Red Lobster — Restaurant in Indianapolis

Our group of three visited the Red Lobster in Castleton on Saturday, February 1st, at 6:00 PM, and unfortunately, our experience was less than satisfactory.

Upon arrival, the host station appeared disorganized and overwhelmed, despite the restaurant being only slightly over half full with numerous empty tables. The host at the station barely acknowledged arriving guests and was not welcoming. This initial impression set the stage for a frustrating evening.

While our server was polite and helpful, the service was exceptionally slow. We placed our order and were informed that the biscuits would be out shortly. "Shortly" turned into 15 minutes, with the server eventually refilling the biscuit basket twice while we waited for our main courses.

After a staggering 50+-minute wait, we inquired about our food. We were told that a large party had caused a kitchen backlog. Our server then disappeared for 20 minutes, forcing us to flag down another server who offered the same backlog excuse. Finally, after more than an hour, our food arrived. When asked if everything looked alright, we expressed our dissatisfaction with the excessive wait time. The server apologized and said he would speak to a manager.

However, no manager ever approached our table. Instead, we witnessed a manager visit the table behind us (who arrived after us) to apologize for their wait time. This added to our feeling of mismanagement and frustration.

Adding to the frustration, the busser repeatedly sprayed a cleaner so heavily that it created a lingering cloud you could taste. We had to ask a passing server to intervene and request that the busser refrain from spraying while we were eating. The server apologized, stating that this practice was not permitted, and said they would address the issue.

After nearly two hours at the restaurant, we requested the check. Our server inquired if a manager had spoken to us, and we explained that no one had. He then checked with someone and returned with a discount on our bill. While appreciated, it didn't make up for our lost time and the overall poor experience.

Beyond the slow service and mismanagement, the cleanliness of the restaurant was also a concern. The floor in our section was littered with wrappers and crumbs. This visible mess raised questions about the overall cleanliness and food safety practices of the establishment.

Overall, our visit to the Castleton Red Lobster was extremely disappointing. This was a stark contrast to previous positive experiences at this location. The disorganization, slow service, lack of managerial response, and cleanliness issues created a negative impression of a mismanaged...

From the beginning I wondered if this experience was going to be a good one because of the big generic NOW HIRING sign by the road. I mentioned to my wife, “I hope this not a sign of things to come”. I’ll cut some slack because of Veterans Day, but the immediate look of the manager and people waiting and host stand told me this was going to be a long night. The hostess initially said it would be a 15-20 minute wait which is doable on a Friday night , but as other walked up to check in I overheard the manager telling those people it would be close to an hour. This was worrying so 35-40 minutes later we finally got a table. The weird thing was as we walked back we got seated in a far corner with multiple empty booths and tables around us which lead my wife I thinking what was going on with such a big wait. Our server Patrick was a nice guy, but I’m not sure why everything he did took 10-15 minutes before he would check back on us. My wife and I ordered a salad, however my salad came and hers did not. The entrees for our table and the tables around us came out before the appetizers and the food speed from the kitchen did not seem to be the issue. The whole reason we came was I wanted the endless shrimp and I was a little disappointed to only get a couple orders of it because of the massive amount of time it took for our server to return back to even check on our table. Luckily another server(whom I could tell was much faster and efficient) noticed me looking toward him and asked how I was doing. I think his name was Josh, but he was VERY attentive and was able to get me a shrimp refill in like 60 seconds, which tells me the cooks were not the issue.

Overall first impressions from the night was poor morale with the staff and the manager barely being able to use the computer by the host stand. The other BIG issue was the smell of the area around our booth. It smelled like old restaraunt uniforms. It’s a specific smell that you would only know from working in the industry previously. It literally smelled like the area hadn’t had a deep clean in over a year. The ONLY reason I would ever come back again would be to give it another shot with Josh as our server and because our daughter liked looking at the lobsters. Price was a little steep as well for the service that was provided.

EDIT the waiter I referenced that did a great job his name is actually Joey not Josh. He’s the...

Before I start the review I think a couple of important things to consider is that I am visiting a chain seafood restaurant, and is no where near a body of water. The bar for quality of seafood in the midwest should be bumped down. So, take my review in whatever light you like, but those two things are factors.

Please note: I’m excluding the biscuits from the review because we all know they’re great.

I stopped in for the endless shrimp. I’m not sure that I have ever been to this location, but the interior of building was pleasant; maybe it was renovated. Hostesses were talking amongst themselves for some time before we were acknowledged and seated. Our server, attentive and helpful, was patient with us fumbling around the menu to figure out what we wanted. She performed well throughout our visit.

1st order:

Breaded shrimp - smaller size shrimp, freshly fried. Not freshly battered I would assume. The batter was underwhelming. I’m sure that is so it may appeal to all age groups. Would love to see a different breading option.

Shrimp Linguini Scampi - Not a terrible dish. Small shrimps in a little tasteful bowl. Small amount of garlic on top.

Mashed Potatoes - I actually thought this was the best thing on the plate. Which is weird because it’s not the star of the show. Good consistency and perfectly seasoned to my liking.

My next couple plates of shrimp were another breaded with a spicy glaze and then grilled teriyaki. The breaded shrimp just isn’t worth mentioning because it reminds me of food meant for kids. However the grilled skewered shrimp is the way to go. It actually tastes great. With grill flavor and bit more shrimp meat than the breaded option.

Would I come here again? Of course, but only for endless shrimp. The price you pay for seafood in terms of what you get would never be worth it to me. We’re in Indiana. That should mean something to people and be in the back of your mind when you order from here. I actually did enjoy most of the food. The service provided for me was great. 3...