Red Lobster — Restaurant in Kearney

Ive never had an experience this bad at this location. But after this last experience, it'll be a very long time before I come back. For starters, it was 79° in the dining room, far too warm to be comfortable. Our server, while friendly, left very much to be desired. I don't know if she's never served tables before, or if she was just having a bad time. She didn't prebus our table except for the small plates, which left our small table covered in dirty dishes. She then proceeded to put our incoming food ON TOP of said dirty dishes. Only after our drinks were fully empty with the glass almost totally melted did we get our refills. The timing on our courses was super messed up. We ordered 2 appetizers, and each of us (4 people) got an entree. We received the first app, and then 25 minutes later got the second one. Then waited over an hour for our entrees. The appetizers were good, but our entrees were foul. 2 of us got steak, ordered medium rare, and got them both far overcooked, not seasoned, and chewy. The meat on our lobster tails was about the size of my pointer finger, and the lobster and crab legs were cold and undercooked. We all finished with our meals and then waited another 20 minutes for our server to come over. We asked for the checks, and she took, AGAIN, over 20 minutes to bring them back. When we got them, they were wrong. Double charged for things, and items were split wrong. Finally, one member of the group requested a manager come to our table. The manager was very apologetic and offered a discount. She gave us 10%, a very weak discount for such a foul service. 10% is the discount most companies offer as a baseline senior citizen discount. But then we had another long wait as the server fixed the tickets and charged 2 of the cards (2 of us were going to pay cash.) We waited so long, it was so hot in the dining room, and the food was so poor that one of my group ran to the bathroom and was sick to her stomach. We spoke to the manager again and she did not make us pay for that one party members ticket. This is far beyond the worst experience I've had in a restaurant in...

Decent job overall! We waited for about 40 minutes tonight. I don't come here often because of the price. The menu is kind of weird in format which then makes it even more confusing to look at pricing. I imagine this is a corporate thing.

Speaking of the food, the stuffed mushrooms we're good. The filling was rich and the little bits of seafood (lobster or crab??) were a nice touch. The butter sauce was very rich and a bit overwhelming.

The caprese salad side was delicious! There were plenty of mozzarella balls and the dressing complimented it well. The mahi mahi was flavorful with a nice balance of flavors that paired well with the salad and broccoli.

The dragon shrimp are not for those who avoid spicy food. The flavor is good and the heat was intense, but the breading was soggy on the inside like it was underdone. The ancient grain mixture underneath wasn't the best. It tasted a bit like a box of rice pilaf.

The bar harbor lobster bake was okay. The muscles were strong in flavor and the scallops were creamy and sweet. The shrimp had a good mouth feel and we're flavorful. The lobster was weird. It was spongy and lacked all flavor of lobster. Normally, you get a pleasant, sweet, sea taste from lobster. It was somewhat off-putting and disappointing. If I'm paying $30 for this entree, I expect the lobster to be one of the main stars of the dish.

On the topic of the lobster. The lobsters in the tank seemed...dead. I counted two that actually moved some and the water was cloudy. When someone reached in for a lobster, they quickly turned and covered their nose which concerns me. I hope they were just covering a sneeze.

Our waiter was very polite and sociable. He was attentive despite having a full section and made sure we had full glasses and that our food came out in a decent amount of time. Kudos to you, Connor! Thank you for the great service.

I don't know how many of these things are local or corporate, but with a few tweaks, I would gladly consider Red Lobster again...

Since they closed the store in Lincoln, we decided on Kearney. Told at the desk it would be a 15-20 minute wait so gave name and cell number to be texted. 45 minutes later we were told we were next when we asked about the delay. From the waiting area, we counted 12 tables vacant. Still, several groups were in the lobby area. Maybe they are short on servers?

It is understandable when someone who made a reservation is seated ahead of us. When several people who arrived after us were seated ahead of us without reservation, I questioned why the delay. It has been an hour now. Staff said they called us twice. No text message was received. Our name was never called out. We were sitting almost behind the desk, the entire time. At least we will be "next" again. Two more groups were called, verbally.

After we questioned the delay (again) the manager seated us at one of the previously observed vacant tables.

18 minutes later, our obviously fairly new server finally asked us about beverages and appitizers. He questioned about the recipe for Baileys & coffee. I said I'd like a shot of Baileys in the bottom of a cup then fill the rest with coffee.

So the drink arrives. Cup FULL of coffee and there was Baileys in a shot glass. Server came with appitizers then said the food would be right out. Then 20 MORE minutes go by before the entrees arrive.

There is not a shred of toilet paper in either of the bathroom stalls.

Food was great! Server did well as a novice.

My challenge for the one star review is for the front area promising but not delivering. Two hostesses were more interested in gossiping about co-workers than paying attention to guests. Management did not acknowledge or apologize for the extensive delay even when we complained to her. I won't be coming back to this store.

When we arrived it was 6pm. When we finished and paid the bill it was 9:30 . I still have a two...