My husband and I visited the East Towne Blvd location in Madison, WI last Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. I am a Rewards Member, and we were looking forward to using some of the rewards I had, as we don't have a Red Lobster near our town. We ordered the seafood stuffed mushroom appetizer, as that was one of my rewards. This was at noon, by the way. Our waitress came back and said that they were out of mushrooms. At noon. I asked if we could substitute a different appetizer. She had to check with the manager, and he didn't seem to be too happy about it, but she came back and said we could. Nothing much else appealed to us, as we were looking forward to the mushrooms, but we decided to go with the shrimp cocktail. Let's just say that I'm glad we didn't have to pay for it. It was definitely not worth the listed price. And the shrimp did taste a little off. We ordered our main dishes, and my husband ordered the Create You Own Ultimate Feast, and asked for rice as his side. I ordered the garlic crab legs. When we got our food, there were no crab crackers, I didn't get any butter for my crab, and my husband didn't get his rice. After about 5-7 minutes, the waitress came back and we asked for those items. Another 5 minutes went by, and she brought the crackers, and a bowl of mashed potatoes, and told us they were out of rice. At noon. He didn't even bother to argue at that point, because by now the rest of the food was getting cold. Needless to say, this was one of the worst experiences we have ever had at Red Lobster. We would have complained to the manager, but he honestly didn't look like he gave a crap if we were happy or not. I don't normally complain, but wanted to bring this to someone's attention so it could be followed up on. Our waitress was very nice and did try to accommodate us, even though she seemed to be extremely booked with tables. We don't normally spend $100 on lunch, so it was just a huge disappointment to us after we were looking forward to it. read more

Went to this location for the Endless Shrimp promotion and I have to say I was really disappointed in the location, the service, the food and the promotion. The location seemed very short staffed. There was only one employee to check people in and seat. There were several tables open when we were taken back after our 20-30 minute wait, though there had been several groups of 2-4 in the waiting area waiting on a table. Our waiter was very slow, wasn't familiar with their drink list (which is not large by any means), and stopped being at all attentive as soon as we said we wanted Endless Shrimp. My husband and I both ordered a drink, which took a long time to come, and water. The waiter only brought one glass of water and never refilled it. After we ordered our second refill of shrimp, his attitude implied that we should be done and he was reluctant to bring us another. It is not mentioned anywhere on their menu or promotional material that take home boxes are not available for this promotion if you can't finish the last plate ordered. After eating half my last plate, our waiter told us we weren't allowed to take it home. So it went in the garbage instead of home with me to be eaten for lunch the next day. I do not approve of restaurants that needlessly waste food like that. If I had been aware that was their policy, which has changed since last I came for this promotion, I would not have ordered the last plate. This is an oversight that is unacceptable and needs to be fixed ASAP. The initial plates are decent size and you're allowed to pick 2. The refills are one at a time, absolutely tiny and the quality was not as good as the initial plate. The shrimp itself was okay, but nothing to write home about. Only one of the five available options came with cocktail sauce. Sometimes the dishes brought out were too hot to eat and others were just lukewarm. All in all, a disappointing experience and I can say I won't be heading back to Red Lobster in future, this location or any other. read more

Red Lobster is a top tier chain restaurant. It Offers great food at a reasonable price and CHEDDAR BAY BISCUITS!!! This day we were celebrating my Mom's 60th birthday with her children and sisters. I will state early that I appreciate the "Call ahead" option they now have, I called a few days early and was able to reserve our seats, so when we arrived we could just be seated. Indeed that was the case. Though the party had 3 additional people attend, which was fine, there was a table next to us that couldn't be used because of the angle we were in. We asked the manager to use that table and add it to our party, he willingly agreed, and I helped him move the tables and re-seat everyone. We placed appetizers and meals and the famous biscuits arrived with salad and soup. I ordered shrimp cocktails and lobster and artichoke dip for the whole table, shrimp were huge and juicy and delicious. The dip was piping hot and flavorful. I had lobster bisque, rich with flavor, chunky with lobster pieces and yummy! All of the sisters and my Mom ordered fried catfish...myself and 2 others ordered the Admirals feast. It is always a good treat, the only down side to the feast for me was the clam strips, they are always so gummy...Overall it was a wonderful experience, the fried fish took some time to get out, because it was made to order, but nothing was sent back because of the temp was too cool! read more

I visited here for multiple times and tried different combinations. White wine and roasted garlic mussels langoustine and lobster pizza Endless shrimps option Four courses option Ultimate feast Wood-grilled lobster, shrimp and salmon Surf and turf combination Bar harbor lobster bake Endless cheddar biscuits and different options of sides The food is good and service is good. Almost love every seafood option here. One thing could improve is that sometimes the lobster is a little small comparing to the price! Haha. Or maybe could consider to lower down the price a little! If the price could be a little cheaper it is better. Haha read more

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Showed up at 5 on Valentines Day. Only a 25 minute wait time, got seated, and ordered the Date Night special. Server was WONDERFULY nice considering how super-packed they were for the holiday. Food took a while but nothing a couple round of drinks couldn't solve. Entree was delicious and we had enough for a to-go meal. Highly recommend! read more

When you go to a Red Lobster, you know what you are going to get. But there has been some changes that need addressing. Salads are premade and holding in the cooler. This means sometimes the veggies are not as crisp as they could be and the bowl is very cold. The onions are cut into big hunks so you need your knife for the salad. I have gotten unclean silverware on more than one occasion. The server is alway quick to find another roll. I just wish someone would check the utensils prior to being wrapped in the napkin. The Ice tea is a strong brew so I need to remember to order a water on the side or go with a soft drink. Lunch is a more affordable option. But coupons are frequently in the paper. I ordered the make your own lunch. Everything was cooked well. My parents share a platter as it is a lot of different seafood items. Red Lobster is not fine dining. But for a chain restaurant, it is a nice place for seafood if you don't want to cook it yourself. It is a nice place to take the parents. read more

Been to this place about a dozen times over the years. Each time seemed worse and worse. Won't be going back. Took the wife for her birthday, Everything we ordered was over cooked and tasted spoiled. Only things enjoyed was our salads. We left hungry. So glad we were gifted a gift card and didn't spend a lot of our own money. Also it appeared that every lobster in the tank was dead already. I don't claim to know much about lobsters,but not a single one of them moved in the 20 mins we waited to be seated. read more

Red Lobster - Seafood Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

We came to RedLobster for a change of pace. 1. When we were seated the host went to pick up receipts still on the table from the last patrons. The table was so sticky they stuck and tore. No one wiped the table. 2. A mom at the next table said to her 6 year old looking kid 'do you want me to smack you in front of all these people' 3. The food made me feel bad about myself. This is about what I expected. read more

The service was absolutely fantastic. Instantly seated and had our waitress attending to us within minutes. The food came out equally as fast. This was my first time eating here and personally I think the food isn't good at all I can't let that affect the score because it really isn't my preference but I'm sure others love it. read more

It was quick seating. Sadly we then gave up after 17 minutes of no waitress. We walked out.

We went there after the Badger basketball game on Saturday. They were understaffed and refused to even let us sit at an empty table and wait. We walked next door to the Outback and were immediately seated and treated wonderfully. The manager was awful and seemed happy we left. Highly recommend bypassing this joint, and going to the Outback instead. read more

Red Lobster - GO HERE! - Seafood Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Sunday wait time for me and one other person was 15-20 mins. The restaurant might be busy but it's dirty. The waitress was in a hurry and didn't explain the menu well or what specials they are having. A server came to us after 12 mins of being seated. Basic thing is clean the tables, chairs, and sweep floor before seating guests. This is your responsibility! Second I drove 30 minutes to eat here the variety is limited and I have eaten at other red lobster locations out of state- way better cleaner and service is way better! read more

The biscuits. Seriously! That's why I come. The rest of the food is pretty good too but nothing beats the biscuits. As far as the rest of the food, tried something new and got the lobster artichoke dip. It was really good however the chips were extremely salty. I got the caesar side salad. Good but a little heavy on the dressing. Then came the ultimate feast. I wasn't really hungry at this point but leftover seafood isn't great. The shrimp, lobster and crab were great. I didn't try the rice and I only ate a couple of fries which were also very salty. As far as the service it was pretty good. Took a little long to be greeted and get our waters but it wasn't horrible. read more

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Arrived at 3:40, were told there was a 30 minute wait. After an hour I checked on our time- was ignored by staff for about 5 minutes when I finally interrupted, and the staff looked confused. We were a party of 2 and after dealing with Covid now for over 8 months you would think the service would be better managed. We went to another restaurant and was served before I finally got a text that our table was ready. Sorry Red Lobster, we probably won't be back. read more

My daughter and I always love coming here for their biscuits! She didn't really like their Mac and Cheese but I tried telling to have the popcorn shrimp because that's her favourite but she wanted to try something new! They have bottomless shrimp for 17.99 per person! That's a pretty good deal! I love their Garlic Shrimp Scampi! It's sooo good! We came here on a Wednesday around 5pm and it was super busy! Bathrooms are always clean and stocked which is a plus. We got our food pretty quickly given how busy it was, which was great! Staff is always nice and friendly. Our waitress had someone shadowing here and it was fine! That person did a wonderful job! We'll definitely be back. We always come back. However, I do prefer their crab over their lobster. Haha! read more

Love the seafood and drinks there . Seafood is pretty fresh,and I love that most drinks has the pictures on the menu, so you can kind of have ideas about what you gonna get, it's very helpful for somebody who not know drinks that well. read more

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Absolutely garbage!! Which is so sad for me for say this was solid place for seafood in Madison apparently until corvid 19!!! Now their severs seemed very annoyed to be serving guest, not friendly, not helpful, or the lest bit pleasant. My boyfriend and I came in for dinner and after ordering our two crab leg dinners we also asked for more napkins so our sever didn't have to make more trips..... Our sever response was we had enough at our table...(which included the two paper towels that was wrapped around our silverware and two side napkins) However that aside after receiving our food order that was also wrong....and when I questioned it the sever told me she didn't know the kitchen must have been busy.... no further explanation or apology was given. My boyfriend food seemed ok however the little crab legs I did get were completely cold and the sever continued to give me attitude while walking by the table. At that point I lost my appetite and my boyfriend (who both of us work as bartenders and are very aware how to treat people, at lest if you want returning customers) agreed that we were treated unfairly. We got up from our table and ask to speak to that manager, told her all of our complaints....she did half ass apologize but still made us pay for food we didn't eat! But did offer us biscuits if we wanted to wait..... Grow up!!!! And learn how to treat people! I work in the industry and would never treat anybody the way I was treated today. If your looking for good seafood or a nice out with your family DO NOT GO HERE. Unless you want to be disappointed! Maybe a great spot for a break up or tinder date! But I will have to say the biggest disappointment in the whole night after paying the tab for the food we didn't eat, (we did really appreciate the drinks that were made from the bartender)and told the manger Christie that the extra 30 dollars for a tip were to go to the bartender. We called 20 min after leaving and talked with the bartender.....he never got the cash we wanted to give him for a tip....really makes me sad. Horrible management!!!!! read more

Had a bad experience in late July, called and talked with a manager and was told she would be sending a gift card out. Nothing arrives for a month. Call again and talk with a different manager, she says she'll look into it and agreed a gift card should have been sent, and she will call me the next day to confirm. It's been almost a week since that call. They just don't seem to care. Food was good, staff I experienced is sub par, and management needs lots of training. read more

2nd time here in past 2 months. Food and service were very good. I do not understand why others are not happy. I will be back soon.

Ultimate Feast that YOU design. I did lobster tail, snow crab legs, coconut shrimp, and grilled jumbo shrimp. Awesome. read more

Red Lobster - She's not driving! - Seafood Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Came in with a group for a birthday party. Seated right away, and the waitress knew how to use her time wisely. I ordered the breaded shrimp with the mashed potatoes and langostino lobster, I think it came covered in a cheesy sauce along with a side salad. The langostino potatoes wasn't all that great nor all that bad; I'd order the fries next time. Servers brought out a cake that we brought, and they even sung happy birthday. It's a chain, but this one has a nice lunch staff. read more

This location doesn't seem to care about the customer. When called to place a take out order, waited almost 12 minutes after put on hold . Ok, so I place my order with 2 simple requests, Extra cocktail sauce for the 12 shrimp, and extra butter for the 2 sides ( baked potato's) 1. Only got 1 cocktail sauce, had to show the employee, there was only 1, even after she said " I put 2 in there 2. No ToGo silverware was provide for a take out order. 3. Total of 6 butter pads, ok great, But she put them in with the hot entree. So all the butter were melted, and went everywhere when I opened them, including my pants. The above is unacceptable in today's customer service world ! I won't be referring any of our friends to this location, nor will I be returning here. I was taken back by the simple requests made at the time of the order, and the attitude I got from the hostess/take out person. read more

We waited for over an hour for a takeout over and never received our food. Absolutely terrible customer service.

GO elsewhere! This place doesn't bother to pick phones after multiple calls for Reservations. While walk-ins have atleast 40-45 minutes wait time. Peeping inside the dining rooms, the place is barely occupied. (Not sure then why wait time) This happened two times in row...So we left both times....Do they expect people to wait 45 minutes from the time they arrive? Why can't a restaurant not take phone calls for prior reservation? Not going to Red Lobster again! read more

We presented a $10 off coupon card and it was rejected because they said it has to be an entree purchase however that is not represented on the card. We seldom go to Ref Lobster because of the obvious reasons like friendly staff and value. We generally do not Red Lobster but since we purchased gift cards we thought we would give it a try. Drinks and food being over priced for the area and again the bartenders are constantly arguing with the manager. I attached pictures, if I am wrong they will tell the story. I will also be sending this to corporate. It's not about the $10. It's about the entire experience. read more

Red Lobster - Front of card - Seafood Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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I attempted to order online for delivery for the first time in months and sadly my order was cancelled. I must admit I am very disappointed as I was looking forward to having Friday night fish fry and dessert since being on Covid quarantine. I hope everyone was able to get their order. read more

I love red lobster. I mean cheddar biscuits!! But...this location is unbelievably awful. How the hell is the location still open! The food was good but the service is terrible. Beyond terrible. I mean...it took over 90 mins to get our salads. We should have left one hour in and still not receiving our waters...yes, our waters. I spoke to a manager on shift and he has no idea how to manage a restaurant. When I left, I wished him good luck. He needs it. I truly hope this location can turn around the service before it's completely shut down. Again, avoid this place if you can. I'm sad to say it, but the restaurant needs to replace their servers and managers. The cooks still got it tho!! red lobster, baby...for this location: I want to love you but you gotta love yourself! Byeeeeee read more

Those darn cheesy biscuits are still some of my favorites after all these years, pretty unreal. I could probably just come to Red Lobster for drinks and cheesy biscuits. Came here for lobster fest, service was great, cocktails were good & our entrees were tasty. The oysters were not so great. Salad was pretty sloppy/over dressed. read more

I just got fired for not showing up for a shift after a 9 hour shift at my other job. I got home and accidentally fell asleep and I explained this to Josh the general manager. One of our other bartenders was let off the hook for 10+ no call, no shows. And they ONLY SUSPENDED an employee that sexually assaulted another. And that same employee had numerous complaints of talking sexually to other girl waitstaff. Josh Boyde is a terrible general manager and got his job handed to him on a silver platter. read more

Thought I would try again... walked into an extremely cold (a/c blasting on a cold rainy day) environment. Went to the bar, was not acknowledged. Went to the hostess, asked for a table for one. She got on the microphone. Report to me was, "we are turning tables", it would be about 5 minutes. She handed me a flashy thing. I looked around and saw many open tables in both the bar and the restaurant. I walked out. Lack of attention to detail. read more

We were quickly seated, served and our food came out quickly. My chicken sandwich was nice. So why the 1 star? I love seafood and have eaten at some amazing seafood restaurants in my time. Unfortunately Red Lobster uses MSG in a majority of its seafood. 85% of the time I eat at any Red Lobster I get sick within 30mins -1hr, so much so I need a bathroom very quickly. Two separate managers at different locations and corporate all admitted they use MSG extensively. MSG is banned in many countries as its so bad for you. The only reason its allowed in the US is that the food industry keeps pressure on the FDA. Red Lobster is the only chain I know that uses MSG and a no go for seafood. Feel free to look up MSG...linked to strokes, heart attacks, several organ failures, etc read more

I'm a firm believer in second chances, and although it has taken us about a year to come back, we're glad we did. And we attribute our satisfied experience to the staff--and based on our last experience there, it was a surprise! First off, we were greeted by two young ladies in the front. Prompt. Polite. We were already impressed. Our server was Wes and can I just say, he was the easily the best server we've had yet. Everything he did seemed effortless and the attention to small details were not ignored. Very polite, patient, knowledgeable, prompt--he didn't miss a beat and he didn't overdo it by constantly coming to our table. It was a seamlessly perfect dinner. At Red Lobster. WHO KNEW?! We chose the 4-course meal which was a good thing and a bad thing. Mostly good. The bad was based on the fact we couldn't get out of our seats. We started off with soup: spicy chicken tortilla and New England clam chowder. Not out of this world, but still good and perfect complement to the mini-blizzard going on outside. I had the shrimp and scallop linguini; rich and creamy but it was a perfect portion. I didn't feel like it was an overwhelming amount. Thank goodness because I ate the entire thing and I feel no guilt! =) My boyfriend had the wood-grilled chicken with portobello wine sauce. That was also a nice portion, and the green beans were well-seasoned. We could've eaten an entire plate of that with no problem. I didn't get a chance to taste the chicken but he took it home and ate it for a late-dinner. No complaints from him as far as I know. Desserts were a triple-chocolate brownie a la mode and caramel cheesecake. RICH. RICH. RICH. Good gracious--what a way to top off the meal. At first I was a little annoyed by the small portion, but as soon as I took a bite, I was so glad they were that size. I think my pants would've hated me. Huge kudos to the management and staff (especially you, Wes!) for such a great experience. We were already having a somewhat off night and we took a chance to come eat here again, hoping it wouldn't be like the first time. Not even close. And I know the exterior was changed but I could swear the inside was remodeled as well. It just didn't seem like previous experiences at other Red Lobster locations where I felt like I was on a fishery boat. Regardless, two thumbs up! read more

First and probably last time I dine at this Red Lobster location. Restaurant half empty and food took 45 minutes. When food was brought out our less than spectacular server warned us that the plates were "scorching hot". Translation: "I left your food in the window under the lights for 20 minutes while I did my closing duties". Oh yeah, and even with 45 minutes to properly prepare and plate our meal.... Forgot the grilled chicken for my son. Then I had to wait for our server to reappear to pay the bill. Caribbean shrimp/salmon was bland. read more

If you like cafeteria food then go here! I'm not sure what we exactly even ate but we were gagging while trying to scarf down the food. Everything was rubbery and goopy texture. Don't do it. I felt bad for the animals that lost their lives for us to eat, that's how bad the food was. It was DISGUSTING. Go elsewhere. I promise your insides will thank you! We had to go to Happy Wok for dinner after dinner. read more

Red Lobsters Biscuits is what drives me to dine at their restaurant. However, now that they sell their brand of biscuits at Costco, I fail to see why I would ever dine here again. I love seafood. It's my favorite food. However, Red Lobster seems to think that the best way to cook a good seafood dish is to drown it in garlic and butter. My goodness, it's ridiculous how much butter and oil is used in any given dish. I am (was) a huge fan of their Salmon New Orleans. It came with wild rice, broccoli, broiled salmon and shrimp covered in a tabasco butter sauce. I always got the sauce on the side because again, the add too much butter/oil. Since the dish is super easy to make, I decided to make it on my own with less butter. Viola! Dish turned out better than Red Lobster (IMO which is very bias I will admit) For what you pay to get a good meal, the food is very average while being coated in nothing but butter. Even the salads are iffy. Their food is nothing special. The most decent cooker can make anything on their menu. I never understood why the lines are always out of the damn door when I drive by on a weekend. Convenience? Must be. However, people must REALLY like it considering the wait time on a Friday or Saturday night can be up to a hour. If I am to leave one positive comment, the service has always been great in my past experience dining here. read more

We stopped in for the endless shrimp special, but for us, the shrimp never even began. We were seated at our table, given our salads, biscuits, and beverages, and that was it. 25 minutes later, our waitress still hadn't returned to our table. They were not busy, so I don't see what the problem was. We told the manager we were leaving, and she acted like she was doing us a big favor by not charging us for our salads. Then she mentioned that she hoped that we would come back sometime and give them another try. That's not very likely...I think we will stick with places that actually bring us our food, and don't leave us stranded at our table for 25 minutes without anyone even checking up on us. Absolutely terrible service. read more

I ate here with my wife recently. She loves seafood, and we had a gift card. So why not give it a shot. Surprisingly, we didn't have to wait long to get our seats. We were given the standard spiel with the current promotion "lobsterfest". And boy, were they selling it hard. I know the servers have to do it, but I found it annoying. We ordered some waters with lemon. Water arrive promptly w/o lemon. No big deal. Wife gets shrimp 3 ways. I get a steak and salmon meal. We both ordered Caesar salads. I've never had a salad with more bad lettuce than what was brought to me. At least half the lettuce was wilted and dark green/black slimy looking. I told the server and he promptly brought out a different house salad. It was fine, but the kitchen should know never to send anything out looking like that. Our meals took a long time to arrive. Must have been a good 40 minutes. The food was decent enough. My steak was rather bland. But the salmon was good. My wife enjoyed her shrimp. When the bill came, it said waters w/ lemon. Everyone has off days, I get it. A number of points during the experience rubbed me the wrong way. I thought Red Lobster was going through a re-branding recently. But it seemed like the same tired interior and menu from the last time I ate at one 4 years ago. read more

Good place but don't order curbside delivery. I called when in the parking lot cause the spots all had cars in them and was told they don't have anyone to run food out. I had to go in to get it. Not a huge deal but don't offer what you can't deliver on. read more

Once again with lobsterfest, I usually go for it every year but this time i felt it was special. Every thing we had was tasty. I didn't know if that's bcoz not many people came here on the game day (final four) and chefs were not too busy so that they were very focus on our dishes. However it was my great day. We got a free appetizer which was a bowl of garlic mussels. I would say I really liked it but the side bread was too salty for us. We had wood-grilled lobster, shrimp and salmon and lobster lover's dream to share. I usually don't feel craving for pasta but for this time I had to give the thumb up for the chefs. Awesome! read more

Red Lobster - #LOBSTERFEST: lobster lover's dream is very tasty - Seafood Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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We have ate here many times in the past. Normally very good food and service. Tonight we ordered carry out. When we got our food, we were missing one salad. I went inside to take care of it and waited a bit for someone to show up up front. When the young guy showed up he didn't seem to have a clue what to do with the situation, til another employee directed him. When got home the food was definitely not what we would normally expect. Really hoping this is a one time thing. read more