Red Lobster facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Genre | Casual dining |
| Founded | January 18, 1968 Lakeland, Florida, US |
| Founders | Bill Darden Charley Woodsby |
| Headquarters | Orlando, Florida, US |
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Number of locations
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545 (2025) |
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Area served
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Key people
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Damola Adamolekun (CEO) |
| Products | |
| Revenue | US$2.6 billion (2018) |
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Number of employees
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55,000 |
| Parent | Darden Restaurants/General Mills Restaurants (1970–2014) Golden Gate Capital (2014–2020) Thai Union Group (2020–2024) RL Investor Holdings (2024–present) |
Red Lobster is a popular American restaurant chain that serves seafood. Its main office is in Orlando, Florida. You can find Red Lobster restaurants in many parts of the United States, Canada, and even in countries like Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, and Thailand. For a while, a company called Golden Gate Capital owned Red Lobster. Later, a seafood company named Thai Union Group bought a large part of Red Lobster.
In May 2024, Red Lobster closed many of its restaurants. The company then asked for special legal protection to help it reorganize its business. This happened after they got over $100 million from their lenders. Red Lobster also made an agreement to sell itself, with its lenders helping to manage the company.
Contents
History of Red Lobster Restaurants
How Red Lobster Started and Grew
The very first Red Lobster restaurant opened its doors on January 18, 1968. It was located in Lakeland, Florida. Two business owners, Bill Darden and Charley Woodsby, started it.
The first restaurant was called "Harbor for Seafood Lovers." After its success, four more restaurants opened in the southern United States. In 1970, a big company called General Mills bought Red Lobster. With this new support, the restaurant chain grew very quickly in the 1980s.
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Red Lobster expanded into Canada in the 1980s. They often bought locations from other steakhouse chains there. Today, Red Lobster usually has about 25 to 30 restaurants in Canada. Most of these are in bigger cities in Ontario. There are also some in the Prairie provinces like Calgary and Winnipeg. Red Lobster left the Quebec market in 1997. They also do not have restaurants in British Columbia or the Maritime provinces.
In 1991, Red Lobster introduced its famous garlic cheese biscuits. These biscuits became so popular that they were named Cheddar Bay Biscuits in 1996. A culinary leader named Kurt Hankins created them.
Bill Darden, one of the founders, passed away on March 29, 1994. He was 75 years old.
In 1995, Red Lobster became part of Darden Restaurants, Inc.. This happened when General Mills decided to make Darden an independent company.
New Designs and Changes
In 2009, Red Lobster showed off a new restaurant design. It was called the "Bar Harbor" prototype. This design looked like buildings from coastal New England. The outside had shingle and stone towers. It also featured signal flags and Adirondack-style benches. Inside, the restaurants had dark wood, warm fabrics, soft lighting, and nautical decorations.
On December 19, 2013, Darden Restaurants announced a plan. They wanted to sell or separate the Red Lobster brand. This decision came because investors were putting pressure on Darden.
On May 12, 2014, Darden said they would turn some Red Lobster and Olive Garden locations into only Olive Garden restaurants. A few days later, on May 16, 2014, Darden announced they would sell Red Lobster. The seafood chain was sold to Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion. The sale was completed on July 28, 2014. As part of the deal, Red Lobster sold the land for 500 of its restaurants. They then rented the land back to help pay for the purchase. By 2023, these rent payments were very high.
On August 6, 2014, Red Lobster announced its new main office location. It moved to the CNL Center City Commons in Orlando. On March 6, 2015, the new Restaurant Support Center officially opened. In 2016, the seafood supplier Thai Union bought a 25 percent share in Red Lobster. They later bought the rest of the company from Golden Gate Capital in 2020.
Recent Challenges and Reorganization
In March 2024, Jonathan Tibus became Red Lobster's new CEO. He had experience helping other companies through difficult times. Officials at Red Lobster were looking for ways to save the company. They considered different plans, including reorganizing or finding a new buyer.
On April 16, 2024, news reports said Red Lobster was getting ready to file for special legal protection. This was due to issues like high rent costs and employee wages. The company planned to end some leases that were not doing well. They also wanted to deal with other long-term agreements and rising labor costs. Red Lobster expected to keep operating normally during this process.
On May 13, 2024, Red Lobster suddenly closed some restaurants. These closures happened in 28 different states. This included all locations in the Buffalo area and most in the Orlando area. Auctions were held to sell the equipment from these closed restaurants.
On May 20, 2024, Red Lobster officially filed for legal protection. They had secured over $100 million from their lenders. The company also made an agreement to sell itself. This would allow its lenders to manage the company. This plan would help Red Lobster get money and reduce its large debt. On May 23, 2024, Red Lobster announced that its Canadian operations would also seek similar protection. They planned to close some underperforming Canadian locations.
On June 6, 2024, Red Lobster announced more potential closures. If their reorganization plan was approved, up to 129 more locations might close permanently. This included their restaurant in Times Square, New York City. On June 12, the hip hop artist Flavor Flav became a spokesperson for Red Lobster. He had previously ordered the entire menu to support the company. In his first commercial, he announced that CrabFest would return.
On June 14, it was reported that Fortress Investment Group was interested in helping Red Lobster. This investment firm wanted to help the company recover. They looked at which areas would be best for Red Lobster's comeback. That same day, Red Lobster Canada asked a court to approve its sale process. This would help the company keep its operations in Canada going. On June 18, an Ontario court approved the sale procedure for Red Lobster Canada.
On August 25, 2024, Red Lobster announced 23 more restaurant closures. These were set to happen by August 31. On August 26, Damola Adamolekun was named the new CEO of Red Lobster. He replaced Jonathan Tibus.
On September 5, 2024, a court approved Red Lobster's reorganization plan. A group of investors called RL Investor Holdings bought the company. Red Lobster officially exited its legal protection on September 16, 2024.
Promotions and Special Deals
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In 2003, Red Lobster had a special "endless snow crab leg" promotion. This was the second time they offered it. The promotion caused their parent company, Darden Restaurants, to lose $3 million. This led to the departure of the company president.
This promotion happened when wholesale crab leg prices were very high. The chain also did not expect how many times customers would ask for more. Also, customers spent a lot of time at their tables cracking crab legs. This made waiting times longer and reduced how many customers could be served each hour.
In 2020, Red Lobster introduced a new Daily Deals menu. This included "Endless Shrimp Mondays" and other special offers.
In June 2023, Red Lobster brought back "Ultimate Endless Shrimp." This deal was usually offered for a limited time in the autumn. But this time, they made it a permanent menu item. For $20, guests could order two shrimp dishes to start. Then, they could keep ordering until they were full. This deal caused Red Lobster to lose $11 million in earnings that year. The company did not expect so many customers to take advantage of a deal that did not make much profit. Because of this, Red Lobster raised the price of the deal twice. It went from $20 to $22, and then to $25.
Menu Items
Red Lobster is known for its seafood. This includes crab, fish, lobster, mollusks, and shrimp. They also serve chicken, desserts, pasta, and steak.
Lobster Bisque Discussion
In February 2016, a TV show called Inside Edition reported something about Red Lobster's lobster bisque. They said that Red Lobster used a mix of less expensive langostino along with Maine lobster in its recipe.
Restaurant Locations
As of February 13, 2025, Red Lobster had 514 restaurants around the world. These locations are in 44 U.S. state|states in the United States. They are also in Canada, Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, and Thailand.
Images for kids
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The Red Lobster in Kitchener, Ontario (2013). This is one of the Ponderosa remakes, as are most Red Lobsters in Canada
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The Red Lobster in London, Ontario (2013). This one is also a Ponderosa remake, and also has an addition to the right, as it was added on when the Dundas location in London closed, around the late 80s.
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Red Lobster on 7th Avenue, in Times Square, New York City (2007)
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Red Lobster in Yonkers, New York (2012)
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Red Lobster opening in Hong Kong (2010).
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Red Lobster in Ann Arbor, Michigan (2010)
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Red Lobster in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in September 2013 (now closed).
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Red Lobster in Doha, Qatar, opened to the public in June 2012, making it the company's second Red Lobster restaurant to be established in the Middle East.
See also
In Spanish: Red Lobster para niños
- List of casual dining restaurant chains
- List of seafood restaurants
