Red Lobster eyes bankruptcy option after $11M in losses from endless shrimp
abcnews.go.com
"Last year, Red Lobster reported $11 million in operating losses following its flubbed 'Ultimate Endless Shrimp' deal, which backfired when it reeled in too many customers after the limited-time promo became a permanent menu fixture last June. The restaurant chain later reported $12.5 million in losses in the fourth quarter of 2023."
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Why didn't they stop doing it sooner? Lol once they saw it was costing too much they could have retired it and made up some new marketing crap.
Or.. raised the price. You know.. capitalism. They seemed to have failed econ 101. Or the bankruptcy is a good way to get out from under debt and start over. It's the American way.
The endless shrimp reason is just BS.
They're old restaurants and people just don't go there to be "fancy" anymore. Younger people just don't eat a lot of crab, shrimp, and lobster nowadays, and due to ocean issues crab prices and seafood prices have increased even more than beef and other food costs, so they're having to charge more more things fewer people want to go there for. They keep hauling in more and more, but prices have tripled over the past 10 years or so for lobster. Same over the last several years with crab. Especially with the mass die off of snowcrab a year or so ago.
They tried all sorts of tricks actually. But this event brought people in. In the 90’s I’d see it on the local news about the hour long waits and whatnot. This was still true up until the last time I went.
I recall they slowed service, refill limits at a time, even type of order repeat(not getting 10 scampi in a row). I was a fan of the grilled shrimp and as a teen could eat 20 orders (a feat I’m not so proud of now). As an adult I stopped eating there when I realized what I was doing to my body (mid 00s).
I was never asked to leave due to the amount I ate, but I experienced some of these. damn if it wasn’t 5-10 minutes between food, couldn’t order more until you had cleared the only 2 plates allowed at a time, never find the waiter, etc. oh, and they would bring those ungodly amazing biscuits over, “to hold me over”.
I do not miss the man I was back then. I can honestly say I’m half the man I was then.
You can make the biscuits at home. I personally would find better recipes for much of the rest of their menu.
Yeah. I have made them since I stopped going there. And far better than the box mix you buy at the store.