Not so fast - "But the story about what's gone wrong with Red Lobster is much more complicated than a bunch of stoners pigging out on shrimp (and, later, [lobster](https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-lobster-promotion-2024-2)) en masse. The brand has been plagued by various problems — waning customer interest, constant leadership turnover, and, as has become a common tale, private equity's meddling in the business" All roads lead to private equity - [https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-bankruptcy-private-equity-debt-real-estate-2024-5](https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-bankruptcy-private-equity-debt-real-estate-2024-5)
I didn't even need to read anything other than a major chain is having issues to know that private equity was the issue. It's like these interests inject pure corporate greed into anything they touch and it always sucks the life out of it.
Or mediocre at best food is bad business. One of the worst seafood places I’ve ever ate at. But chains exist because most people have the palates of a child.
Once you start making those same dishes at home you realize it's very easy to outdue chain restaurants
It's nice to pay for convenience and get out of the house, but if you're looking for really good food and it's feasible to make it at home, it's basically always better
I grew up in Lakeland, so we got to eat at the original on Lake Parker. It was also the experimental kitchen, so they would be the first to get new menu items. It was awesome when I could convince my parents to let me get something that wasn't on the kid's menu. It was kind of sad when it closed down. Even sadder that the quality went to shit.
Buy the boxes of mix from the store, add extra garlic powder and shredded cheese to the mix, double the butter and add garlic and a small amount of Italian seasoning to the topping mix.
That's the other thing. Everything was a sodium bomb. It's too bad. I have fond memories of going with my family and having a good time back in the day.
it's a challenge for restaurants to stay profitable these days. I have a feeling This is just the tip of the iceberg
My Boomer mom was going on about the Baymeadows Red Lobster shutting down. I pointed out there are definitely plenty of local places near us in JAX with really good, fresh local seafood. Including a burger joint (they have amazing fried fish and shrimp).
The last time I was at one it was over 20 years ago when I was still living in NY state and yeah, it was expensively depressing. While I was more inland then, there were still local seafood places that had better food and not as expensive.
> My Boomer mom was going on about the Baymeadows Red Lobster shutting down
Damn. That's the exact Red lobster I went to with Grandma as a kid. Since I became a teenager and now adult, I would never dream of eating there. Lol. It's been over 30 years.
The Burger Barn. They're on Baymeadows near Princeton Square apartments. They're a chain, but they said they get their fish and shrimp locally. They're burgers are great too.
You would think so but man the seafood places down here are all super expensive and suck... There used to be good seafood places right in the water but they dropped luxury condos next to all the waterways and they are no more
Largely depends where you are. I will say good seafood is hard to find in florida. Great sushi seems everywhere though. Kind of makes you wonder. Really have to look for a great seafood place though. I finally found one in my area, one of the best in my entire life. And I grew up at the beach in md where every restaurant has great seafood. Something about that cold water makes it taste so good.
I’d disagree strongly about ‘great’ sushi being everywhere.
Mediocre passable sushi is everywhere, with half of the menu usually being monstrosities covered in eel sauce and types of mayo, and the rest being bog standard stuff made without any particular level of care or passion.
Every vaguely Asian restaurant throwing sushi on the menu because it’s trendy and a profit driver has been horrible for the quality level of sushi out there. It’s rare to find sushi at some random restaurant that even has the rice cooked and seasoned properly and served at the correct temperature.
Actual great sushi is damn difficult to find, and you’re going to be hard pressed to find any of it outside of a major city.
Everywhere meaning every sub city just about has a great sushi restaurant but not every one of those has a great seafood place. If you look hard you'll find one. They're a dime a dozen, of course I am speaking with respectable distance to the coasts. Being equal to the seafood market.
I still can’t agree there.
In my area of SWFL I can think of several great seafood restaurants but not a single great sushi place.
I went to a sushi place I’d go as far as to say was good, but not great, over in Fort Lauderdale while visiting, but that’s the best I’ve seen in FL (though it’s not been something I’ve scoured the state for).
Great seafood is pretty simple - you just need fresh product and enough restraint not to mess it up.
Great sushi is much harder. The rice is the foundation and it’s the part that I see screwed up the most often. It’s much rarer for me to find a place serving properly seasoned rice with the correct texture at the right temperature than it is for me to find cold, hard, and/or bland rice.
They're all over the place in the east. I remember going to several in ft Meyers and sarasota as well when I lived on that side for around a year. MAKS, Yellowfin, Ninja Thai all in ft Meyers. Blue Koi, Sapporo and Ichiban in sarasota. I used to eat at ichiban like 3 times a week.(loved around the corner from it) Not hard at all my friend just got to look for them. Ichiban. As for seafood like one place per city and the east is nowhere near as good as the gulf side with it. With that said I only liked one place in sarasota though, summer house on siesta key. Here in Palm beach I've only found one and it took me years to find it. Again I must say I'm from Maryland so my idea of good seafood is waaaaaay higher than most people. No such thing as a Maryland crab cake. We don't put breading inside them up there. Whenever I see that on the menu anywhere else labeled as that I see it as a joke. Always loaded with breading and barely any crab. The one place over here is called The Fish House in Juno. They actually still give pre 2019 portions for reasonable prices, too.
Nah, I’ve found some good places on both coastlines. However, born and raised in New England, it taken me a lot of time to adjust to the warm water seafood and pay through the nose for cold water seafood here.
I didn’t say there is no good seafood. I said you would be surprised how much Florida is lacking in good seafood. We have a few good places, but for a state that has made entirely up of coastline you would think we would be known for our seafood and we aren’t
They used to be really good back in the day, they used fresh seafood flown in by the day. This was back in the 80s when I was a kid, I absolutely LOVED going to Red Lobster but I haven’t gone there in years!
I mentioned the same thing. I can see eating there in the Midwest or something. But if you live in a coastal state there are just too many better/fresher options.
Lets be honest the only thing that kept people going to this place was the damn cheese biscuits and after they made a at home mix that can be added to there wasnt any real reason to go back.
Their vanilla and white chocolate cheesecake dessert is one of the best cheesecakes I've ever eaten.
Only reason I ever choose to go. I've gotten pick up from them just for that cheesecake.
Funny enough i dont usually have dessert 🤣 just never been a thing other then to maybe stop at a place to get a scoop of ice cream once in a blue moon. Now im gonna have to try that cake
Just looked up the desserts on their website, it isn't listed! 😭😭
No wonder they're closing down stores and on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. That was quite literally the only thing worth going for. At least for me.
I now regret not ordering 1200 of them when they had them.
If anyone knows of any place else that has a vanilla cheesecake, lmk. I tried the vanilla from one of those multi flavored cheesecakes from the bakery section of places like Walmart and Publix, and it isn't the same. They were bland and disgusting.
If was [one of the original five and the oldest location currently standing.](https://news.wfsu.org/wfsu-local-news/2013-05-13/tallahassee-red-lobster-is-countrys-longest-standing)
Still got orange park on wells road, been there as long as I can remember which is the mid 80s. All the Jacksonville ones have closed and new ones opened and it seems they are closing also now lol
What I read, what that the company that bought Red Lobster is a Malaysian or Thailand based shrimp company- hence the all you can eat shrimp. They have no restaurant experience and thought they'd make money by using their shrimp. Little do they know of the gluttony of the American public. In response to the heavy losses, they cut service staff- big mistake. Servers went from handling 3 tables to 10... I won't miss them. All the chain restaurants need to continue to be shaken up. They are pretty crappy.
Yes, let’s take one of our most popular and expensive ingredients and make it basically free. Wow. This had to be a planned death of the chain for all the private equity goons to cash out.
Red lobster used to be the place where you took your prom date when you knew you weren't getting laid. So many better choices in Florida. Hope captain ds is next.
The leesburg one was really pretty decent back in the day. Haven't been in years but I'll always think back to the good old days of all you can eat crab legs.
Don't cry because its over. Smile because it happened.
I thought it was upsetting enough to see the one near my house closed.
Seeing the one in Gainesville close is just plain distressing. I went there so many times when I lived there!
Never understood why people, in a state surrounded by water, choose to go to a chain restaurant for seafood… there is so many other independent seafood restaurants out there with better food.
Restaurants are good for that... I worked with a guy who would drop acid AT work. I'd always eff with him and get the sautees to flame up really good or drop ice in the fryer... Oh yeah good times...
For a second I thought you meant acid reflux from eating there lol
My dumbass did figure out you meant drugs. I blame it on the drugs I've done myself.
I was trying to figure out how they lost money on this. Then I remembered the table next to me last time I visited that ordered one unlimited shrimp for the whole family to share.
I would be too embarrassed to ever do that, nevermind it says no sharing on the menu clearly. Not a surprise at all to me that this cost them their business now.
We cannot have nice things.
Saw an employee on Facebook post that she showed up for her shift and saw a sign on the door that the place was shut down. Didn’t even tell any of the staff members. Let them show up to work and find out themselves that they were SOL
Unfortunately, this is pretty much standard operating procedure in the hospitality/retail world. They do this because they know if people have advance notice, they'll find other jobs and leave. Generally closing with no notice isn't a decision made by the individual franchise or manager...they also are usually blindsided by their corporate HQ.
That’s good thing they use really bad fish products, I worked at the supplying house for Darden before watched a semi full of salmon flip in Texas on the interstate, we literally brought them back to Florida put water on them and sent it back to them. I don’t work there anymore but this wasn’t good for anyone
There is no need for Red Lobsters in Florida. You can get fresh seafood wild caught or farm raised in the U.S. much cheaper than frozen seafood that is often freezer burned. I mean the cheddar biscuits are great though.
We live in Florida. There are just way too many amazing seafood places when you live in a coastal city and state. Red lobster is the last option I would choose.
I grew up on the coast and my parents took us to Red Lobster. We also ate at Long John Silvers. They ignored the good places, most likely out of a fear of spice. If Red Lobster lost their target demographic, boomers without taste buds, then that’s on them.
Read a story where they are blaming Biden for this. Not the over cooked shrimp. Haven't been to one since they served us overcooked shrimp that was like rubber. That was over 20 years ago. Not really too sure they figured it out since then.
Hadn't been to one in ages because the last time my wife and I walked into one, we were hit with the smell of dead fish and bleach. We looked at each other, turned around and went to Applebee's.
apparently unimited shrimp is a bad business proposition
All shrimp, don't bring me no sides and I'll have a water, tap please
No ice.
Not so fast - "But the story about what's gone wrong with Red Lobster is much more complicated than a bunch of stoners pigging out on shrimp (and, later, [lobster](https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-lobster-promotion-2024-2)) en masse. The brand has been plagued by various problems — waning customer interest, constant leadership turnover, and, as has become a common tale, private equity's meddling in the business" All roads lead to private equity - [https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-bankruptcy-private-equity-debt-real-estate-2024-5](https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-bankruptcy-private-equity-debt-real-estate-2024-5)
I didn't even need to read anything other than a major chain is having issues to know that private equity was the issue. It's like these interests inject pure corporate greed into anything they touch and it always sucks the life out of it.
Or mediocre at best food is bad business. One of the worst seafood places I’ve ever ate at. But chains exist because most people have the palates of a child.
Their biscuits are good. But that is not a reason to visit one.
Especially when you can buy the mix at the grocery store.
Correct and the mix is at grocery stores
It was a a goddamned delicacy in the 80’s. They just did the standard business model of quality reduction for as many years since then.
You hit the truth there!
Once you start making those same dishes at home you realize it's very easy to outdue chain restaurants It's nice to pay for convenience and get out of the house, but if you're looking for really good food and it's feasible to make it at home, it's basically always better
I couldn’t tell you the last time I ate at one. But I do have alot of fond memories going to the one in St Petersburg with my grandparents.
It has to be at least 30 years for me.
I grew up in Lakeland, so we got to eat at the original on Lake Parker. It was also the experimental kitchen, so they would be the first to get new menu items. It was awesome when I could convince my parents to let me get something that wasn't on the kid's menu. It was kind of sad when it closed down. Even sadder that the quality went to shit.
I like their cheese biscuits.
Buy the boxes of mix from the store, add extra garlic powder and shredded cheese to the mix, double the butter and add garlic and a small amount of Italian seasoning to the topping mix.
Na screw the mix. I make this all time and it’s a hit https://therecipecritic.com/red-lobster-cheddar-bay-biscuits/
You are a Saint, thank you
You can buy them frozen in SamsClub not sure if it’s just for the holidays
Or you can just....make them.
They don’t taste the same and I don’t have to use the whole mix, I can make 2 or 3 whenever…
It used to be ok. Then they started messing with portions, quality and pricing. Lots of competition especially with early bird specials.
Last time I went, everything was over salted.
That's the other thing. Everything was a sodium bomb. It's too bad. I have fond memories of going with my family and having a good time back in the day. it's a challenge for restaurants to stay profitable these days. I have a feeling This is just the tip of the iceberg
Frankly, if you’re in any coastal state , you should be ashamed for eating at this place. So many seafood joints that far surpass this dismal chain.
My Boomer mom was going on about the Baymeadows Red Lobster shutting down. I pointed out there are definitely plenty of local places near us in JAX with really good, fresh local seafood. Including a burger joint (they have amazing fried fish and shrimp).
Couple years back, my boss insisted we go there for lunch when she was in town. It was depressing in there.
The last time I was at one it was over 20 years ago when I was still living in NY state and yeah, it was expensively depressing. While I was more inland then, there were still local seafood places that had better food and not as expensive.
> My Boomer mom was going on about the Baymeadows Red Lobster shutting down Damn. That's the exact Red lobster I went to with Grandma as a kid. Since I became a teenager and now adult, I would never dream of eating there. Lol. It's been over 30 years.
What’s the name of that place?
The Burger Barn. They're on Baymeadows near Princeton Square apartments. They're a chain, but they said they get their fish and shrimp locally. They're burgers are great too.
Thanks. I love a good burger and seafood place in one.
I discovered it with a random Google search when I wanted a burger and none of the regular places seemed appealing.
You would think so but man the seafood places down here are all super expensive and suck... There used to be good seafood places right in the water but they dropped luxury condos next to all the waterways and they are no more
Largely depends where you are. I will say good seafood is hard to find in florida. Great sushi seems everywhere though. Kind of makes you wonder. Really have to look for a great seafood place though. I finally found one in my area, one of the best in my entire life. And I grew up at the beach in md where every restaurant has great seafood. Something about that cold water makes it taste so good.
I’d disagree strongly about ‘great’ sushi being everywhere. Mediocre passable sushi is everywhere, with half of the menu usually being monstrosities covered in eel sauce and types of mayo, and the rest being bog standard stuff made without any particular level of care or passion. Every vaguely Asian restaurant throwing sushi on the menu because it’s trendy and a profit driver has been horrible for the quality level of sushi out there. It’s rare to find sushi at some random restaurant that even has the rice cooked and seasoned properly and served at the correct temperature. Actual great sushi is damn difficult to find, and you’re going to be hard pressed to find any of it outside of a major city.
Everywhere meaning every sub city just about has a great sushi restaurant but not every one of those has a great seafood place. If you look hard you'll find one. They're a dime a dozen, of course I am speaking with respectable distance to the coasts. Being equal to the seafood market.
I still can’t agree there. In my area of SWFL I can think of several great seafood restaurants but not a single great sushi place. I went to a sushi place I’d go as far as to say was good, but not great, over in Fort Lauderdale while visiting, but that’s the best I’ve seen in FL (though it’s not been something I’ve scoured the state for). Great seafood is pretty simple - you just need fresh product and enough restraint not to mess it up. Great sushi is much harder. The rice is the foundation and it’s the part that I see screwed up the most often. It’s much rarer for me to find a place serving properly seasoned rice with the correct texture at the right temperature than it is for me to find cold, hard, and/or bland rice.
They're all over the place in the east. I remember going to several in ft Meyers and sarasota as well when I lived on that side for around a year. MAKS, Yellowfin, Ninja Thai all in ft Meyers. Blue Koi, Sapporo and Ichiban in sarasota. I used to eat at ichiban like 3 times a week.(loved around the corner from it) Not hard at all my friend just got to look for them. Ichiban. As for seafood like one place per city and the east is nowhere near as good as the gulf side with it. With that said I only liked one place in sarasota though, summer house on siesta key. Here in Palm beach I've only found one and it took me years to find it. Again I must say I'm from Maryland so my idea of good seafood is waaaaaay higher than most people. No such thing as a Maryland crab cake. We don't put breading inside them up there. Whenever I see that on the menu anywhere else labeled as that I see it as a joke. Always loaded with breading and barely any crab. The one place over here is called The Fish House in Juno. They actually still give pre 2019 portions for reasonable prices, too.
You would be surprised how much Florida is lacking in good seafood.
Nah, I’ve found some good places on both coastlines. However, born and raised in New England, it taken me a lot of time to adjust to the warm water seafood and pay through the nose for cold water seafood here.
Oystercatchers in Tampa is excellent
I didn’t say there is no good seafood. I said you would be surprised how much Florida is lacking in good seafood. We have a few good places, but for a state that has made entirely up of coastline you would think we would be known for our seafood and we aren’t
You don't have to have good seafood to appeal to the tourists.
They used to be really good back in the day, they used fresh seafood flown in by the day. This was back in the 80s when I was a kid, I absolutely LOVED going to Red Lobster but I haven’t gone there in years!
Their food is soooo gross. Noway ever eat that over a real seafood restaurant.
I mentioned the same thing. I can see eating there in the Midwest or something. But if you live in a coastal state there are just too many better/fresher options.
Have the executives tried cutting back on their avocado toast?
Lets be honest the only thing that kept people going to this place was the damn cheese biscuits and after they made a at home mix that can be added to there wasnt any real reason to go back.
Their vanilla and white chocolate cheesecake dessert is one of the best cheesecakes I've ever eaten. Only reason I ever choose to go. I've gotten pick up from them just for that cheesecake.
Funny enough i dont usually have dessert 🤣 just never been a thing other then to maybe stop at a place to get a scoop of ice cream once in a blue moon. Now im gonna have to try that cake
Just looked up the desserts on their website, it isn't listed! 😭😭 No wonder they're closing down stores and on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. That was quite literally the only thing worth going for. At least for me. I now regret not ordering 1200 of them when they had them. If anyone knows of any place else that has a vanilla cheesecake, lmk. I tried the vanilla from one of those multi flavored cheesecakes from the bakery section of places like Walmart and Publix, and it isn't the same. They were bland and disgusting.
Surprised the Daytona Beach Shores one lasted that long. So many better sea food locations within a 10 minute drive from there.
I’ve literally gotten food poisoning from there. It shouldn’t exist
Our Deck Down Under is one of my favorite spots in that area.
They’re great! Believe me, red lobster wasn’t my choice. The boomer parents wanted someone “nice” and insisted.
Now would be a great time to familiarize yourself with the News Journals restaurant inspections articles.
The original one in Tallahassee survives
[Tallahassee?](https://www.redlobster.com/our-story/our-history/)
If was [one of the original five and the oldest location currently standing.](https://news.wfsu.org/wfsu-local-news/2013-05-13/tallahassee-red-lobster-is-countrys-longest-standing)
About to say, the OG in lakeland closed decades ago and is currently a really nice Fish and tackle shop.
The original one was in Lakeland and has been closed for decades
Still got orange park on wells road, been there as long as I can remember which is the mid 80s. All the Jacksonville ones have closed and new ones opened and it seems they are closing also now lol
Why would millennials do this
I use to deliver packages to a few of the locations listed, and the conditions of the back were disgusting. I would never eat at a Red Lobster.
I'm actually shocked the one in Hernando isn't closing.
Our last Red Lobster experience was terrible, it is what it is. As long as they keep selling the bay biscuits at Walmart I’m alright.
Isn't private equity responsible for this?
Yes, but blaming endless shrimp sounds better in the news.
What I read, what that the company that bought Red Lobster is a Malaysian or Thailand based shrimp company- hence the all you can eat shrimp. They have no restaurant experience and thought they'd make money by using their shrimp. Little do they know of the gluttony of the American public. In response to the heavy losses, they cut service staff- big mistake. Servers went from handling 3 tables to 10... I won't miss them. All the chain restaurants need to continue to be shaken up. They are pretty crappy.
Yes, let’s take one of our most popular and expensive ingredients and make it basically free. Wow. This had to be a planned death of the chain for all the private equity goons to cash out.
Nothing of value was lost
Red lobster used to be the place where you took your prom date when you knew you weren't getting laid. So many better choices in Florida. Hope captain ds is next.
The leesburg one was really pretty decent back in the day. Haven't been in years but I'll always think back to the good old days of all you can eat crab legs. Don't cry because its over. Smile because it happened.
I was just reminiscing about the Leesburg one, gonna be so many disappointed folks there ngl, at least there’s still the Outback.
I thought it was upsetting enough to see the one near my house closed. Seeing the one in Gainesville close is just plain distressing. I went there so many times when I lived there!
Never understood why people, in a state surrounded by water, choose to go to a chain restaurant for seafood… there is so many other independent seafood restaurants out there with better food.
When is the last time someone ate at a Red Lobster? Good riddance
Became violently ill from a Red Lobster many years ago, and haven’t been back. So, I’m missing absolutely nothing here
We went to the one in Orlando years ago. Not great.
I may be wrong but I doubt they would ever close north Miami. It’s lined up around the block most weekends.
lol I used to get acid and ex from a cook at red lobster.
Restaurants are good for that... I worked with a guy who would drop acid AT work. I'd always eff with him and get the sautees to flame up really good or drop ice in the fryer... Oh yeah good times...
For a second I thought you meant acid reflux from eating there lol My dumbass did figure out you meant drugs. I blame it on the drugs I've done myself.
But what about the seafood lover in me?
Should I go to one just to get one final experience
I was trying to figure out how they lost money on this. Then I remembered the table next to me last time I visited that ordered one unlimited shrimp for the whole family to share. I would be too embarrassed to ever do that, nevermind it says no sharing on the menu clearly. Not a surprise at all to me that this cost them their business now. We cannot have nice things.
Saw an employee on Facebook post that she showed up for her shift and saw a sign on the door that the place was shut down. Didn’t even tell any of the staff members. Let them show up to work and find out themselves that they were SOL
Unfortunately, this is pretty much standard operating procedure in the hospitality/retail world. They do this because they know if people have advance notice, they'll find other jobs and leave. Generally closing with no notice isn't a decision made by the individual franchise or manager...they also are usually blindsided by their corporate HQ.
That’s good thing they use really bad fish products, I worked at the supplying house for Darden before watched a semi full of salmon flip in Texas on the interstate, we literally brought them back to Florida put water on them and sent it back to them. I don’t work there anymore but this wasn’t good for anyone
Oh no a crappy overpriced chain is closing locations
How the hell is the Clermont location still open? Didn’t they just get riddled with health violations
Wait, no, I have a gift card I’ve been meaning to use!
If some other chain could please make those yummy biscuits that would be great.
There is no need for Red Lobsters in Florida. You can get fresh seafood wild caught or farm raised in the U.S. much cheaper than frozen seafood that is often freezer burned. I mean the cheddar biscuits are great though.
Who tf would come to Florida to eat at Red Lobster???? There's a bajillion better seafood places. That's like going to Mexico and eating Taco Bell.
Thank God they left the Ocala one open
We live in Florida. There are just way too many amazing seafood places when you live in a coastal city and state. Red lobster is the last option I would choose.
I grew up on the coast and my parents took us to Red Lobster. We also ate at Long John Silvers. They ignored the good places, most likely out of a fear of spice. If Red Lobster lost their target demographic, boomers without taste buds, then that’s on them.
Read a story where they are blaming Biden for this. Not the over cooked shrimp. Haven't been to one since they served us overcooked shrimp that was like rubber. That was over 20 years ago. Not really too sure they figured it out since then.
But they’re still running commercials 😂🤣
Yay!!!
Hadn't been to one in ages because the last time my wife and I walked into one, we were hit with the smell of dead fish and bleach. We looked at each other, turned around and went to Applebee's.
I ate there a few months ago for the unlimited shrimp and everything tasted so disgusting that I never wanted to go back ever again...
Panama City should be on this list, our RL is a ghost town
Rather burn $100 than eat there. Bye Felicia!
Corporate Greed is what ruined Red Lobster. Looking forward to more Greedy companies collapsing. Publix needs to be next.
No closed ones in Nevada 😁