Red Lobster — Restaurant in Hot Springs

We walked in. Myself and husband and 2 teens. We aren’t picky people. We waited 25 minutes before getting waters and sweet tea. Seriously. I usually walkout but we had Been taking for weeks about crab legs. Anyway. Waitress comes. And checked her phone as we were ordering. Then asked us to go again. Anyway. We ordered an appetizer which we never tried. The Rangoon. It looked bad and to the touch was cold so we figured it was disgusting but came out cold and actually after our food. I tried to cancel but our waitress never came back. Someone else brought us drinks, someone different brought our food and we never had anyone check back so we left. We spent 1:39 minutes at this restaurant and had one drink. No refill. Salad which was just nothing really and one biscuit each. We ordered pasta and shrimp. Nothing that takes a long time. It was not crowded. Never is. But we waited for 7 minutes at the bar to talk to a manager and thennjust left. Put 30$ on the table hoping that covered the 2 waters, one sweet tea and one coke, 2 side salads not great and 4 biscuits. It was bad. The worst is that I had to beg my family to come back. The time before we came around May for my bday I ordered crab legs. Some weren’t even cooked. Seriously. They microwave it so that’s bad but anyway I would hold the leg up to the light and you could see that half of it if not more was empty. Just so disgusting and disappointing. I tried to give them a pass right. We all have ups and downs. Red Pier was weird but good so good. Red Lobster is a huge chain by Darden Inc. it’s just disappointing honestly. Even the location in LR was bad. Just not what we grew up on I guess. Kroger will boil and make excellent crab legs for half the price. I’ve mastered the shrimp pasta recipe and everything else there is microwaved and dropped quickly in a deep fryer or whatever. So. Just better to make it yourself. I don’t take 2 hours for a salad and bead...

Our waitress was the ONLY plus to our date day dinner. We hadn't been there for several years and thought it would be nice to go. The restaurant was nearly empty at around 4pm when we arrived. We were soon taken to a small booth near the back in the corner. Our waitress Taytum took excellent care of us from start to end. That's where all of the good experience ends. Both meals were over cooked. My wife's lobster was rubberized. The Salmon and shrimp had been grilled which was exactly what my wife said she didn't want. My simple fish and chips meal was dark and dripping with old fryer oil. It was bad...all of it!! Not to mention, there were no fewer than 2 different tables of folks that simply just got up and left before ordering. I heard staff arguing and really didn't see anybody other than our waitress. The restaurant smells bad and is dirty from ceiling tiles down to the carpet. We only stayed because my wife's diabetes had caused her sugar to plummet so she needed food/drink. I'm disgusted by how great this place used to be to how really bad it is now. Our waitress did all she could do by replacing my wife's meal with something else and removing the other meal from our bill. I honestly didn't complain there because my wife was stressed out enough. Also, even the meal that replaced my wife's first meal was overcooked and had a strange taste. I know because ate it later that evening because my wife didn't want it at all. Again, NONE of this was due to our waitress not doing her job. I happily gave her a $20 tip for her service and I absolutely reluctantly paid the rest of the bill. I DO NOT RECOMMEND anyone go here for any reason (even the bathrooms...

We arrived early (plans for later) were seated and greeted promptly, and the staff was extremely friendly. That and the biscuits, which I don't usually eat, were the best part of the experience. It took 'someone' 30 minutes to notify me they were out of salmon, (the restaurant wasn't busy, so no way did they run out during dinner hours), and the stuffed mushrooms appetizer was swimming in separated butter. The tilapia (substitute for salmon) wasn't seasoned, shrimp and lobster wasn't 'fired' properly, and I didn't receive my rice pilaf. My companion also didn't receive ordered mashed potatoes, but a baked one smothered in sour cream. By the time our meal was brought to our table, we only had time to take a couple bites and box the rest, plus we were late arriving at our other destination. Keep in mind, we were only a couple miles from either, and there were lots of servers standing around while two or three were too busy to keep up their stations. In addition, the prices were exorbitant for the food quality. Unfortunately, we will not be returning.

P.S. The generous tip (above what's recommended) should not be shared with the...