I went here on Thursday January 5th, 2012 for a late night dinner with my gf. I have been going to Red Lobster from the age of 2 and I am pretty familiar with everything on their menu.
I've prolly been to Red Lobster over 75 times and I've made it a point to order the Clam Chowder each and every one of those times that I've dined there. Lately I've increasingly become a fan of the crab and lobster dip they currently offer as an appetizer (see pics).
I ordered the peppered sirloin and coconut shrimp combo, with mashed potatoes as my side. The peppered steak was a little over cooked for my liking, but served the purpose of satisfying my appetite for the evening. The Caesar salad that was served ahead of time left a bit to be desired. The shrimp was good, but by the 5th coconut shrimp, I was kind of sick of them.
Like, i said, I've been going to Red Lobster my whole life, so I more than knew what I was getting food-wise, it was the crowd and the ambiance surrounding me that put a damper on the evening. First, we were forced to squeeze into one of those cramped two-person booths, with little to no table and leg room. Secondly, we were seated next to a birthday party of about 10 people. Apparently they forgot that Red Lobster is a public establishment and that we are "LIVING IN A SOCIETY!!" Because they acted as if they owned the place and were EXTREMELY loud and obnoxious - constantly walking around, snapping pictures left and right and seemed ready to burst out with laughter at the drop of a hat. This was def. not what my date and I were hoping for on a Thursday night, and our entire Red Lobster experience would've been better if we had simply ordered it to go or sat in the bathroom and ate instead - no really. At least it would've been quiet.
Our server was a heavy set gentleman with glasses, with a kind disposition. However, we were more than ready to leave by the time he finally arrived with the check, and it felt like another 5-10 minutes before he finally returned to our table run our credit card (a pet peeve of mine; I mean we asked for the check so we are clearly ready to go. Why does it take forever to come back and TAKE our money/card) so we could leave him a tip and get the heck
out of there?
The food was, well Red Lobster - the dream combination of upscale, overpriced, chain seafood. Unfortunately, the environment and ambiance we were subjected to was closer to a nightmare!