R.I.P. Red Lobster - Also Red Lobster General

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As a non-american, how much did a meal cost? Last time I was in the USA and I wanted a lobster the price was so ridiculous I just shared one with a coworker. Of course it was California so it probably cost 3 times from somewhere that is less of a tourist trap.
 
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Haven't been since I was a kid, back when I was too picky an eater to even want to try eating sea roach and just ate whatever spaghetti they had for the fussy baby kids menu. Kinda regret it in hindsight but at least my local grocery store has a pretty well-stocked fresh seafood section if I ever want to splurge a little and cook a lobster tail for myself.
 
wtfNeedSignUp said:
As a non-american, how much did a meal cost? Last time I was in the USA and I wanted a lobster the price was so ridiculous I just shared one with a coworker. Of course it was California so it probably cost 3 times from somewhere that is less of a tourist trap.
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Lobster was like 30 dollars a pound when I went there a few months ago, and I got a bigger lobster so it was like 40 dollars. When I was younger, it used to be like half that price. It's not entirely Bidenflation or Red Lobster being a poorly ran chain since lobster prices vary by season (if you really want lobster cheap, visit New England during the summer), but that's the biggest reason. It does come with two sides though but that's pretty much just shit you'd eat the next day since it'll taste just as "fresh" and all you need is biscuits+lobster. It's the most expensive thing on the menu though. And I had soup too since it gives something nice to dip the biscuits in, that's like 6 dollars.

IMO that's a pretty good restaurant meal (minus the fact you can get the same soup out of a can for a lot cheaper) at not an unreasonable price in this day and age. You can even order it to go and skip having to be in a Red Lobster (which was also great back during the mask mandate bullshit).
 
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Cat tit bingo said:
Red lobster should restructure into small bakeries since the only thing people care about is the cheddar biscuits. I really wonder how much of the companys business comes from those cheddar biscuits boxed mixes.
Red lobster is one of those restaurants that eternally "used to be good" like Chillis, TGIF or Applebee's, people swear that they where great "just a few years ago" but they've been saying it for decades now and you don't know if there sense of time is just fucked and it was genuinely good 20 years ago or there simply lying to them selves
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Chili's, TGI Friday's, and Applebee's were all once super-trendy hot chains that had lines out the door in their heyday.
 
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Cat tit bingo said:
Red lobster should restructure into small bakeries since the only thing people care about is the cheddar biscuits. I really wonder how much of the companys business comes from those cheddar biscuits boxed mixes.
Red lobster is one of those restaurants that eternally "used to be good" like Chillis, TGIF or Applebee's, people swear that they where great "just a few years ago" but they've been saying it for decades now and you don't know if there sense of time is just fucked and it was genuinely good 20 years ago or there simply lying to them selves
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Chilis and Olive Gardem WAS good. Back in the 1980's. When I was a kid/preteen.
So was Cracker Barrel.

Places like these were only available if you took a trip down to Florida. For Cracker Barrel, you'd need to get down to Tennessee. All three are in my city. So is Red Lobster and it's not on the list of places that are closing. Might be because of all the fucking NIGGERS they keep shipping in from Chicongo.

None of these places are special or good anymore when they expand and explode across the continental US. If it's near you, why the hell would you go anymore?
 
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reptile baht spaniard rid said:
I can understand red slobster in some shithole like Wisconsin that is a billion miles from the ocean , but who the fuck would eat at a red lobster in a city on the ocean like San Diego?
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Travelers. "Why not check out a local place?" Because local places are either awesome or absolute dog shit. I know what I'm going to eat if I go to a chain. I don't know what I'm going to eat at Fat Dave's Seafood. It might be the best food I've ever eaten, or I might be shitting my guts out later. I like to live dangerously, and I've had both great meals and epic shits, but a lot of people I know don't like that and will just go to Chili's or whatever.

When the chain goes to shit, though, even travelers don't bother. I won't go to Applebee's under any circumstances.
 
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I'm not surprised at the location in my state that's closing. The western burbs are slowly getting overrun with socioeconomic factors, and that's the demographic they were/are catering to if their commercials were any indication:


Why the fuck would I want to eat around a bunch of loud, obnoxious people I take great pains to avoid? Especially spending that much cash. I'd rather get some fresh seafood from the local distributor with some beef from the butcher and make my own surf-n-turf.
 
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What if you eat around the pasta like a 5 year old and ask for more or better yet ask them to hold the pasta. What are they going to do ban you and close down?
VF-1S Valkyrie said:
I have only ever gone there for endless shrimp at the behest of my brother, and regretted it ever since, that shit is a scam. I only get one recipe of shrimp that isn't breaded or served on pasta? Don't think I don't see what that is.
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Joshua Connor Tomar said:
What if you eat around the pasta like a 5 year old and ask for more or better yet ask them to hold the pasta. What are they going to do ban you and close down?
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Call me a commie, but that's a level of food waste I can't condone. Plus, I'm not 17 and I have AYCE sushi money now.
 
TheBallPit said:
On the downside, I took her to a late Mother's Day at Sonny's BBQ and it was a bad experience.
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I had a similar experience. Mine actually wanted to be taken out for the first time since COVID, so we went to a local joint that had decent food and prices in the past.

Although I expected high prices going in for even the most basic of menu items, the final bill for two people was such that I'm in no hurry to go back there any time soon. Worse was their announcement on the menu that anyone using a credit card would be charged an extra 3% to cover the fees. Thankfully, I had enough cash.

As for Red Lobster, it hasn't really been that impressive a place for years unless one is a die-hard seafood fan. Growing up, I seem to recall one of my parents getting a gift card for Red Lobster and we went there. At the time, the consensus was that the food was expensive and nothing worth writing home about for people that enjoy seafood only casually.

If Red Lobster is like other chains, its inability or unwillingness to keep up with current trends and dining habits are the likely reasons they are struggling now. Their decisions regarding what to offer on an all you can eat basis probably didn't help either as that gamble failed in the most epic proportions.

Also, restaurants that focus on a single item or type of food have seen foot traffic decline over the years. Many have had to start offering additional items in an attempt to maintain sales volumes or lure customers from other places, or they have to come up with some sort of new gimmicks that appeal to the current generation's interests. Those that can't do either one have either closed up a lot of locations or gone bankrupt never to be seen again. I can easily see this happening to Red Lobster since the average normie lacks the disposable income for higher-priced seafood items.

Cherry Eyed Hamster said:
A bunch of massive food and retail chains closed en masse or went out of business during the 2008 Great Recession. Looks like history is already beginning to repeat itself.
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For some higher-priced restaurants, the recession that followed after 9/11 was their undoing when Corporate America reduced or eliminated their expense accounts that allowed for lavish corporate meals whether frequent or for special occasions such as holiday dinners. Those restaurants that somehow managed to get through that period ended up struggling even more during the 2008 recession that hit them even harder. I agree with @Cherry Eyed Hamster that we may be seeing the next wave of closings and a similar thing is happening with retail stores that can't keep up with the times.
 
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The Ugly One said:
Travelers. "Why not check out a local place?" Because local places are either awesome or absolute dog shit. I know what I'm going to eat if I go to a chain. I don't know what I'm going to eat at Fat Dave's Seafood. It might be the best food I've ever eaten, or I might be shitting my guts out later. I like to live dangerously, and I've had both great meals and epic shits, but a lot of people I know don't like that and will just go to Chili's or whatever.
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Yeah, for example there's a family-owned Greek restaurant kinda close to me that has been shut down multiple times for letting rats shit everywhere. They have like 4.5 stars on Yelp.

With chains you're definitely getting frozen shit that's been microwaved but at least you're not getting the hantavirus.
 
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Cherry Eyed Hamster said:
A bunch of massive food and retail chains closed en masse or went out of business during the 2008 Great Recession. Looks like history is already beginning to repeat itself.
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You are correct, but you have no idea how horrifyingly worse it will be than just that.
General Disarray said:
I'm not surprised at the location in my state that's closing. The western burbs are slowly getting overrun with socioeconomic factors, and that's the demographic they were/are catering to if their commercials were any indication:


Why the fuck would I want to eat around a bunch of loud, obnoxious people I take great pains to avoid? Especially spending that much cash. I'd rather get some fresh seafood from the local distributor with some beef from the butcher and make my own surf-n-turf.
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Every. Americandan. Commercial. Is. Niggers. Or. MukMuk. Halfbreeds.
 
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