Red Lobster — Restaurant in Visalia

My husband, myself and my 2 grandsons 21 and 23 yrs old had been on the road for 4 hours and stopped at your Visalia restaurant for lunch. We had to wait a while at the front before anyone took us to our table. We ordered drinks, I ordered lemonade, she brought the drinks but told me they had no lemonade and the biscuits were in the oven and would bring us some when they were ready. She brought out three biscuits for four people and they were raw. My husband asked if we could have biscuits that were not raw, we did get them along with an attitude and those were also raw. My husband and I ordered the endless Clam Chowder and got one bowl each, never asked us if we wanted more which was fine because it was cold and watered down. My 23 yr old grandson ordered mozzarella cheese sticks and asked for ranch dressing which he got after he had finished the cheese sticks. The meal that he ordered (surf and turf) was fine exactly what he ordered but the 21 yr old was told they didn’t have Bisque soup. That was not what he ordered, he ordered the Sailors platter (I think that’s what it was called) so she had to put that order in and we had to wait for it. While we were waiting my husband ordered another beer, the waitress came back and said they had no more Budweiser. By the time my grandson got his meal we were all done and he ended asking for a box to go. Through all this our waitress didn’t come by to ask if we needed anything except in the end to ask if we were paying by cash or card. This all took place at about 11:30 the restaurant opens at 11:00 not many customers yet no reason whey they would have run out of lemonade or beer and the biscuits under cooked. We were not even offered a discount for the inconvenience our bill was $137 and change. We eat at your restaurant quite frequently and needless to say we will not be eating there anymore. We were very...

Took nearly 5 minutes for anyone to notice us at the front counter, they weren't busy, just not looking. After that service was great. The food however was a mixed bag. Biscuits great, salad fantastic, soup wonderful.

The meal that included salmon and steak ordered medium, went bad the moment the waiter stopped to ask if we wanted A1 sauce. Sometimes foreshadowing can be relatively obvious. Everything looked good, but appearances were deceiving as the well prepared salmon tasted freezer-burnt or fishy in a way you don't usually get in salmon, but just off from that even.

The steak though, needed the A1 sauce, or maybe ketchup, or maybe a grinder. It was 100% a grade B cut, and cooked in what I can only imagine was a crockpot. It wasn't tough, it wasn't overcooked, it was well-done hamburger meatloaf that tasted so dry and flavorless - you could have convinced me it was some kind of experimental meatless product.

You know how they say a good cut of steak doesn't need to be seasoned? Our steak needed to be layered with dry rub and flour, then fried to make palatable. I wasn't expecting the salmon and steak to be top notch from a lobster place by any means ... but the far cheaper IKEA food court salmon, and Denny's steak, are unbelievably more appealing than what we were served.

I don't think the problem is any one thing, but I know that after all this, the thing that made me the most upset, was $4 for my soda. For a place that charges as much as it does for premium food, you think they could take less profit on a simple soft drink. The other good food we experienced was enough to bring us back, but that $4 each soda, will just be the tip to my delivery driver when I order just the pre-dinner food that was actually...

This last Tuesday was my mothers 98 birthday. She wanted to go to Red Lobster. Previously I knew they would not take reservations so left work bit early to see if they could accommodate us. (16). At 4 pm i spoke tothe girl at the front desk who got flustered and said they couldn't that day, because there were too many people. She would have to check with her manager. ( she delayed going to talk with her manager) in the mean time the young man at the desk was great. Tried to figure out how to help. I told her were weren't all here but would like to come st 6pm. She evidently didn't connect the time. Then she told me that they did take reservations, two days in advance ,or even the day before or that morning. But that they could set up. When we arrived at 6 for the surprise dinner we were informed they would not seat us until everyone was there. And yes there is always that one that is late. But there were few places to sit in the entry that were not taken. My husband and I are 76 /75 with dome health issues and to dit and wait was a bit stressful. The rest of the family arrived and we were seated in a very public and busy place next to the kitchen. Not a goid place for conversation at all. Then when ordering there were several things that had run out. Drinks salad dressings. Your famous biscuits arrived. Only one per person. We requested more please. Dinner arrived with the main course along with the salad and soup then immediately the main course. There were way to many plates on the table. All three that ordered soup received them cold. Our server was gracious and apologetic. The bill was over $500. It ended up a very stressful dinner out with what should have been a sweet surprise event for a mother who...