Red Lobster — Restaurant in Peru

One of the most disappointing dining experiences I've ever had. Totally understaffed, unprepared, and inept. The local Red Lobster closed, so we wanted to go to the one in Peru for my wife's birthday, with my sisters. We had a large group (13) so we called the day prior to make reservations for 5:30. They had several tables set up adjacent to a booth, crowded but we made it work. We got a round of drinks, and got our food orders in around 5:50. We sat for over an hour with just drinks and biscuits, we had to clear our own tables off to another table on the side because no one was picking up empty glasses or plates. Only one waiter for our side of the restaurant.

Food started coming out around 7, but only 2-4 dishes at a time, then 10 minutes until the next group. We ordered Crab Queso as an app, but they were out, then the waiter told daughter they ran out of ketchup!?! By the time my wife's plate came out (one of the Crab Boils, their promo), she was ready to leave. And she was the 12th plate, the waiter said my order (Lobster and salmon) had been missed entirely. I asked them to just remove it at that point, it had been over 2 hours already. He had already put it in again, but would take it off our bill, we just got it to go.

The waiter was friendly but clearly overwhelmed. He brought out desert and signed birthday cards for my wife and sister, but by then everyone just wanted to leave. He couldn't figure out the bills correctly and took more time walking them back one at a time. It was after 8 by the time we left, and that was with me and my wife taking our food to go.

We had fond memories of Red Lobster in Peoria before it closed, but this was...

Not a major fan of seafood. It was my companion's birthday. My companion had the crab fest and loved it.The biscuits were very good. I ordered the steak. It was cooked perfectly the way I requested it. I was thrilled they cooked it correctly, then I tasted It. It was so heavily peppered my mouth was on fire.I even scraped as much pepper as I could off but it was too late my mouth was already on fire. The mashed potatoes were extremely salty and in my opinion were not edible and they definitely tasted like instant potatoes. My broccoli was underseasoned to the point of being bland. I LOVE broccoli but not theirs. I was very disappointed. My companion thoroughly enjoyed his meal. They did remove the steak from my bill, but I would rather have enjoyed the steak. If I had accepted another steak I would have had to eat it alone. Since my companion would have been finished eating by the time I got my remade steak. If I return, I will have to make sure I am more careful in what I order. I am not a fan of spicy food so there were not a lot of non seafood options to choose from. I realize seafood is their specialty but not everyone in the group should have to be a fan of seafood to enjoy a meal while their friends and family enjoy...

On Dec 23rd, we made a turnaround trip to Peru, Illinois from Maryland to pick up a new car. Being exhausted from traveling all day, we were famished and were desperate to find a nice restaurant. A resident of Peru recommended a couple of local places, but after assessing these restaurants, we were not impressed. We saw the Red Lobster, but were hesitant as our experiences with Red Lobster in Maryland were horrible; as such we had not patronized this chain in over 8 years! Reluctantly, we decided to go her for dinner. GREAT CHOICE!!! We were blown away! We were seated immediately and the service was impeccable (thank you WAITRESS… sorry I can’t remember your name.) The server was so attentive, she even picked up that we were celebrating something special and congratulated us. Cheddar biscuits came immediately and the food was amazing -- we had the Harbor Lobster Bake, Shrimp & Chicken Linguini Alfredo and amazing signature drinks (Tropic Treasure and Long Island Top Shelf). In addition to the server checking on us regularly, the manager even stopped by to ensure we were having a great experience. If we are ever in Peru again, we will...