Red Lobster — Restaurant in Mesa

I have been an avid fan of Red Lobster, probably since they first opened their doors to fish and seafood lovers in my home state of Florida back in 1968 and I have surprised and dismayed myself as not having social media appraised any of the dozens of locations I have patronized coast to coast. It goes to show they’ve done quite of bit right for many years. And many have come to enjoy visiting their Nationwide accessibility. Now they are amid Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, and it’s not just bad for them, but it could be disastrous for us fish and seafood lovers and connoisseurs across the country. Their fine attention to quality, reasonably moderate prices, great dining establishments, splendid service and giving the opportunity for we fish and seafood enthusiasts and our pockets. They’ve also been habitat conscious through their Global Ghost Gear Initiative and the Trash Free Seas Alliance. Locally, this location of Red Lobster has been the most frequent of ours over the last few years. We’ve enjoyed the likes of starters such as: some fab Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms; very nicely prepped Breaded Calamari; a really, really, really good Lobster Dip with Spinach, Artichoke and a few different cheeses; not to mention a very good Crab Queso, perfect with their chips. My wife and I being seafood lovers have had the opportunity to enjoy main courses that have included: tender yet crispy outside Cod Fish and Chips; Fried or Stuffed Flounder – always fresh and tender; great offerings of Maine Lobster (can’t get it any less expensive anywhere); Grilled Scallop and Shrimp; a wonderful rendition of Shrimp & Grits; and some very, very good pasta versions of Cajun Chicken Linguini or Shrimp Alfredo. This is not to say that the myriads of other offerings are not above par, the beers, cocktails and refreshments from the bar, as well as other items like steak and chicken have always been above average. In closing, if Red Lobster has learned their lesson that all-you-can-eat shrimp was not profitable (although nice for the consumer, something we can live without!) and overall can improve Lobsters operational management and finances, we may be able to enjoy Red Lobster for a while. Hopefully it will be a long, long time. Kudos Lobster, good luck, good management and great fishing, we hope you’ll be around for a long time to come....

Three stars is good for "meh", right? We just did not have a great Red Lobster experience this week. We got seated right away, so that was good. The greeters were smiley. That was good, too. And the ambiance is about what we expect for a Red Lobster, nothing spectacular, but clean and fine. Unfortunately, that's kind of where the positive parts of this review stop.

Let's start with the service because it doesn't take long to say 'lame'. Our waiter seemed like a sweet boy, but he was not good at his job. He came to take our order and someone else delivered it. He asked how we were doing at the very end of the meal, at which time we asked for boxes, not because we were full. I'll get back to that in a minute. When we needed him for any reason throughout the meal, we had to flag him down. One of our party said WE needed more water, but only he got a refill. We never saw him again until we were ready to leave, but we still asked for the water refills because we were AT a restaurant and suffering from thirst. It really was not acceptable.

Then we get to the food. Oh dear. That is, after all, what we went for. The popcorn shrimp and the fried chicken on the children's menu came out great. The adults, however, were served things we couldn't eat. The cod was overdone, dry and bendable. Not flaky. Cod is supposed to be flaky. The scallops were very underdone, and the lobster was completely raw. Raw. I did not order sushi. It was limp and translucent. We didn't trust our disappearing waiter to get the food fixed properly, so we took it home to cook the seafood. We didn't take the leathery cod home.

Oh and the biscuits were delicious, as always. They really should be served with butter, though, so we don't have to ask for it every single time.

Honestly, we'll probably return to Red Lobster at some point, but this visit certainly will make us wait a while before that...

There are little things that an eating establishment can do to make the dining experience special so customers return. Red Lobster did it a couple of weeks ago. They have 2 chicken dishes on the menu, one,

Cajun Chicken Linguini Alfredo $19.99 | 1190 Calories

And the other,

New! Parmesan-Crusted Chicken $19.99 | 650 Calories

I really wanted Alfredo, but not Cajun. So I asked if they could put the parmesan chicken breast on the Alfredo. I mean, the cost of the items were the same. They did it. I was overjoyed. The waiter as well as the manager got a tip.

Fast forward to last Friday night. We were really tired and hungry. Got there at 4:15 before it got busy. Asked for the same thing. A Different manager was on duty and came over and said, we can’t do that. I explained that 2 weeks ago you could. She said they were 2 different dishes prepared differently and would not do it, so we left. So, we headed to one of our favorite spots, Carrabba’s. I asked if they could do the breaded chicken breast instead of the wood fire grilled chicken on my Chicken Alfredo, and they were very willing to do that.

Another place that will go out of their way is Firebirds. I like the salad that goes with the Ahi Tuna Salad better than what’s below the Grilled Tenderloin salad. They have no problem putting the steak on the tuna mix of greens.

This is what separates a good from a mediocre place.

I was in the food business for years. I know what can be done to make the customer happy without compromising anything so customers keep coming back for more. It usually doesn’t take much. Red Lobster fails at this!

Not much of a request nowadays with the menu prices being high and the quality of...