Post New Article

Red Lobster's Plan to Save Itself Ended
Up Destroying It

Original Article

Posted By: Hazymac, 5/15/2024 7:51:49 AM

I’ve never been to Red Lobster, but they’re everywhere, at least for now. It’s the nation’s largest seafood chain, and it got cooked over various factors, but one consumer deal appears to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back: the “all you can eat” shrimp deal. The corporate brass thought this pitch could be the draw to turn around the chain. Instead, it cost them millions, leading to yesterday’s news that Chapter 11 bankruptcy is imminent and will be filed before Memorial Day. Hundreds of millions of dollars in debt are set to be restructured, with dozens of locations slated for closure (via WSJ): (X)

Comments:

Dead Lobster

Post Reply

Reminder: “WE ARE A SALON AND NOT A SALOON”

Your thoughts, comments, and ideas are always welcome here. But we ask you to please be mindful and respectful. Threatening or crude language doesn't persuade anybody and makes the conversation less enjoyable for fellow L.Dotters.


Reply 1 - Posted by: seamusm 5/15/2024 8:10:00 AM (No. 1718184)
'All you can eat' was a recipe for catastrophe. One should never underestimate the reality that Americans are fat for a reason.
29 people like this.

Reply 2 - Posted by: southernboy 5/15/2024 8:20:34 AM (No. 1718189)
We had a local catfish place that went down for the same reason. Some people can eat enormous amounts of food. Gluttony isn't just a word in the dictionary!
30 people like this.

Reply 3 - Posted by: Dodge Boy 5/15/2024 8:26:42 AM (No. 1718192)
FTA - "Restaurant chains are struggling with declining customer traffic as consumers, especially low-income diners, pull back on spending." Huh. But biden the cheater, the dims, and the msm keep saying the economy and wage earners are doing just fine.
19 people like this.

Reply 4 - Posted by: franq 5/15/2024 8:27:04 AM (No. 1718193)
I was at one many years ago. I felt the portions were small.
6 people like this.

Reply 5 - Posted by: chumley 5/15/2024 8:28:10 AM (No. 1718196)
I was talking to the manager of an all you can eat buffet about that some years ago. He said they make plenty of money because most people eat far less than they paid for, especially old people. He said they do get some customers who try to clean the place out, but they are more than offset by those who just nibble.
10 people like this.

Reply 6 - Posted by: 3XALADY 5/15/2024 8:39:18 AM (No. 1718199)
I was at a Golden Corral for breakfast some months ago and I saw a very large man eat three piled high plates of crispy fried bacon. They didn't make any money off of him that day. And by his size, I would say he lived close to the restaurant and ate there quite often.
15 people like this.

Reply 7 - Posted by: bubby 5/15/2024 8:39:48 AM (No. 1718201)
The "all you can eat" Golden Corral crowd, between ship cruises, visited Red Lobster! That's what actually happened!
10 people like this.

Reply 8 - Posted by: Rotten in Denmark 5/15/2024 9:05:23 AM (No. 1718214)
It’s partly my fault. The wife and I would eat there maybe twice a year, but only on the all ya want shrimp days. Maybe has 2 re-orders after the first. Sri…
4 people like this.

Reply 9 - Posted by: walcb 5/15/2024 9:13:04 AM (No. 1718222)
Our local in Danville, IL closed. I really enjoyed the food, portions were plenty adequate, service was good, prices were reasonable--will miss it. Their mistake was that on all you can eat shrimp you could also carry out what you didn't eat--but I don't know how you can counter the act of bloating yourself up and then carrying out another portion.
6 people like this.

Reply 10 - Posted by: JHHolliday 5/15/2024 9:34:51 AM (No. 1718238)
I ate at one the first time years ago in Florida. I thought it was great but maybe they got fresher seafood since they were closer to the source. I later ate once or twice at our local RL. Meh. Just wasn't as good. Maybe imported shrimp and fish? That and the fact as mentioned that regular folks have had to cut back on dining out. FJBenomics has put the squeeze on the middle class. The moneyed people will still go to the upscale restaurants but I think there is some cutting back even there. The restaurant business, take-out or dining in is still a luxury for a lot of people.
6 people like this.

Reply 11 - Posted by: Swo 5/15/2024 9:42:18 AM (No. 1718244)
HA! Last time I dined at RL was the day before Memorial Day 1984. I was in the hospital the following three days with gut pain. Never again.
3 people like this.

Reply 12 - Posted by: jdano 5/15/2024 9:46:02 AM (No. 1718249)
Twice I went, but the long line of thugs made me uneasy. Never got to try the place.
2 people like this.

Reply 13 - Posted by: Rumblehog 5/15/2024 9:49:12 AM (No. 1718253)
According to their corporate website, the "Endless Shrimp" campaign began in 2004... that's a lot of Decapod Crustaceans past the facial orifice and down the gullet by now. What recently has happened to cause a decades in the making debacle to finally reach its ne plus ultra? Could Red Lobster be yet another victim of, "Bidenomics?"
4 people like this.

Reply 14 - Posted by: Hazymac 5/15/2024 9:49:17 AM (No. 1718254)
One of my late friends from Nashville was a lifelong glutton who always weighed over 300, and in the last decade of life surpassed 400. He had the greatest personality of anyone I ever met, but he couldn't stop eating. There was a Chinese restaurant seven floors below his condominium unit with an "all you can eat" buffet, run my Mrs. Wu. After eating three full plates of food, he was ready to load up another plate when Mrs. Wu came up to him and said, "You've been at buffet too long. You go now." My obese friend found that situation good for a laugh. "You go now!"
12 people like this.

Reply 15 - Posted by: snakeoil 5/15/2024 10:27:25 AM (No. 1718296)
Was a great place to eat. Unlike the other big seafood chain they served booze. But my days of booze and eating at restaurants are over. Due to health and crime reasons. There was a comedian who had a skit of going to a Chinese restaurant for the all you can eat buffet. At the end the manager came over and said in a thick Chinese accent: Eat salad you fat MFer. Not to go off topic but why is it you can refer to food as Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc. but if you refer to a person from those countries the politically correct term is Asian?
5 people like this.

Reply 16 - Posted by: MickTurn 5/15/2024 10:51:10 AM (No. 1718320)
Obviously run by Leftist MORONS!
1 person likes this.

Reply 17 - Posted by: earlybird 5/15/2024 11:23:36 AM (No. 1718354)
Chapter 11 is a plan of reorganization. They are not dead yet.
6 people like this.

Reply 18 - Posted by: rytwng 5/15/2024 12:09:14 PM (No. 1718392)
It used a bargain to eat there bit there prices got to high.
1 person likes this.

Reply 19 - Posted by: DVC 5/15/2024 12:59:11 PM (No. 1718432)
We had an 'all you can eat shrimp' place in one city where I visited on business a number of times. Somewhere in Maryland, near Gaithersburg, IIRC. I was young and we ate an AMAZING amount of shrimp, like half a normal paper grocery sack of hulls. It was a simple place, brown paper with wax backing on the tables, and they just dumped the boiled shrimp in front of you, no plate, with a brown grocery sack for the hulls, top rolled down to keep it open. Great shrimp. I can see how this would be very expensive with the current price of shrimp. Back in the 70s in Maryland they brought it right from the docks. Most of Red Lobster it has to be shipped in, and must cost far, far more than those coastal restaurants pay.
4 people like this.

Reply 20 - Posted by: bpl40 5/15/2024 3:10:26 PM (No. 1718499)
Many people who frequent Red Lobster are not in the habit of paying for what they get.
3 people like this.

Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "Hazymac"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Most Recent Articles posted by Hazymac"
If Mamdani wins, NYC’s police have no
intention of dying in the name of social justice.
13 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/29/2025 7:13:17 PM Post Reply
Zohran Mamdani, the Marxist-Muslim tapped as the leading candidate to become New York City’s next mayor, does not believe in the police. Instead, he believes in social workers. The police, in turn, do not believe in being handcuffed in their duties and exposed to a high risk of death in a city that no longer allows them to do their jobs. If Mamdani wins, they’re saying, they walk. In the lead-up to the New York City Democrat mayoral primary, Mamdani was very clear about his desire to rid New York City of the troublesome plague of active policing. Instead, he plans to shift the focus to social workers
‘A Very Consequential Two Weeks’ 10 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/29/2025 6:35:58 AM Post Reply
That’s Selena Zito’s take, and I fully agree with her. There is an old wisdom in political science that real presidential power, whether domestic or international, is the power of persuasion. In less than two weeks, Trump has shown that his impact on American history has centered on his persuasive powers and using them to execute leadership. While elites struggle to understand the appeal of Trump and conservative populism, what they miss, what they have always missed, is the nuance of what “Make America Great Again” meant to voters. The media saw it as a vulgar attempt at nationalism, often brazenly calling it so. But it never was.
Tenure Track in Higher Ed Is Going Extinct 8 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/28/2025 9:07:13 AM Post Reply
To borrow a phrase from a writer many of my radical colleagues love to cite, the chickens are coming home to roost at colleges and universities around the country. As anyone paying even a modicum of attention knows, the Trump Administration is endeavoring to curtail some of the more explicit ideological partisanship going on in higher education under the mask of scholarship and teaching. Beyond that, many schools are recognizing that bottom lines have shifted, and faculty hiring will have to adjust. Recently, faculty and administrative communities on many campuses have discussed the difficulties departments are facing in replacing departing faculty lost through retirement or moves. The American Association of University Professors
The Week In Pictures: Bombs Away Edition 10 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/28/2025 7:09:09 AM Post Reply
The big news story of the week was America’s stunningly executed devastation of Iran’s nuclear program–a program to which Barack Obama donated billions of dollars, and which other presidents had been willing to tolerate. The raid was carried out in complete secrecy, with President Trump’s Truth Social post, shortly after B-2 bombers had exited Iranian air space, the first word anyone had. Democrats complained that they hadn’t been told in advance, but everyone knew why: they would have leaked information about the raid and destroyed the element of surprise. Following the air strikes, the Democratic Party lined up pretty much unanimously behind America’s most bitter enemy. Was John Fetterman–
One Year Ago, Media Lies About Biden Blew
Up On Live National Television
23 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/27/2025 4:08:07 PM Post Reply
June 27 really needs to be a national holiday wherein we collectively observe the bottomless depravity of the dying news media. We could call it something like “Biden Debate Day.” The date is significant because it was the start of a 131-day journey that showed just how far the media were willing to go to steal an election. June 27 was the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, or as I like to recall it, “The day the media knew Biden had to go.” Up until then — it was the one and only time voters got to directly compare Trump and Biden side by side in 2024 —
Polishing the Lie: The Barry Bonds Statue
and Baseball’s Broken Soul
11 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/27/2025 12:44:48 PM Post Reply
They’re building a statue. Not for Hank Aaron. Not for a war hero, a humanitarian, or a man who walked clean through the game. But for Barry Bonds. Let that sit for a second. The San Francisco Giants will install it outside Oracle Park, treating it like a crown jewel. A monument not just to what he did but to how he did it and how everyone around him pretended not to notice. The fans. The press. The suits. All of them. And now they’re going to bronze it. I remember what he looked like in the ’90s. Lean. Fast. A five-tool player who could steal a bag and hit all fields.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sues Fox
News for $787 million, alleging defamation
23 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/27/2025 12:06:01 PM Post Reply
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Fox News on Friday, seeking damages of at least $787 million from the conservative network for allegedly defaming him in misleading comments about a phone call with President Donald Trump. “No more lies,” Newsom wrote in a tweet that announced his lawsuit, which the Democrat filed in Superior Court in Delaware, where Fox News is incorporated. The monetary damages Newsom is seeking almost exactly match what Fox Corp. Fox News, and other Fox cable networks agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems in April 2023 to settle a Delaware lawsuit alleging they defamed Dominion by falsely claiming its machines swayed the outcome of the
The collapse of faith in the legacy media 8 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/26/2025 7:41:39 AM Post Reply
I’m frustrated when colleagues treat evening news as gospel, eagerly discussing 60 Minutes or Rachel Maddow’s take on events. After revelations like CBS’s edited Kamala Harris interview and plummeting cable news viewership, I’m stunned that anyone still trusts legacy media, especially people who otherwise seem rational. A February Gallup poll reveals that 31% of Americans trust media outlets, with 33% expressing “not much” trust and 36% none at all. This is a sharp decline from the 1970s, when 72% trusted mass media. The poll highlights a partisan divide: 54% of Democrats, 27% of independents, and 12% of Republicans trust mainstream media. This gap reflects confirmation bias,
LA County official allegedly urged gang
members to defend territory from ICE,
triggering FBI probe
11 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/25/2025 5:41:25 PM Post Reply
A Los Angeles County official is allegedly being investigated by the FBI after she posted a video to social media calling on gang members to defend their territory from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Cynthia Gonzalez, the vice mayor of Cudahy in southeast Los Angeles County, allegedly shared a video on social media late last week in which she appeared to encourage 18th Street and Florencia 13 gang members to protect their turf from ICE agents. "Not for nothing, but I want to know where all the cholos are at in Los Angeles," Gonzalez said in the video. "18th Street, Florencia — Where's the leadership at? Because you guys
Trump just took back what Obama gave Iran 19 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/22/2025 2:57:33 PM Post Reply
It’s very early in the Iran nuclear story, but one thing is certain: What Barack Obama gave to Iran—millions and millions of dollars in cash on wooden pallets to make The Bomb—Trump just took back. Obama had no problems with Iran developing a nuclear weapon. The money he gave the Mullahs was to go toward that end. Islamophilic Obama thought that the country that vowed “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” had every right to have nuclear weapons with which to carry out those threats. Iran had been threatening to vaporize all of us with nukes for years. Obama apparently thought, “Why not?” and sent them
Why Would Anyone Vote for These People? 12 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/22/2025 10:02:12 AM Post Reply
Think about this for a second, and I mean that: Is there anything good Democrats have added to your life? I’m not talking about “Democrats” ever – Thomas Jefferson having existed is obviously an easy net-plus for everyone’s life – but the current crop of Democrats who exist in Washington, DC, and pretty much anywhere else. The answer is no. AOC has no legislative accomplishments, and neither do any of the other members of the goon squad sniffing around her throne. A Hakeem Jeffries speech would not pass as a proof of life video. Nancy Pelosi may be legally dead.
Distilling the Week 3 replies
Posted by Hazymac 6/22/2025 7:50:41 AM Post Reply
It’s hot, it’s summer, the kids are home, you want to enjoy the break and not wade through hundreds of articles, mostly about ephemera or written by the ill-informed, so I’m going to do it for you. This week I highlight a few reports which I find sound. Because of space constraints and copyright issues, I can’t post them in their entirety but urge you to do so at your leisure. I found these articles which focus on the war, on President Trump’s foreign policy, the pushback from COVID tyranny and the Supreme Court’s ruling on deference to experts, the most significant matters of the week.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Zohran Mamdani doubles down on plan to
target ‘whiter neighborhoods’ with
higher taxes — and says billionaires
shouldn’t exist
45 replies
Posted by mc squared 6/29/2025 10:54:18 AM Post Reply
Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani doubled down on his plan to jack up property taxes on “richer and whiter neighborhoods” on Sunday — and also asserted that billionaires shouldn’t exist. Mamdani claimed that his soak-the-rich proposal was “not driven by race” — despite his campaign platform explicitly targeting white homeowners. “That is just a description of what we see right now. It’s not driven by race. It’s more of an assessment of what neighborhoods are being under-taxed versus over-taxed,” Mamdani told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Intercepted Iranian communications downplay
damage from US attack, Washington Post reports
36 replies
Posted by Dreadnought 6/29/2025 5:35:13 PM Post Reply
Intercepted Iranian communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by US strikes on Iran's nuclear program, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the US government. A source, who declined to be named, confirmed that account to Reuters but said there were serious questions about whether the Iranian officials were being truthful, and described the intercepts as unreliable indicators. The report by the Post is the latest, however, to raise questions about the extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear program. A leaked preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency cautioned the strikes may have only set back Iran by months.
For New Yorkers Looking to Flee, a Cautionary
Warning: Florida Is Not the Paradise You
May Envision
29 replies
Posted by ladydawgfan 6/29/2025 3:03:16 PM Post Reply
The ascendancy of Zohran Mamdani to challenge Eric Adams for the crown of the leader of New York City has many a resident looking for the exits. Now my cohorts, Brandon Morse and Ward Clark, have offered up warning labels about their respective states of Texas and Alaska as possible landing spots for those fleeing the promised political oppression, but allow me to string up some tropical warning tape at the northern border of Florida. This is not the verdant Valhalla many expect. Yes, we have been the preferred destination for many a New York transplant, but as a lifelong resident of this dysfunctional peninsula,
Top Iranian cleric issues 'fatwa' against
Trump, Netanyahu
28 replies
Posted by Moritz55 6/29/2025 10:29:51 PM Post Reply
Iran's top Shiite cleric issued a religious decree against President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, an act some experts called an incitement to terrorism. The fatwa from Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi called on Muslims around the world to take a stand, according to the New York Sun. It states that any individual or government that challenges or endangers the leadership and unity of the global Islamic community (the Ummah) is to be regarded as a "warlord" or a "mohareb," defined as someone who wages war against God. Under Iranian law, those identified as mohareb can face execution, crucifixion, limb amputation, or exile.
Mamdani Declares: Billionaires Have No
Right to Exist
28 replies
Posted by DW626 6/29/2025 8:05:42 PM Post Reply
New York City’s wealthy elite and business leaders are sounding the alarm after Democrat mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani secured a spot on the 2026 ballot. The reason? Mamdani is a self-proclaimed socialist who openly argues that billionaires shouldn’t exist. He champions radical policies, such as government-run grocery stores, free housing, and universal healthcare—ideas that would expand state control and increase public dependency. Now, with Mamdani on the rise, the city is bracing for a potential “exodus of billionaires” and a chilling effect on investment and economic growth.
Law banning little shampoo bottles in
Illinois hotels goes into effect Tuesday.
What does this mean for guests?
26 replies
Posted by NorthernDog 6/30/2025 1:08:26 PM Post Reply
One of Illinois’ more interesting laws to go on the books in recent years takes effect Tuesday. The law banning single-use plastic bottles in the state’s hotels, Senate Bill 2960, is one of the new laws and tax changes set to go into effect in Illinois on July 1. So, does this mean you’ll never find one of those little plastic shampoo bottles in an Illinois hotel ever again? Well, not just yet. The Small Plastic Bottle Act, signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in August 2025, stipulates that Illinois hotels with 50 rooms or more cannot provide single-use plastic bottles
Cooked: Thom Tillis Is Not Running for Re-Election 24 replies
Posted by ladydawgfan 6/29/2025 2:01:46 PM Post Reply
It looks like President Trump’s reconciliation package will be the last significant piece of legislation that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) will vote on before he leaves public life. Yes, you read that right—the North Carolina Republican is calling it quits. He won’t be running for re-election. [Tweets] Tillis was set to run for another term in the 2026 midterms, although he faced a two-front war, one of which was created solely by his own poor decisions. On the Democratic side, he was going to face a tough challenge from former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
The Chilling Jurisprudence of Justice
Ketanji Brown Jackson
19 replies
Posted by earlybird 6/29/2025 10:32:25 AM Post Reply
Below is my column in the New York Post on the controversial dissenting opinion of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in the injunction ruling in Trump v. CASA on Friday. The opinion seemed to fan the flames of “democracy is dying” claims of protesters, suggesting that basic limits on injunctive relief could result in the collapse of our core institutions. It was a hyperventilated opinion better suited to a cable program than a Court opinion. The response from Justice Amy Coney Barrett was a virtual pile driver of a rebuke. What was notable is that a majority of the justices signed off on the takedown. It could indicate a certain exasperation
Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ clears
key Senate hurdle after high drama
19 replies
Posted by Dreadnought 6/29/2025 12:18:41 AM Post Reply
President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” cleared a key procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate late Saturday night, pushing the massive spending package one step closer to the president’s desk. The vote on a motion to proceed to final debate on the bill passed with 51 yeas and 49 nays. Every Democrat and two Republicans, Sens. Thom Tillis, N.C., and Rand Paul, Ky., voted against it. The actual voting took hours and the measure only passed after three Republican holdouts — Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida and Cynthia Lummus of Wyoming — folded and voted yes.
Top Economist Admits Trump May Have ‘Outsmarted
All of Us’ on Tariffs
18 replies
Posted by ladydawgfan 6/29/2025 1:21:20 PM Post Reply
Donald Trump has a knack for making the so-called experts look foolish, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the ongoing debate over tariffs. The political and economic elite have ridiculed Trump’s approach, insisting that his tough stance on trade would backfire, cause a recession and cripple the U.S. economy. Yet despite all the apocalyptic predictions, the economy hasn’t gone south, and predictions of a looming recession have been quietly walked back. Recently, a prominent anti-Trump economist admitted what many on the right have been saying from the beginning: Trump’s tariff strategy wasn’t the reckless gamble the media made it out to be.
CIA chief told lawmakers Iran nuclear
program set back years with strikes on
metal conversion site
16 replies
Posted by Mercedes44 6/30/2025 4:01:30 AM Post Reply
CIA Director John Ratcliffe told skeptical U.S. lawmakers that American military strikes destroyed Iran’s lone metal conversion facility and in the process delivered a monumental setback to Tehran’s nuclear program that would take years to overcome, a U.S. official said Sunday. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive intelligence, said Ratcliffe laid out the importance of the strikes on the metal conversion facility during a classified hearing for U.S. lawmakers last week.
Justice Jackson Is Even Worse Than We Thought 15 replies
Posted by DW626 6/30/2025 2:57:33 PM Post Reply
We’ve previously covered Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's dissent in Trump v. CASA Inc., yet it somehow manages to be worse than we initially thought. I think we can easily say that her dissent proves that she’s not a serious member of the Supreme Court. In the recent case concerning birthright citizenship and nationwide injunctions, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered a majority opinion grounded in the Constitution and centuries of precedent, Jackson’s dissent veered into the realm of the absurd. Instead of offering a rigorous legal argument
Post New Article