Red Lobster — Restaurant in North Charleston

Tl;Dr: very long wait and food that didn't make up for it

I don't often post reviews, and when I do it's because an establishment was either amazing or just awful, and sadly, this was the latter. Unorganized staff, our waiter was behind the bar for the vast majority of our experience, and there was consistently anywhere from 3-6 people just hanging out and laughing at the host stand.

Food: ordered at roughly 7:30 pm, and food arrived at 8:45 literally as we were about to get up and just pay for our drinks. I had the NY strip, husband had a lobster tail/salmon/shrimp entree I don't remember the name of. My steak was fine, although very gristle-y, however my husband's meal was overcooked across the board, and unfortunately we had waited over an hour just to receive any food (one basket of biscuits arrived at our table around 20-30 minutes after we were sat, but aside from that we were both starving), so rather than send it back and risk waiting another hour, he ate it and we left.

Service: we expected a busy restaurant. It's Friday, we weren't in a rush by any means, but with our waiter apparently also being a bartender, we saw him exactly three times after sitting: once to order, once to get our drinks, and once to get our food. Stopped by once to refill a drink before running off again, we had to stop him as he rushed past to ask for more biscuits so we could at least have something to eat, and didn't see him again until he brought our entrees out, sans biscuits. Also, didn't really seem like the place was very full at all, so unless like half the staff just didn't show up, I genuinely have no idea what excuse there could be for us waiting over a hour from ordering to get our food.

Atmosphere: I don't wanna be at work when I'm there. Let's be honest, we'd all rather be at home doing things we enjoy, but especially in service jobs when you're interfacing with the public, you have to kind of grin and bear it, but it was very obvious nobody wanted to be there. Saw very few staff out on the floor and when our drinks first came to our table, what looked like a 15 year old girl was serving them and she realized she had no idea which was which so rather than just give us our sodas and let us figure it out, she took them back, dumped them out, and poured them again. Kind of a non issue in the face of everything else I guess, but... Come on, man..

Overall: I'm really just disappointed on so many levels. My husband and I are young, both working, and we don't get to go out often. We fully understand and respect how hard food service workers work and that they aren't always treated or paid well, but when we decide to splurge and try to have a nice date night, I would expect us both to get something we enjoy eating, otherwise we'd just cook at home and get the meal done a lot faster. This was my first time ever at a red lobster and sadly I can say with 100% confidence we will not be returning to...

Well I arrived at this location specifically getting here around 315 to beat the dinner rush. I wanted to have a nice lunch/ dinner with my son who was excited to get the popcorn shrimp. Since they were currently doing the endless shrimp I figured I would partake in that. When we were sat there was an older couple who were sat just before us. They were being taking care of by the manager while we had a lady who was pretty up in age. Now the fact of her age is only being brought out because it seemed that it was a little bit too much for her to handle having two tables on one end of the restaurant and the rest of her tables at the other end no. You visited our table five times during our over an hour dining experience. I spent more time harassing other wait staff for drinks, rolls and condiments then I ever saw her. The other table she was waiting on finished way before we did and had to contact the manager just to pay their bill since she rarely came to our side of the restaurant. The second time she came to the table she explained that the roles were in the oven and would be out shortly... Not long after I watched the older couple being taken care of by the manager received two baskets before I ever received my one. I was highly disappointed when she returned with one basket and I asked if I could have some more since she only brought three in the basket and I knew I would want more. The look of I was asking too much of her was evident on more than one trip whether it was the rolls or my drink. I do feel bad that this waitress was having to do this and didn't want to complain to the manager since it might get her in trouble. When my food arrived it was missing the side and when I explained that my baked potato was not here I was told the baked potatoes were also in the oven. At no point was my side ever brought and he definitely gave me attitude the two times I asked for refills on my shrimp much less my drinks. It has been two years since I visited this establishment and I probably will never go back based on wasting over an hour with someone who obviously did not want my business. I was impressed though at how well the manager took care of the people across from me... It made me wish I was having...

When you enter a restaurant and the host who is the usually the 1st person to greet you doesn’t even make eye contact… please just leave! That’s what I should have done! So yes I recently had one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had here in Charleston! As we entered the restaurant the host was leaning down scribble something down on a board… she didn’t look up one time and she definitely didn’t say hello! A young man who was waiting tables came over and ask how many people is in the party, I told him 3 and he proceeded to take us to our seat! On the way there was this odor that was out of this world (why didn’t we leave at this point), is still baffling to me. I couldn’t tell if the odor was coming from the carpet or the booth, either way it made everyone at the table loose their appetite! The only Great thing was, we didn’t have to wait long to be seated ( that was the highlight of the dinner). So 3rd if you are sitting more than 10 mins and NO ONE comes to say 1 word to you please do yourself a favor and leave (I wish we would have) ok so finally after waiting approximately 15 mins… a Waitress by the name Zaria comes over and starts telling us she was confuse and unaware that she was our waitress… ok cool no problem, things happen! Well Let’s talk about a few things that took place! Zaria bring our drinks over and said she’ll Be right back with straws… if we would have waited on Zaria, we would have been dehydrated, trying to eat biscuits with nothing to wash it down with, needless to say we had to flag down another waiter to bring us straws 10 mins later! Ok let’s talk about the food… I guess Red Lobster has never claimed to have fresh seafood so can’t be mad that it’s frozen food pre made food! Lastly the Women’s restroom looked like it was destroyed! At the need of the day I wanted to try out this old classic and give it another shot! It’s always been a go to place for some pretty descent seafood and with all the new hype I said well it has to be better! I was so wrong, this old classic has taken a turn for the worst! It’s not what I remembered and loved! I hope y’all can turn things around...