of their speciality non alcoholic drinks are not refillable. Not cool Red Lobster.
For app:
* Calamari and veggies. Calamari was great but not enough pieces, veggies include red pepper strips and broccoli. Served with marinara and ranch sauces. Broccoli shouldn’t be there, no flavor. Veggies like zucchini, mushrooms or long beans would work better.
* Stuffed mushrooms: 6 pieces of mushrooms stuffed with their seafood stuffing, topped with cheese and baked. I still don’t know what they had in the stuffing. I couldn’t taste any seafood in that dish.
Entrée:
* Endless shrimp: 5 different shrimp dishes and did I mention endless lol. First dish comes with 2 shrimp dishes and 2 side for $ 17. You can order another order of shrimp while you eat. Great concept but the dishes aren’t that good.
— pineapple habanero coconut shrimp sounded better than it tastes. Too crispy and sweet.
— teriyaki grilled shrimp was also sweet. Meh.
— hand breaded was good.
— shrimp linguine Alfredo was my favorite.
— shrimp scampi was ok.
Wish they had better options.
Overall, not impressed with the food. I can find better food choices at other seafood restaurants.

Awesome biscuits of course. Got the founder with the lobster mash. Very impressed. Red lobsters up north are better but was pretty impressed. I will return. (:

Awesome waitress. Great shrimp tacos. They even gave my mother in law a birtdsy cske for her 92 birthday celebration. How nice

It is time for this restaurant to be updated. It is not longer as clean admit once was or as it SHOULD be. The menus are full of old crumbs, and the host staff is just standing around, they could benefit from cleaning the menus when they are returned.
The food is mediocre at best. The biscuits were good but not as hot administration the no they could have been. The crispy vegetables and calamari had no flavor and my husbands glass of water and our silverware were not sparkling, again as it SHOULD be. Although our food was ok, it was far from the Red Lobster of old. I had the shrimp scampi and my husband had the shrimp pasta. Both were ok but again, not like it used to be.
The restaurants décor is dated and unappealing to the eye. The carpet is run down and the booths are a tad dingy.
I am not sure how often this business is updated, but it is past time.

The food here was actually fresh and good. The server was great. I went to the one in Busch blvd and it sucked so compared to that this red lobster is great!

We hadn’t been to Red Lobster in years, but had a gift card and decided to check it out. We arrived at 5:15 last night (Saturday) and there was a 35 minute wait, so we decided to sit at the bar.
The cheddar biscuits are delicious! Melt in your mouth deliciousness. Yum. I got the shrimp tacos, which were good, but I wish I got the sauce on the side, as there was just too much of it. Child got the popcorn shrimp kids meal and didn’t like it all… We did try to chocolate chip cookie dessert and it was good, but there was no melting chocolate pouring out like in the picture.
Service was good, servers were nice, food was ok and the place was packed.

I had a very positive visit this time. ALL of the staff was friendly. My server Nicky went above and beyond perfect customer service. I already like this location way more than the one on Busch Blvd. or US 19. I had the 4 course meal for 16.99 that came with a salad, potato cheddar soup, the wood grilled tilapia and a slice of caramel cheesecake. My dessert I had to take home because I was in a total biscuit coma. Im beyond full!!!

Hands down the best Red Lobster at which we have ever dined. Greeted and seated promptly, great table service-​thanks again Molly, well prepared food that looked and tasted delicious. They didn’t skimp on the portions.

Years ago my husband and I used to go to Red Lobster to celebrate things. We lived in Colorado at the time and Red Lobster gave us decent seafood at an okay price. We hadn’t gone to Red Lobster in over two years and when we drove by this place we decided to go to reminisce. The last few times we had gone to Red Lobster we hadn’t liked it as much, I think we had started finding better food.
We were seated quickly and the place was pretty slow, though there were a few tables. Our server started out good but then he got sat with other tables and became understandably busy. Our food was brought out by someone else and it tasted… okay I guess. Definitely sub par to what we have been eating since we moved to Florida.
We finished and waited for about 10 minutes. Another server must have seen us looking annoyed and came to check on us. We told him we were waiting for our check so we went and got it from our server. Unfortunately we needed change. Eventually the same server from earlier came back to get us change. We saw our server constantly but didn’t actually speak to him once after placing our order. The service wasn’t great, but he was busy so I can understand.
The service isn’t what will keep us away though, it was the food. While it wasn’t horrible there are just way too many better options in the Tampa area than Red Lobster. I think Red Lobster will just be a place for memories now, I don’t see why I would go back.

Who doesn’t like Red Loster??? Heck say cheesey bread and everyone mouth waters. My boo and I went here one afternoon. We sat at the bar and had some great drinks. This is a place you can always turn to for good food, good drinks, and great employees.

Service: the service was great. Water glasses refilled without request. Empty plates cleaned off the table when ready. Offered desserts and take home trays. Bill came promptly.
Appetizer: Mozzarella sticks were good. Sauce was okay. The Shrimp Taco appetizer was good.
Entrée: Bar Harbor Lobster Bake. The lobster was great. Butter sauce was great. Shrimp and Linguine were great. The Mussels were bad. Just had 2 bowls of great mussels in the past week and the difference was very clear.
Biscuits: great.
Price: up there. not a «I need to forgo something this week», but a semi eye brow raiser.
All in all. Yes, I’d go back but not monthly. once every 4 – 6 months.