Red Lobster — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

It's a basic place for economy seafood dining... The interior is dark and depressing. It is beige and brown. It needs to be updated and given a bit of style and sophistication. The large windows view the parking lot, so people draw the shades. They're stuck in what appear to be the late 80's, or early 90's decor.

Anyway, by comparison, it's basically a larger version of a Denny's, only not updated. It's not as nice as other chains like Chilli's or Olive Garden, but then, I have not been to either of those in a number of years thanks to much better dining options that are not part of a chain.

I have been taken here twice and it has NEVER been busy when I have been there. Evidently I have been brought there too early to witness the rush. I assume there is one and that I have just missed it. The food comes out incredibly quickly, so I can't complain about service, but it makes me wonder if that's because it's prepared en masse or because I was there so early that they weren't busy. I had a shrimp and scallop dish with pasta and sauce. It tasted fine, but you can tell corners are cut to economize and keep prices low. The shrimp and scallops are always the small ones.

They offer Maine lobster when in season. The holding tank was empty both times I was there, so, not in season. I overheard a patron joking about that with his elderly parents who were doing the early bird as well saying that the name now, was just "Red" since there were no "lobsters". Of course, that's not entirely an accurate comment, since they do have lobster tails on their menu, which was explained to him by a very pleasant and patient waitress. The tails are most likely the local variety (Langostino) which don't have the big claws Maine lobsters do... And possibly frozen.

Okay, so they're not bad or awful, it's just that they're not very exciting. It's never going to be the first place (or second or third for that matter) that I'm going to think of when I am in the mood for seafood. There are so many places that are so good in South Florida... Red Lobster 🦞 is econo seafood and you get what you pay for.... Cheap eats that are relatively decent, but you are reminded with each bite, that there are better places to go if you're willing to spend a little more. If you're on a tight budget, then this is where you go for a special night out. They have their place in the pecking order of economics. You could do worse, but they're not much ahead of being a diner that specializes in cheap seafood.

Is this a put down? I suppose it is. I mean them no ill will. It's obvious they're struggling, but honestly, unless I had been asked to go there, I would have passed. By the same token, if I'm asked to go again, I will STILL go back and without a fuss. My point is that the place has the potential to be a LOT more than it is, but I fear they probably suffer from cash flow issues and are unable to make the investment needed to reinvent themselves. Therefore they economize and invent new standardized dishes to give the appearance of moving forward and being creative. They do a lot with a little, but I sincerely doubt they can survive with so many other contenders offering better dining options. Economizing, thinking lower prices will keep people coming back, can kill a business because you're not attracting enough of the bigger spenders who want nicer surroundings and more exciting offerings, offerings Red Lobster just doesn't have. Thinking back to the gentleman who met his parents there, he thought the place was a joke. I could tell as he interacted with the waitress. He wasn't overtly rude, but he didn't take the place seriously, citing the lack of lobsters in their tank and then asking if that meant there were no lobsters dishes available despite being on the menu, since the lobster tank was empty. Perception has a lot to do with things. My perception is that this chain is going out of...

I don’t usually post reviews on restaurants as I happen to be a former server so I understand the difficulties of the service industry and how a negative review can affect a server’s confidence but I just felt a need to air out my frustrations from our visit to this location last night. I walked in to the restaurant at around 8:15 pm, the restaurant was not overly crowded and the young lady that checked my friend and I was courteous and friendly. She stated it would be around a 10 minute wait so we waited patiently at the host stand. She then called me 5 minutes and promptly sat us. After that the whole experience went south, we were sat in Rebbie’s section and from the moment we sat down she approached us and told us she would be would us momentarily, we were in no rush so we didn’t mind waiting for her. Ten minutes passed by until she took our drink order for two sweet teas as well as a lobster flatbread as our appetizer, after that another 10 minutes allotted by until we finally got our sweet teas. The flatbread came out very quickly to which I was very impressed however when I asked my server for some Tabasco sauce it took her nearly 15 minutes for her to bring it to the table. No harm no foul, I was not upset or annoyed in any way. However when our entrees came out at 8:58 pm we realized we had not been sat with any silverware to which we asked both Rebbie and two other servers which walked by us near the server station if they could please bring us some silverware. I got up from my seat at 9:10 and approached the host stand and asked to speak to the manager. The lady that helped me was very cordial and apologetic to the situation and definitely made me feel like they were trying to rectify the issue. However when I went back to sit down at my table the food was cold and the lobster that I had ordered had hardened up along with my friend’s pasta. As a server or chef would know, when Alfredo sauce sits stagnant for over 10 minutes it hardens due to the consistency. At this point we were fed up and had lost all our appetite. I approached the manager again and stated she would take care of the bill for us. Again I am not one of these difficult people that walk into restaurants looking for trouble and looking to get free stuff but when you have an experience as negative as this one it should be addressed to prevent it from happening again...

7/29/25- wow big difference. Sat at bar. The bartender was as not there , she was working tables in the dining room too So she was in around .

I knew what I wanted when I got there but the ( Bartender ) I’m sorry I didn’t get her name when I said I wanted the crabs legs she recommended in the bag that came with roasted potatoes, which are good two clusters of the snow crabs and a quarter piece of corn on the cob always very good very messy but it comes with a pair of gloves, your bib nutcracker, and a small little fork. Hubby got the twin lobster tails, One Maine one other kind. I have daily specials and Tuesday they have that seafood boil which was worth it for $25. I asked for the Keylime because I heard it was good. It was a slither and when she came so we’re out of whip cream and she made a gesture of that it came out of a can well, and I gotta charge the whole price for that little thing not acceptable.

6/26/23- crab fest nothing like commercial. Very deceiving. . Crack a knuckle and a nice big piece comes out . NOT. You work to get shredded pieces out . Ask for the lemon butter on side , tasty , or it would be messier . Comes w/gloves and a bib. Not as appetizing as the commercial.. G had the fish and chips. Nice big piece of white fish.

8/19/18- wow seeing those commercials for the crab fest had to have some . Our waiter Oliver from France was such a seasoned sever. I got the large portion no sides then last minuet I decided on the sea scallops side nice size on top Fort wild rice. . When Oliver brought out my order of crab he said that’s I little shy I told the chef to send out another. Wow. They were not split, so I asked Oliver for a serrated knife or for the chef to cut them he told me they only do that with the king crab but he said wait I’ll get gloves. I thought he was getting him to give to me he put them on and showed me how to open up the snow crab without making it mushy . I hope the video does him justice and the meal was very good . I was quite surprised and I will go back and I will ask for Oliver ,what a true seasoned sever . You really don’t see service like this even at...