Red Lobster — Restaurant in Anderson

My family decided to go here for my birthday dinner. There were 10 of us in total. When we arrived, they told us they couldn't seat us together, but would seat us as close as they could, which we were fine with. Once they showed us the tables, we asked if we could turn one of them so they were at least facing the same direction so our backs weren't toward each other, at which point they told us they couldn't due to "social distancing" which has NEVER been a thing for families living in the same household, so we said we didn't need to keep distance from each other. (We understood six feet between us and other tables, but not between our two tables. A regular distance should have been fine.) We weren't even asking to push the tables together (We have worked in similar restaurants for years and know about not blocking fire exits or obstructing paths, etc); we just wanted to not have our backs to each other.

We spoke with the general manager who INSISTED that we couldn't do it. We asked why. Initially, she said, "I'm still operating under social distancing laws." That sounds like a personal decision, but no longer a legal one she can enforce on others especially when covid cases have dropped dramatically here and nationwide, cases are the lowest they have been since before March of 2020. When this was brought up, she changed her story and said, "That's not why we can't do it anyway." (Even though she had entirely blamed social distancing up until this point.)

She then said, "Well, actually it's because we don't have the staff that can take a party of ten." (Four of the party members were children and two of those were babies/small children that wouldn't be ordering.) This is when it was brought to her attention that we had worked in similar restaurants for years and that sounded unlikely, especially since we had tried to call and let them know we were coming so they could prepare. She responded with, "I'M the general manager here and so I know how to run this place." (People usually start enforcing their authority when their reasoning fails, right?)

One member of our party had called over an hour and a half in advance and was told we were not allowed to make a reservation due to covid (Why not? Wouldn't it make it safer to know who to expect and allow for in a limited capacity situation?) Over the phone, the person who answered said, "We can't seat more than six at a table and we have to count everyone. Even with pregnant mothers, we have to count both people." We thought that sounded perfectly stupid and frankly impossible to enforce, but we chalked it up to one idiot who answered the phone and decided to go anyway and sit close enough to talk to one another. We did not expect the harassment we received from the manager who seemed to make up her rules (and their reasoning) as she needed them.

We left and will not be returning. I have been to this restaurant for my birthday every year for 20+ years, but now we will be finding somewhere new to frequent as we see this restaurant isn't even nice to their customers anymore, so we will not be returning. The other staff were very friendly, but the manager was the rudest manager I have ever...

Tonight I dined here with my daughter, my sister and her friend, and my boyfriend. The waitress had a tattoo on her inner wrist. I don't recall her telling us her name. Everything went smoothly until we got our starters which were the biscuits and our salads. I ordered my salad with ranch, my sister ordered red wine vinaigrette, & her friend ordered ranch like I did. When the salads arrived, it was apparent which of the 3 had ranch. Just one of them. Her friend received that salad. Mine looked plain. I asked our waitress for more ranch, any ranch rather, for my salad. Later after eating it with the ranch, I discovered it had both. She returned the same salad to our table after taking it back to the kitchen. I held my tongue. Our entrees arrived and everything was great. Finally, my boyfriend showed up and our waitress' entire mood changed. (She had been by our table only a few times & my sister waited on a refill of tea for a period of time.) However, when she came to our table to see our new guest, she was extremely friendly and almost in my seat talking to him while I was standing at the table with my daughter. She made sure all of his needs were met. In my experience as a waitress, it is especially expected of you to make sure the needs of the women in the group are met first and foremost. Our waitress did the exact opposite. She showed no interest in anything to do with us other than getting us out of there. If I go back any time soon and she happens to be our server, I will request to be moved. The food was fine. The service,...

What happened to this once-famous restaurant? I recall the days of waiting in a line for more than an hour for them to call our name… “—-, party of —- your table is ready.” We went there Wednesday night, 6 pm, and we were the only people in our section. There were maybe five other tables taken when we left an hour later, but more empty than full at 7pm.The food was horrible… I couldn't order my favorite from long ago… fried flounder… because “they only serve flounder… during lunchtime,” so I had to settle for fish and chips… cod, fried too hard, with fries way too salty, and a tiny cup of coleslaw-- literally two bites. My meal was served on a greasy piece of paper lining a glass plate. The fries were hot, but I don't eat salt… and neither should you… the only thing good to mention was they still have their great biscuits, but they, too, were covered in salty garlic butter. I couldn't wait to leave. Never again. It had been 4 years since we last visited Red Lobster, but now I know why they are going out of business. I will never go back. Plus, like every other restaurant, they had things on the menu that never should have been part of a Red Lobster menu… chicken. People who want chicken usually go to Chic-Filet which is about two doors down. You restaurants who became famous for your original menu really should have stuck to what you became famous for… in Red Lobster’s case, it was fish....