Lobster Chef — Restaurant in San Mateo

I took advantage of the restaurant’s “buy one pound, get one pound free” promo on shrimp and crawfish, ordering 2 lb of each (expecting 4 lb total). At home I weighed the food (with sauce/packaging) and got only about 3 lbs. This raises a red flag: it didn’t feel like a simple mistake or misunderstanding, but rather a misleading promotion. In fact, consumer protection laws forbid this kind of bait-and-switch. The FTC Act declares that unfair or deceptive acts in commerce are unlawful. The FTC’s Pricing Guidelines expressly warn that if a seller “increases his regular price … or decreases the quantity” in a “buy one–get one free” deal, “the consumer may be deceived”

Those rules require that whenever a “free” or “2-for-1” offer is advertised, “all the terms and conditions of the offer should be made clear at the outset”

Likewise, California law bans false or misleading ads. Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500 makes it unlawful to advertise with any statement “which is untrue or misleading” or to use such statements in a scheme not to sell at the advertised price

California’s Unfair Competition Law (§ 17200) likewise prohibits any “unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice” and includes deceptive advertising under that ban

In short, these laws are meant to stop exactly this sort of misleading promotion. Given all that, the shortfall here looks like more than an honest mistake. If repeatedly delivering less seafood than advertised during promos is a pattern, it suggests a deliberate attempt to mislead customers. I’m calling on the restaurant to review its practices and honor its deals truthfully. Customers deserve transparency: honest promotions and accurate weights so people get what they paid for. Others should be aware of this experience. Accountability is essential to maintain trust and ensure that advertised deals genuinely...

I’ve been searching and trying out seafood boil restaurants in the area, and Lobster Chef is definitely the best around. The service is great and the restaurant is well kept, clean and inviting. The prices are comparable to others around and they have an all you can eat buffet option that’s a no brainer. Their sauce is very flavorful and light. I don’t like chunky and thick sauces so I was so happy with Lobster Chef. I’ll definitely be coming back and recommend it to...

I ordered the combo 3 for take out which comes with 1 lb of shrimp, 1lb of crawfish, 1 sausage and a choice of 1 lb of mussels or clams for $45. It was nice that they provided bibs and paper to eat on so that you don’t make a huge mess when eating. Food was decent. The flavor was good, but I wish there was garlic in the sauce like most places I’ve been to. I also feel like they were light on the seafood. It definitely didn’t feel like 1 lb of shrimps...