The first major indications of where the new Red Lobster is headed have gone public. One of the main changes new ownership has pro-mised is to streamline and refresh the Red Lobster menu. Need we say? No ‘Endless’ anything in sight…
Fans will recall it was an ill-advised limited-time menu offering, which someone in a high place decided should become permanent, that sunk venerable old Red Lobster in the first place. The words ‘Endless Shrimp’ will live forever in the annals of eatery infamy…
What’s happening…
As fans and resto-biz followers will also know, Red Lobster has since grabbed a lifeline thrown by a holding company in return for a controlling interest in the brand. And the new, US-based majority owners – known for turning around failing restos – have promised a string of drastic, dramatic changes.
Red Lobster officially exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this past September 18, calling the next phase of the rescue ‘a new chapter’…
“You’ll [soon] start to see the positive impact of investments in Red Lobster across each of our 545 restaurants in the USA and Canada,” a triumphant Instagram post announced. “We’re more excited than ever to serve you the high-quality seafood that has made us a beloved family tradition for over 56 years — and to hear how our improvements are making your cherished moments even more special.”
Yada, yada, yada… Nothing unexpected there…
Some more tangible…
I always think of the meaning of ‘tangible’ as ‘something you can touch, feel, and hold in your hands’. Like a restaurant menu. Which is what we finally have from the new Red Lobster.
“For those who love a good comeback story, Red Lobster is serving up just that,” the brand prefaced it’s new-menu reveal.
Food & Wine reports: “The new items include Lobster Pappardelle Pasta, Bacon Wrapped Sea Scal-lops, Lobster Bisque, Lemon Basil Mahi, Simply Prepared Mahi, Parmesan-Crusted Chicken, and Roasted Asparagus.”
And hard-core fans are delighted the resto is bringing back it’s ‘nostalgic’ Hush Puppies and Popcorn Shrimp.
“I expect a stampede into our restaurants because we’re bringing back the hush puppies,” the com-pany’s CEO Damola Adamolekun shared with Today. “I [had] stopped going to Red Lobster because they stopped the hush puppies”
My take
There are enough new offerings on the menu to make it truly fresh and enticing. And Adamolekun is spot-on with her assertion that bringing back the Hush Puppies is the just the kind of ‘hand-hold’ that fans need to encourage them to get back on board.
I do want to note that the video posted on Instagram, running down the new menu ‘roster’ doesn’t say anything about prices. That’s not such a surprise, given the ‘market price today’ nature of sea-food. And the new predisposition for all kinds of restos to manage prices dynamically, with the ever-present proviso that, ‘menu prices may vary depending on where you live’. But I had hoped there would be some indication of how the new prices would compare with those on the old menu.
The video doesn’t really give us us much ‘hard intel’ about serving sizes or presentation. But I guess that’s all part of the game. They want to leave some questions unanswered to engage our curiosity – and get us back into to the the resto at least one more time – to check out the new regime.
~ Maggie J.