Red Lobster

I used to love Red Lobster but last night will probably be the last time I go; especially to the Fairview Heights location.
The wait was horrendous. We were told it would be about 45 minutes. We checked back with the hostess after it was getting close to an hour and we were told it would be about 10 more minutes. Okay, it is a Saturday, still not bad, right? Finally after waiting one hour and 45 minutes we were finally seated. .. . and after numerous people that came in after us were seated. Everywhere on the internet it says Red Lobster restaurants don’t take reservations/​call ahead seating so my bad for not actually calling to make sure as apparently they now do. Most restaurants won’t book large parties on a Friday or Saturday evening or at least keep them to a limited number, especially between the 5 pm — 7 pm rush time because. .. it’s a Friday or Saturday evening and they are already extra busy. Not here — there were probably 3 or 4 large parties which I guess was the reason one family of five had to wait almost 2 hours! If they would have just told us upfront that it would be well over an hour wait, we would have never stayed. Apparently that is what they tell everyone that walks in because they continually told people that came in after us it would be 45 minutes to an hour wait (they did add fifteen more minutes on!). Maybe the hostesses just need more training in figuring out semi-​accurate wait times but I recognized them from previous visits and they’ve all worked there for years. This would lead you to believe they are just not honest with people in hopes of not turning customers away. I totally get that it was a Saturday and expected to wait but not for almost two hours and not one full hour longer than what you said when we walked in. That is by far unreasonable. There were actually smaller parties that came in right after us (not call aheads either) that were seated, ate, and left before we were seated. I guess a party between 4 – 8 throws them into a conundrum but they can handle smaller groups and those with over 10 with no problems. I guess we were really the fools because once we were seated, there was hardly anyone left still waiting (many had already given up and left). Honestly, we sat there patiently and only asked once nicely where we were in the wait. Funny how a few people that we are pretty sure came in well after we did, but loudly pitched a fit about the wait were seated right after they complained!
Now to the food — menu selections seem smaller and prices are way too high for the size and quality of the food. They’ve really just gone downhill over the years — the second biggest reason I won’t go back. The food was just average, if even that — let’s face it, the Midwest typically overcooks seafood so it ends up tough and rubbery with little flavor. The same can be said here. The only thing that tasted excellent were the cheddar bay biscuits — still exceptional!
The only saving grace to the evening was the great waiter. I don’t recall his name but he told us he was originally from Miami. He was a very attentive waiter and was very friendly. If I were only giving stars for his service, it would have been 4 or 5 stars for sure!

Our dinner was amazing but it’s was the service that sucked.
We asked for booth got seated at a table repeated that we wanted a booth so many booths was available the hostess goes those are for a later party (later came & no it wasn’t) but there was one booth just needed to be clean she clean it really quick then we sat down took a min for our waiter to ask what we want for our drinks once order they came out quick. Then we order our food. Took a long time for salads & the biscuits our main meal came out first it was bought out by someone else & not waiter by time we found our waiter he said he thought the girl bought out our salads & biscuits. He said he’ll take care of it that took a minute to come out as well. We ate our main meal then salad & biscuits. Yeah it’s all going in the same place but it’s certain order we wanted to eat our food & this first time I had to wait a while on simple service at least bring out the biscuits right at the beginning

4 star food, 3 star service, 1 star for wait time.
It seems that many times for lunch and dinner you should make a reservation or you have to wait a really long time. Once you get your food you still end up waiting on service and have to practically jump out of your seat to get a server’s attention because they are so few of them dealing with so many tables of patrons. They need more staff. If they did, they would get 4 stars from me.

We have tried to eat here several times over the past few months. But once again, just a huge disappointment. Unless you call ahead, expect to wait for an hour no matter when or what day you arrive. They will have a dozen (or more) empty tables and will not seat walk-​ins. I will not attempt to eat at this restaurant ever again. Read some of the other reviews and you’ll see our experience pretty much matches all the others.

2^nd time coming the meal and service by Betty was excellent we got all you can eat and the shrimp kept a coming the drinks were really good so this beats the Evansville restaurant all to pieces A t

Update to my original review.
The 1 star for the wait time vs how many open tables they have at a time still stands. But this location offers call ahead seating… which has been a life saver if you are wanting to dine here. Service (Except for in the bar area) has been nice each time we have dined here, it’s just getting past the extreme wait time that still makes this place just okay.

The service was excellent, friendly, quick & delicious! My server was very polite and very professional. I would recommend this Red Lobster to everyone and will return next time I’m visiting Shilo. Thank you again for your great service.

Food was pretty good, service was absolutely terrible. Our server left our glasses empty while walking by, she thought her friend at another table was much more important than us. Still left a decent tip, but she should find another job. We went at 2pm, thought it would be quiet, and it was.
Time to hire a new staff Red Lobster.

Nasty, nasty! We waited for 30 minutes at the bar to order a drink while waiting to be seated at a table! While sitting at bar I looked around and noticed the extreme mountain of trash and dishes piled up on the bar. It was the tray sitting on top of a trash can with drinks.

Great service. Great food. Nice location and more modern than most red lobsters I’ve been too. Would recommend.

I again am not really a big fan of Red Lobster like when I was younger. I feel like the portions just aren’t what they used to be for the price. I used to get the fresh fish selections and know they price is so sky high, I don’t feel like it is worth it. It was like $ 30 for the small portion of salmon. I am not a fan of fried shrimp and fish, so what are the alternatives? If i want grease fries fish, I’ll go to the Captain.
The service is usually good to ok.
I love the biscuits, I mean who wouldn’t. I like the chowder also.
I have a friend who loves Red Lobster so I know I will be back. This is not a place I think about going on my own.

Same as always good food for here but prices have gone up again. Cindy days is a great waitress. Food comes out quick. They quit sending me email discounts though

I have never been more upset with a restaurant. We drove almost an hour to get there and they said it would be an hour wait. We were going to wait but I could see a dirty table that nobody cleaned off. After almost a ½ hour of watching a dirty table not being cleaned off for someone else to sit we finally left. Probably the worst management of all Red Lobsters.

Terrible service last night. Got seated at 615pm and had to ask the manager at 705 pm if the kitchen was too busy. Got a «no» from him and our salads showed up a few minutes later. At approximately 755 pm, we got our meal. For our troubles, the manager gave us some gift certificates, while a great gesture, lack of followup after the 705 conversation ruined the experience. May not go back.

Was expecting much better. Service was slow and inattentive. Sat for an hour without food. Tables aren’t full so it should be a lot sooner. Won’t be coming back here anytime soon.

Disclaimer, I love RL, it’s one of my absolute faves, but something has gone awry with this location and sadly its the only one near by. Every time I go here, it’s like they’re trying to set a new pace for dinner because they serve it so slow that by the time I get my food, I’m no longer hungry. Plus the food never looks like the ads, it always looks like it’s been under a hot lamp for hours, which is odd since it took so long to come out. They always seem to put a lot of salt on their food. The servers are never sympathetic. They also rarely give refills unless I ask, this goes for bread and drinks. They’re lucky they have that bread, because that’s the only reason I come back!

Its red lobster, it is the same in every town. Seafood cooked to order. It may not be fresh, but it is seafood. THis red lobster does not stand out from any other. It is an average chain resturuant.

If you like sea food you came to the right place!

Picked up some togo on Father’s Day. This particular location is always so busy… but if you go you’ll know why. For a chain… they just do it right. Got a couple of Ultimate feasts not 5 star food but solid 4 stars always. The great thing with Red Lobster is you can Add on ANYTHING and its a lot cheaper. Add a Rock Lobster tail for 18.99 much better than the 30+ for the entrée which is the same thing with a side. They go through each item you order and made sure to include all necessary sauces lots of cheddar bay biscuits and silverware!

We took my Mother-​in-​law out to eat at her favorite Red Lobster. The food was great. She had shrimp and loved it. I had the seasonal bake that they were featuring, and I really enjoyed it.
There are certain things that we count on at every Red Lobster, and those are the Caesar salads with shrimp topping and those awesome cheddar biscuits. The hardest thing to do is to not fill up on the biscuits before the food arrives.
The bar is the only reason that this Red Lobster didn’t get a higher rating. When we arrived, we were told that there would be a 45 minute wait, so we headed to the bar. The good news is that our pager went off 15 minutes later. The bad news is that no one even said hello or offered to take our order the entire time we were in the bar. After our waitress seated us, she did take our drink order, but it took a very long time to get our drinks. The next time we’re in that neighborhood, I think we’ll introduce my MIL to Joe’s Crab Shack, just up the street.