Red Lobster - Altamonte Springs

This was my first experience dining at a Red Lobster, and it certainly exceeded my expectations. Although I’m not typically a fan of seafood, I decided to try the bacon-wrapped sea scallops, the lobster artichoke and seafood dip, and Walt's favorite shrimp, all of which were delicious—there was hardly any fishy flavor! Our waitress, Jessica, was extremely friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere was mostly peaceful. And of course, the cheddar biscuits were fantastic. I definitely plan to return in the future.

As for the food, it was just average. I ordered rice as a side, expecting Pilaf, but it turned out to be plain white rice—completely unseasoned and bland. I can understand why the Red Lobster franchise has faced some challenges. On a positive note, the broccoli was steamed perfectly, and the lobster tail and Alaskan crab legs were fresh, well-cooked, and seasoned. They were pricey but absolutely delicious!

We went to this location on the Fourth of July, and it was not busy at all and pretty empty. We were all surprised since we are a group of seven, so we sat down and we’re immediately serve drinks and bread. Since it’s a group of family, we all started talking and noticing more people starting to trickle in with the tables around us. We were talking, taking pictures and telling stories, we started to notice that other tables around us were getting their orders and food brought out and we were still waiting for ours. A table next to us had a customer that was not happy with her meal and they re-made her and the tables items back over and brought it back out and we STILL have not gotten one single meal item out. I looked back at my phone to notice what time I took a group picture which was 3:15PM and it was now pushing 4:45 PM and we hadn’t gotten any food. We asked the waiter if he could give us an idea on when our food was coming out as we had four children and three adults. He responded nicely “you have two checks in front of you.” I don’t know what that means so I asked if he could clarify he said two more tables should be getting their meals and then we should be getting ours. After explaining that we had been there for over an hour and 30 minutes and our concern of why we hadn’t been served our food we took a look around (still not busy) and decided we were going to leave. After approaching management, he acted dumbfounded and had no idea why our food had not come out yet. Now we’re from Las Vegas the entertainment capital of the world so SERVICE is super important. The manager didn’t offer to make things right or apologize for delay of service. He just simply let us walk out with not any regard or apology. I find this completely unacceptable and wrong, and definitely would never go to this location, nor recommend any of my friends or family to go to any red lobster for that matter. Not cool, red lobster that you would allow for children to sit almost 2 hours without any food. This location wasn’t busy, so there was no excuse. Not good!

During our first visit, our server disappeared, and we later found out that she had quit. On our second visit, a weeknight at 8:30 PM, we left after waiting 40 minutes without any food. The manager informed us that the kitchen was busy cleaning and not focused on cooking. Even after all this, we decided to return hesitantly. My daughter ordered chicken fingers twice, and both times they were undercooked! They arrived raw and pink in the center, and she actually bit into one of these raw chicken fingers! (See attached photo—it's appalling!) The server sent the manager over, who apologized and offered to replace the dish, but by then my daughter was traumatized and had lost her appetite. To make matters worse, the original bill still included the charge for the chicken fingers until the server finally removed it. This should have been addressed immediately by the manager. We settled the remaining bill and decided we would never go back. This location is poorly managed and should really be shut down!

Even though I was there for Valentines Day and was told the wait was 1 hour, I was called within 50 minutes. Judy, the server, made it a great evening. She was very attentive, sweet, and pleasant. Cudos to Judy!