Red Lobster

This was my first time at a Red Lobster– this is mainly due to the fact that I’m allergic to crustaceans. Regardless, we decided to eat here tonight, so I got to try the famous biscuits– they were nice and fluffy. It seems like people dislike the service at this particular location, but our server was super nice, refilled our water several times, and brought out our food pretty quickly. We ordered the lobster pizza as an appetizer, the Bar Harbor Lobster Bake with linguini, and I ordered the tilapia broiled with pineapple habenero sauce on the side with broccoli and mashed potatoes. I can’t attest to the pizza or the bake, but they definitely skimp on the lobster for the pizza. My friends said the seafood in the bake was cooked surprisingly well. My tilapia was fresh and I enjoyed my entrée overall. Prices are typical for American chain restaurant– expect to spend at least a minimum of $ 15 here. Would I come back again? Probably for the biscuits, but considering I’m allergic to lobster, I don’t have much incentive to come here lol

5 stars because our server Samantha was amazing! She was so friendly to me and a group of my girlfriends that came in Friday night. She definitely kept us entertained and gave us fantastic service. :)

I had the bar harbor lobster bake and was really surprised how good it was. The lobster tails were very sweet and the rest of the seafood was quite delicious. Their cheddar bay biscuits are amazing. It has been a while since I’ve eaten at red lobster but this one in particular is really great.

Besides the cheesy biscuits and the great «Walt’s Favorite Shrimp» I absolute love the margaritas they serve.

First off, I have to say that in the last 2 years or so, I’ve noticed that the customer service has gone way down at this location, as well as the one off Capitol expressway. No one seems to really be friendly or attentive to their customers. This is one of the reasons, why I don’t frequent Red Lobster as much as I used to in the past. I do keep coming back because I enjoy their good, especially their cheesy biscuits. Today’s experience wasn’t the best, but wasn’t the worst. There was no host and the place was a ghost town. We stood by aquarium waiting for someone to come seat us. We noticed there was a gal at the bar who was cutting something, but would not look up. After a few minutes an employee came and sat us. Our waiter quickly came out and took our drink order. By the time our drinks arrived we were ready to place our food order. Our food came out quick and tasted good. Our over all experience was just okay though. My biggest thing is customer service and this place still lacks it. Which doesn’t surprise me that’s it was so slow and quiet in there.

Great food! Clean restraunt! Great employees! Food is absolutely amazing! They have the best crab, shrimp, fish, anything! Even their biscuits are amazing. There workers are so kind, when it was my B-​day, they all sang happy birthday and every employee signed a card and gave it to me, the only thing I complain about is that it took a little while but that didn’t matter with how amazing the food was, best restraunt ever!

Beware ! My friend and I split a $ 48.00 bill, but the tip suggestions of 15, 18 and 20% posted on each of our receipts were based on combined total, not the total on each receipt! Glad we only had one drink, ha! Food was good, my drink, Margarita on the rocks, tasted too sweet and tart and like no alcohol was in it. Maybe that’s why I caught the error. Not much else to get excited over.

My mom and I had dinner here recently and enjoyed ourselves. We got there before 5pm and its good we got there early. Right after we got there, tons of people came in. There were not enough waiters at the time so people did not have to wait a bit for tables. We got seated in about 10 minutes.
Our waitress was good and checked on us frequently. I always have the king crab legs. They were very nicely cooked, good meat inside. The waitress did spill some of my green beans upon delivering them to the table so she said she would bring me more. She never brought them but that was fine. I did not eat all of them anyway. Mom had the fried shrimp and fries. It came with lots of good shrimp. Nice flavor on both the fries and shrimp.
So another successful meal at Red Lobster. I am sure we will be back soon.

Maybe I came at a bad night but it took 45 minutes from sitting down to actually eating. It was at a Saturday night around 7:30. My bf and I were too nice to bitch out like the other tables who actually scored a free dessert from the waitress & manager. On top of it, she forgot the lobster biscuit from the get-​go. The waitress was also unapologetic to the other tables with KIDS who were hungry! She said in verbatim «I’m sorry mam’, there is nothing I can do about the slow service. The kitchen is really backed up.» That is a really crappy response.
I ordered the Seaside Shrimp Trio. This came with 6 pieces of fried shrimp, garlic shrimp scampi and shrimp linguini Alfredo for $ 19.99. Everything was BEYOND salty. The garlic shrimp was drenched in oil and butter and the fried shrimp was also really salty. The waitress did not bother to offer us free dessert even though we waited the same amount of time as the other tables. I will not return because the 1) the service sucks 2) food was disgusting!

I have been very leary to eat at this place as the service has always been really bad. It has been 2 years since our last visit and my son really wanted to eat here tonight.
Have to say service still hasn’t changed… we went in at 430 for an early dinner and it took 15 minutes for drinks. Forget about refills, waiter said he’d grab a couple more ice teas and never came back.
Started with ceasar salads, they were plain and blah… thank goodness for black pepper to try and give it some kind of flavor.
When our dinner arrived, my son’s order was wrong. We were given ours while we had to wait another 10 minutes for his to show up.
For a place that is suppose to specialize in seafood they can’t seem to find anyone that knows how to cook it. I ordered the lobster/​shrimp bake… the lobster and shrimp were so overcooked I couldn’t even eat them… tasted like I had a rubber band in my mouth.
Kind of sad for a $ 100 bill for 3 people you would think that the seafood would be edible… won’t make that mistake again !

Hands down, John is the best waiter EVER. He needs to teach ALL the other servers, EVERYWHERE else, how it’s done! Food was great, but the service was on point.

PLEASE LISTEN.
This is the first time in months that I’ve had a pleasant waiter! Jonathan, who was not only friendly and welcoming but on top of his game!
Not only did I never have to ask for anything because he was so attentive and helpful but he was so polite and patient.
I’ve been upset lately due to rude service at places and this really helped me have hope for a good night out! I eat out at least once a day and I’m usually disappointed by unpleasant waiters that leave a horrible taste in my mouth but I’m very happy to say that’s not what happened today! and can you say ENDLESS SHRIMP?!? So delicious!
I love red lobster for its yummy and reasonably price seafood and the amazing service will keep me coming back!

I wouldn’t be such a fan if it wasn’t for the manager working the night that we went. The service was terrible, we waited forever for our food to arrive. Our daughter had to be taken for 2 walks outside to keep her entertained while we waited. When the food arrived half was overcooked and half was under cooked. The manager took over personally as our waiter and had everything prepared over, which took no time at all and comped us the food that was over/​under done and then sent extra home with us. Also when he noticed our daughter didn’t touch what we ordered for her he just took it off the bill which I thought was very nice and thoughtful.
Overall the food was good when we received it hot and cooked correctly. We ended up having a nice time for spending so much time in a Red Lobster!
Thank you Manager!

Haven’t been to a Red Lobster restaurant in so long and the other day my dad and I and of course little lex and decided to come in for lunch. We order just appetizer and they were pretty good. The clams that come in a white wine were cold. But for everything else was pretty a-​okay. Those biscuits tho! 10 000% the main reason I said yes to coming here and they didn’t let me down. The staff were all very attentive and always made sure we were happy! So a pretty good lunch date with the good daddy-​o!

Food is very, very, VERY misleading. They taste delicious, but are very unhealthy. It’s like a trap; it tastes too good to be true.
The famous biscuits are one of the worst offenders. For example, the cheddar bread biscuits that they serve to you while you wait have a whopping 10 grams of total fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, and 2.5 grams of trans fat, and 500 grams of sodium per biscuit. That’s a lot of unnecessary fats and salts for a tiny portion of a «snack» — talk about heart attack on a plate.
And if you think those biscuits are bad, you have yet to see the rest of their menu. Even their salads are not good. the Caesar salad with dressing comes to an average of 50 grams of total fat per bowl, with 10 grams of saturated fat. There are at least 10 + items on the menu that have total fat grams exceeding 50 and one of them, the Batterfried Crawfish, comes with a baffling 81 grams of total fat. I dread to think of what would happen to this restaurant’s regulars, because if you eat here every day you’re not going to live much longer due to all the fat.
Why do you think they hide their menu at the restaurant? The only way to properly locate it is to go online, which is disheartening. I regret eating here after learning about the horrors of this place’s unhealthy MacDawnaldz-​type food.

The service here was very slow and inattentive. It took over an hour for us to get our food, and in that time our server only came back for a refill on our bread/​drinks once. Once we were finished, it took our server another 30 minutes to clean up and collect the bill. I didn’t know eating at red lobster was a 2.5 hour commitment. Will not be coming back.
P.s the only reason I’m giving it 2 stars is because the cheesy bread rolls are bomb.

First off, the remodel looks very nice though the lighting can be a bit more bright unless they are really looking for that old world lighting ambiance. Sure it feels more intimate, relaxing and well new. Granted this was a very nice mood lighting seeing this is a long over due Date Night with my Wife at her Favorite Restaurant. But I prefer to have a little more lighting maybe just one more level of light.
The changes, well they have moved the Larger Aquarium to the front of the restaurant to keep the kiddies busy while they wait and they have improved the waiting seating area but to me it looks like they also lost couple of seats because of the Tank. They moved the Lobster Tank to where the Large Aquarium used to be and close to the Galley (guess it makes it easier for the Chef to grab your catch rather than having a child ask «Where are they taking that Lobster?» The Bar area looks the same but I don’t spend much time that in that area when I dine.
The Old wood overhead booths in the main dining area are now gone and replaced with more modern open booth seating. In fact there are now more seating than before and in the main dining area near the lobster tank and the backroom there are no more of those large round tables. It has now been replaced with a row of back to back seating booths. S if you plan to have a large group I’d scope the place first to see if it meets your requirements to have a little gathering.
To some people they may not notice the changes if they haven’t frequent the establishment. But for those who do, the changes are most welcomed in my opinion. The wall Décor is nice touch now but as my wife said. I am the only one that noticed those type of things. Well I also noticed the moved the Ordering station as well :)
Parking is still a task in this Shopping Plaza so bring your patience and walk carefully.
Enjoy!

Tonight was date night so we decided to eat at red lobster. The wait was ~10 mins but the service was quick. Our waitress constantly checked back with us. When it seemed our food was taking a bit long she assured us it would come out soon. She was very attentive and sweet. She made our experience great!
Yummy Caesar salad and I LOVE their biscuits drooooool. Bf ordered steak and grilled shrimp with DEEEELICIOUS mashed potatoes. I order the shrimp trio: deep fried shrimp, garlic baked shrimp, shrimp Alfredo w/​a side of broccoli. Everything was yummy and I canNOT wait to come back

Came here for Valentine’s Day around 3PM.
Was told the wait would be 30 min.
We were seated 20 min later. The hostesses were friendly.
Shortly there after we were greeted by our awesome server Kris! He was very friendly and helpful. He also cracked a few jokes. I love that.
Service was great! Kris was an awesome server. Very attentive and kind. Food took awhile to get out, like 45 minutes but I figured it was because it’s Valentine’s Day.
FOOD– Ordered the Dueling Lobster Tails with mashed potatoes, green beans, and shrimp and a Strawberry Lemonade.
Food was excellent and delicious! My lobster was cooked perfectly. Meaty, buttery and the right amount of seasoning and not too salty. I enjoyed every aspect of my plate.
Oh yeah, can’t forget about those cheddar biscuits!!! Those things are deadly! Highly addicting. Hot, soft, pillowy cheesy goodness… Be careful not to stuff yourself with these because you’ll get full quick.
Overall, had a good experience here. Haven’t been here in years. Thanks to our server Kris who bagged up our cheddar biscuits and even gave us some more extra. Awesome guy!

1 STAR… NO JOKE.
Before I start this review, I have to say that I’ve always been a fan of Red Lobster, and most other locations I’ve been to (in Las Vegas and here in the Bay Area) have been pretty good, which I would rate a 3 – 3.5 out of 5, but this particular location on Almaden Expressway in San Jose was an absolutely HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. I would rate this Red Lobster a 1 – 1.5 out of 5.
My wife and I went last Sunday because we recently saw the commercial for Endless Shrimp, so of course we had to go, right? Anyway, we got there at around 7:30pm and the hostess told us it was going to be a 20 minute wait… not too bad so we decided to grab a pager and wait. Well, 40 minutes later, our buzzer finally went off, and obviously we were already pretty upset because we had checked in a couple times and they kept telling us that it would be another 5 – 10 minutes. We almost left at that point, but when we finally had a table ready for us, we said «ehhhh sure, whatever.»
After getting seated, it took forever for our waitress to get to our table to take drink orders. When she did, we ordered immediately. I got the Endless Shrimp deal for $ 17.99 and got the shrimp scampi, parmesan crusted scampi, and coconut shrimp with wild rice pilaf as my side dish. My wife got the 4 course meal for $ 16.99, which came with a choice of soup and salad, an entrée and a dessert. She got the clam chowder, Caesar Salad, shrimp and scallop alfredo, and the brownie sundae.
Starting with my order, I enjoyed my shrimp scampi, but the parmesan scampi wasn’t all that great and the coconut shrimp was just ehhhhh. I ordered my next batch of shrimp scampi and regular fried shrimp… this is where it got really bad. We were waiting FOREVER for our waitress to get the shrimp to us. In fact, my wife already got through her entrée and her dessert, and we still didn’t get my shrimp scampi or fried shrimp refill. Our waitress, Margarita, came by very infrequently and when she actually did, she had this look on her face and kept saying «Oh man, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s going on with your order of shrimp back there… let me check.» 20 minutes later… no update. Anyway, we were fed up already, and so we asked for our check. We reluctantly paid, and still, we didn’t get our refills on the shrimp. She told us after we paid «I can still check back there if your shrimp is ready if you still want it?» This was over 45 minutes after we ordered the refills. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? What kind of horrible service is this!!! They weren’t even really that busy, and we were so appalled at the level of service. The other tables seemed to be getting waited on more frequently, but we got owned pretty badly. I remember my wife and I agreeing that we would never go back to this Red Lobster location on Almaden again. As for my wife’s dish, her clam chowder was bland, her shrimp and scallop alfredo pasta wasn’t bad, and her brownie dessert sucked.
We were sooooo frustrated with our whole experience last Sunday night. I’ve never had service this bad at a Red Lobster, and my family and I have been to Red Lobster’s that were twice as busy. This was the first time we went to an endless shrimp night where it wasn’t endless at all. In fact, it ended before it even started. How disappointing!!! Needless to say, I do not recommend this Red Lobster location at all. From the beginning to the end, this was a horrible customer service experience, and we were completely shocked that there wasn’t even an attempt to rectify the horrible situation. No discount on our check… nothing. I should have left a 20 cent tip like LeSean McCoy did in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago. And that might have been too much of a tip. Will avoid this Red Lobster on Almaden at all costs… do not recommend at all. Never coming back.