Red Lobster — Restaurant in Winchester

Review from Jan. 30, 2022: The whole point of ordering curbside is to not have to go inside the establishment. Unfortunately, 1 item in my order was incorrect, so I had to go in. My receipt clearly said, "1 Cocktail Shrimp..." but I received 4 cooked shrimp on a skewer. I was told something about the item appearing under the "GRILLED" area on the receipt causing the issue (hmmm...to me, looks like a completely separate line item on the receipt--see for yourself)...ok, well whatever happened, don't I deserve something extra for free for having to leave my vehicle to get the issue resolved? Not to mention that I didn't complain about my order not being ready at 6:25 as promised (see the included screenshots of the texts). I'm disappointed about what I perceive to be a lack of caring for the customer--in comparison to how other establishments have shown care after making a mistake (e.g., free fries at McDonald's and Chick-fil-a,  and an appetizer at Outback  - without asking for it!). I was going to ask for something free because of the issues but then I decided not to because it should have been offered without me having to ask...and that told me exactly how they felt about my patronizing their business...they don't care. If you mess up, apologize and offer something equivalent to the mistake - in this case, a dessert or some extra biscuits...or, they could have let me keep the 4 cooked shrimp on the skewer...I wonder what happened to those...and last but not least, I didn't order any rice at all but somehow, there was some on my salmon - see the picture (again, didn't care to make sure my meal was appealing; made me wonder if my salmon was leftover from someone else's plate).

OLDER Review of Same Restaurant: The broccoli, salad, shrimp, and salmon were tasty (those and the wonderful server are the only reasons for giving 3 stars), but the flounder and 1 lb. of crab legs was nothing. I had 1 lb. and my husband had his own 1 lb. Each time we broke open a crab leg, there was barely anything in it. I really wish I had remembered to take a picture of the small plate of 1 lb. of crab legs before I started eating them to show the proof of how small the portion was (it looked like 1/2 lb. to me). I did not think of taking a picture until later after I had broken open so many crab legs only to find very small pieces of meat, part of which is in one of the pictures you see with this review. This small portion with barely any meat became even more disappointing to us about two weeks later, when we went to a seafood place in Gainesville (on route 29) and asked for 1 lb. of crab legs. At THIS place, we got our money's worth (and I DID take a picture before eating so my review for THAT restaurant has the nice portion of what truly looks like 1 lb.)! This was the last stake in the coffin; we don't plan on eating at Red Lobster anymore. That was the third time we gave them a chance to redeem themselves. The servers at BOTH places were stellar, but for the money spent, the place in Gainesville is waaaaay better. We will be going there...

The food was what kept us. Our server was not on her game last night…. We sat down and when our 7th person had to sit on the isle while the rest was sitting in the booth was frustrating… when I mentioned the issue our server became defensive and said rudely how that was something we needed to speak with the front about. Now when a table sits down, if they are not comfortable, why not ask if they would like to move where they would be? Common sense or courtesy, either way, the attitude rubbed me wrong and that set the entire mood… we had no silverware for the longest time, and my husband walked to another table to retrieve that! It truly felt as if the server couldn’t handle a 7 top. We got endless shrimp and to ask for it was like pulling nails. I’ve never felt so disappointed in an establishment. The manager was at the bar a lot and had an issue with another server. It was quite slow but we still had only received one refill to our drinks. My mother in law asked for a small container to go, the server told her how endless shrimp wasn’t something they allow to go but she would this time… I understand and agree with that statement, but if she (our server) would have paid attention, she would have noticed our mother got sick at the table and left to go to the restroom to clean up…. She would have noticed the napkins shoved in the cup.. or the big pile of them on the table. So very disappointed in Red Lobster. The only reason that I gave two stars was for the food. It tasted good!

I’m not the one to not tip…. Before anything gets twisted… she did get a 20% tip bc I’ve been in this industry for 20 years or so… she has bills too, I get it…. But don’t take your attitude out on the customers. If a manager would have just touched base with us… there were other things wrong but these were the issues...

I used to love Red Lobster, unfortunately, current corporate rules means my family cannot eat there as they will not allow a table more than 8, despite the VA mandate being against groups above 10. In addition, we had to visit on two different days because the first day they were too crowded and had over an hour wait, and so they suggested coming back the next day, which we did. They did not mention the seating rule at the time. When we returned the next day, we were seated and then almost immediately after we had our drink orders taken we were "greeted" by the manager and told we would have to break up into two tables or leave. They would not allow us to sit together, despite our party being only 4 adults and five children ages between 6 and 2. The youngest of which was in a highchair. The manager was very rude and would not even comp our drinks, which were not delivered until moments before we left. Ultimately, we will not be returning. Edit: as requested, I attempted to enter my complaint on the form provided, however, the site does not actually allow me to submit my information and instead keeps saying I did not provide all the required information despite filling out every possible cell with the requested...