Red Lobster — Restaurant in Southaven

I have been dining at this restaurant for years and have typically had great experiences. However, today was an exceptionally terrible and disappointing visit.

The hostess at the front was welcoming and efficient, but once we were seated, everything went downhill. Our server, Breeze, displayed unprofessional behavior from the start. He stood at a distance, oddly staring at us, prompting us to ask if he planned to take our drink orders. When he finally introduced himself, he unnecessarily pointed out that his name was indeed “Breeze” and said, “Yes, that’s my name. Don’t ask me any questions about it,” before anyone had even commented. This immediately set a strange and uncomfortable tone.

His communication was filled with slang and informal language, repeatedly using phrases like “y’all” and “bro,” which made it difficult to understand him. At that point, we considered leaving but decided to stay, recognizing that everyone needs a job.

Instead of focusing on service, he spent several minutes venting about how many tables he had, his workload, and corporate issues; none of which were our concern. This was already a red flag, but it only got worse. He eventually brought bread to our table but still had not taken our drink orders or brought water. Then, rather than standing professionally, he pulled up a chair and sat down at our table to take our order, leaving his phone on our table. After 30 minutes of no progress, we had to request another server to remove it.

We specifically came for Lobsterfest, only to find out after placing our orders that they had run out of lobster. However, we noticed other tables still receiving lobster dishes, which only added to our frustration. At that point, Breeze said he needed to retake all of our orders.

We were seated at 4:15 PM, yet some of our food didn’t arrive until 6:10 PM. Even then, we still hadn’t received all of our drinks. When the server asked us again what we had ordered, we requested to speak with a manager. Breeze then launched into another tangent, clearly struggling with emotional regulation. While we understand that everyone needs to work, it’s also important to recognize when an environment is not a good fit for one’s mental well-being.

The manager, James, was completely unequipped to handle the situation. Instead of addressing our concerns, he simply blamed everything on being short-staffed, disregarding the poor behavior and lack of professionalism from our server. We understand that understaffing can cause delays, but that had nothing to do with the unacceptable service we received.

At that point, it was clear there would be no resolution. We paid for what we had and left, deeply disappointed. I absolutely would not return to...

I’m not sure what happened to the Red Lobster in Southaven, MS but last night, which was New Year’s Eve, we decided to go have dinner. It has been over a year since I’ve been to this one and since we were going at 7pm I expected it was going to be packed at this time of the evening and with it being New Year’s Eve. All the other surrounding restaurants were packed and it should have been a red flag when we pulled up and there were hardly any cars. We chose to sit at the bar and there were plenty of staff and I would say 75% if not more of the tables were empty.. so not busy at all. The bartender passed by us many times with only one other person sitting at the bar before we had to ask if we could put our drink order. Bar tops were sticky and dirty. We had to ask multiple times for silverware. I ordered a patron margarita and the first time she brought the sidecar shot, the second they didn’t so I asked for it and she asked to reuse my original cup bc they didn’t have anymore. I ordered the ultimates feast for 40+ dollars, everything was cold, my baked potato was so cold the butter would not melt and the inside was so hard I tried cutting it with a knife and could barely cut through it. My dates food was cold as well which he ordered the Endless Shrimp and the only thing warm on his plate was the shrimp scampi as it was sitting in warm butter. I the forgot my side of broccoli. I ask about it so she brings it and it was hot. I told her all of our food was cold and we both asked if we could at least get fresh baked potatoes so our butter could melt. She brings two more and the outside of them were warmer but yet the inside still cold and hard. The grilled shrimp skewers were not grilled at all and were cold and rubbery. The bartender came back and apologized and asked if we wanted water.. as water would make up for us spending $120 for two people to not eat most of the meals and what they did eat was extremely disappointing. They also had by the hostess table an flight of drinks advertised for $20 so when I asked to order that I was told they didn’t have the stuff to make it. My question was then why do you have it at the hostess desk advertising it then. The restaurant was filthy and staff just standing around. The bartender was nice .. not attentive however. I always give 20%+ tip but I only left a 10% and didn’t think that was deserving. By far the worst food and experience I’ve had to date. So my question is, is this a common experience with this Red Lobster now and is this the reason it was empty when all the other restaurants...

UPDATE: I was contacted by Debbie Hicks, Director of Operations. She restored my faith in Red Lobster guest service and recovery. She listened and took responsibility and has made it very easy for us to give Red Lobster another try. Thanks Debbie for the excellent service recovery.

Dear Sirs, we just dined at your location in Southaven MS. After seeing all the hype and press about your new 36yo CEO on tv, we thought we would give Red Lobster another try for a birthday in the family. Let me start with the good. Mirage, our server was very good and sweet and tried her level best to accommodate our needs as best she could with the team she was working with. Let me be very clear, this is not a review reflecting her. Instead, this is a call out the new CEO and the franchise operators for this location. To start with my Tito martini, slight dirty, came in a martini glass, but had sugar on the rim and tasted like a margarita. We were told all martinis at Red Lobster come that way. We returned it and ordered something else. . Next we were very excited about the new menu options that CEO Damola Adamolekun has been promoting all over national tv. It took an hour and fifteen minutes to get our meal and then it came out . This whole time we were waiting, Mirrah was apologizing every ten minutes. Now what really stood out was that the manager on duty was going around with the flashlight on her phone making sure the team member was getting all the corners in the booths. Not once did we observe her talking with any patrons about how their experience was going. Tiffany should have been talking with her guest s and paying attention to the restrooms. One person in our party was standing in so much urine in the men’s room, he had to go back and wipe the bottoms of his shoes to keep from sticking to the carpet and getting in our vehicle. Mirrah, feeling our frustration, stated that she was going to get something taken off the bill. A whopping $13.00 taken off a $172.00. I understand bringing a company back from bankruptcy, but now please focus on the guest experience and guest recovery. TRAINING! Your new menu items aren’t that groundbreaking as Crazy Crab and others have been doing this for a while. Stand out with service like it used to be. It will come back 10-fold...