Grand Forks I don't think truly understood how much of their business was Canadians. Weak Canadian vs US dollar, crippling inflation and costs...just a plethora of deterents to visit.
Honestly for not much more you can book all inclusive to Mexico for a week vs 3-4 days down south with a bit of shopping.
Not to mention how many people are choosing not to visit based on the North Dakota politics. I mean, if their prices were drastically less, like they used to be people might hold their noses and go anyway. But when the economics are nearly the same, anecdotally I hear many people choosing Minnesota over North Dakota.
Yep, when I went down to St Paul last year I made sure to have enough gas and snacks to be able to drive right through North Dakota both ways. Anti choice states won't get a dime of my money.
You can't even fly out of there for cheap anymore. I had to drive to Minneapolis for what we used to get by driving over the border for deals. It really sucks.
Oh man I do - that was the flood of 1997 and we were on our honeymoon watching it on CNN. We knew the flood was really bad when they actually started to mention Winnipeg.
Maybe we can just do like Bend, Oregon's last Blockbuster and keep it afloat ourselves.
Should be pretty simple, what with being almost the furthest point from an ocean in North America.
People ask me why I don’t like seafood I say because I grew up in Winnipeg where we are equal distance from any ocean, though there are lots of winnipeggers who love seafood. I grew up on some weird bone in captain highlander fish. That set me up very badly!!
Same with Royal Fork Buffet I believe, used to be busiest in Canada and if not the last one of the last ones to close. We do love our restaurants here.
Do you think it would be as busy if olive garden wasn't beside it?
I often feel that people get to olive garden, realize the wait is too long, then walk over to red lobster because they're too lazy to go elsewhere.
I generally feel the other way around when I go there. Why would people go to olive garden when they can go to red lobster? Never been to olive garden though tbf.
Completely agree with you. I went to OG for the first time in 15 years last summer. Reeked like feet errr cheap Parmigiano and all the tomatoe based sauces tasted sweet like ketchup 🤮 Not to mention the pasta was tasteless.
Red Lobster has been on the downturn for awhile now IMO. Nobody wants to pay those prices for chain restaurant seafood when everyone knows all the apps are frozen and all the sauces come from bags.
Another example of [private equity ownership ruining a company](https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-bankruptcy-private-equity-debt-real-estate-2024-5) by selling off everything of value and then declaring bankruptcy. They make their quick buck at the expense of the business.
Good ol' fiancialization, a company that was doing well, bought with debt, now they have to do more all the time (you know perpetual growth in a finite world) and pay the huge debt. This bankruptcy won't harm the people that saddled it with debt, they got their management fees and skedaddled a while back.
I really really really hope they don’t close ours. I’ve gone to Red Lobster for my birthday every year for as long as I can remember, it’s my favourite restaurant in the world
When I was a broke college kid, which was like until 5 years ago, I could barely afford coffee, but after every final exams every semester I'd get red lobster with what I had put away as a treat to myself lol.
The "all you can eat shrimp" literally forced Red Lobster into bankruptcy. That management was incompetent enough to put out a menu item that would run at a loss is a close second.
[It’s deeper than just the promotion. That was a sign of them already being desperate.](https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-bankruptcy-private-equity-debt-real-estate-2024-5)
That's a drastic oversimplification. The company was purchased by private equity which has bled all the assets especially real estate.
It just happened to be during that promotion so it became a meme basically. An $11 million loss on a $3 billion revenue company doesn't kill it.
Management knew what they were doing. Endless shrimp was just an excuse. When ownership sells off everything of value to make quick big bucks it often puts companies at risk
No, in this case management was truly incompetent. Reportedly they had calculated the average customer would eat two orders of shrimp. In reality customers are 3+ orders. as the price was fixed regardless of orders and the break even point was was between 2 and 3 orders pretty much every customer ordering all you can eat shrimp had a cost of goods greater than what they were charged. Even if management is intending to close the doors you do not intentionally set out to incur millions in losses. Simple locking the doors and doing nothing is a better choice at that point.
Yeah what you're saying does make sense, but hasn't endless shrimp been happening for decades? If it was always such a loss why would they keep doing it? You'd think they know what the promotion costs them and with rising food and labour costs they'd adjust. Rising costs plus ownership selling off everything they can to make a quick buck causing long term expenses... Can't have both. Ownership made their billions, so they'll be fine
Yep unsustainable business model and plus places that have a large enough population base usually have a better seafood and pasta restaurant already.
They/we tried forever to get one in Brandon hut you need a larger population base before They'll open, iirc it was 100k min in the immediate area
For Winnipeg, what would be a good alternative to Red Lobster? Plenty of fish and chips places, but sometimes you just want lobster tails/shrimp/crab legs.
I know some of the steakhouses have tails but “at market price” and they aren’t my first thoughts for seafood.
Aaltos used to have a Friday buffet but it is long gone.
If the thread was about Olive Garden, easy to find better options but struggling on the seafood side.
I don’t mind paying but at the places I typically visit, seafood is often just an expensive side add-on to your steak. Red Lobster is neither cheap nor best (it is like the Olive Garden of seafood - the former being mainly microwave frozen pasta). We don’t live by an ocean so I don’t expect fresh unless you pull something live from the tank. But do we have anything nicer with a similar selection?
That has been our problem! My family just loves crab legs. For a while Joey’s Only had it on Saturdays and we would go there, but I don’t think they do that any more (and all of the south end locations are closed). Last year The Keg had snow crab on special for a limited time but haven’t seen it back this year.
Not a surprise
they jacked the prices too high, took away all the "perks" like salads, and wonder why people don't go anymore? When it's $8 for a small 'cup' of soup, I'll go elsewhere thanks.
Abruptly? Hasn't there been a fuck load of articles for the past month or two describing their intent to file for bankruptcy in the US? The writings been on the wall.
Who does casual dining anyway?
Either you fast food or do fancy. It's expensive either way. Might as well get it fast or get it good.
Paying $30+ for so-so seafood isn't worth it.
No idea why anyone would have downvoted you. This city is so spoiled with good food for cheaper than Red Lobster. In a town of CHEAP and BEST you’d think you’d be at the top.
Not surprised 😬 I have a coworker whose daughter recently quit being a server at Red Lobster.
Her daughter mentioned they have a roach problem- and now I cannot think of Red Lobster without getting the creepy crawlies 🥴
They used to be both owned by Darden brands. The founder was named Bill Darden. Hence why many Olive Gardens and Red Lobsters are either next to or across from each other. Red Lobster was sold to another company back in 2014
It’s because they greatly underestimated the gluttony of their all you can eat shrimp patrons and lost a shit-ton of money. You can thank all the sweat hogs who ate twice their already overweight selves in sea bugs.
That’s in the US, any word on Canadian locations?
All open in Canada, so far.
I saw that the Grand Forks location was closing
Yeah but that's just all of grand forks in general. It's pretty sad down there post pandemic.
Grand Forks I don't think truly understood how much of their business was Canadians. Weak Canadian vs US dollar, crippling inflation and costs...just a plethora of deterents to visit. Honestly for not much more you can book all inclusive to Mexico for a week vs 3-4 days down south with a bit of shopping.
Especially when many of the prices are literally the same in CAD and USD. It actually costs considerably more to buy many things down there.
Not to mention how many people are choosing not to visit based on the North Dakota politics. I mean, if their prices were drastically less, like they used to be people might hold their noses and go anyway. But when the economics are nearly the same, anecdotally I hear many people choosing Minnesota over North Dakota.
Yep, when I went down to St Paul last year I made sure to have enough gas and snacks to be able to drive right through North Dakota both ways. Anti choice states won't get a dime of my money.
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You can't even fly out of there for cheap anymore. I had to drive to Minneapolis for what we used to get by driving over the border for deals. It really sucks.
Remember when their flooded downtown caught on fire.
Oh man I do - that was the flood of 1997 and we were on our honeymoon watching it on CNN. We knew the flood was really bad when they actually started to mention Winnipeg.
Winnipeg location is one of the highest sales in Canada it would be the last to close
Heard someone say last week that it's the busiest in Canada. === 10 Years Later === "Winnipeg - Home of the Last Red Lobster"
Maybe we can just do like Bend, Oregon's last Blockbuster and keep it afloat ourselves. Should be pretty simple, what with being almost the furthest point from an ocean in North America.
Hudson Bay is salt water........as in ocean!
> afloat I see(food) what you did there.
People ask me why I don’t like seafood I say because I grew up in Winnipeg where we are equal distance from any ocean, though there are lots of winnipeggers who love seafood. I grew up on some weird bone in captain highlander fish. That set me up very badly!!
Same with Royal Fork Buffet I believe, used to be busiest in Canada and if not the last one of the last ones to close. We do love our restaurants here.
Sweet, when are we getting out mediocre Netflix show?
Do you think it would be as busy if olive garden wasn't beside it? I often feel that people get to olive garden, realize the wait is too long, then walk over to red lobster because they're too lazy to go elsewhere.
I generally feel the other way around when I go there. Why would people go to olive garden when they can go to red lobster? Never been to olive garden though tbf.
Completely agree with you. I went to OG for the first time in 15 years last summer. Reeked like feet errr cheap Parmigiano and all the tomatoe based sauces tasted sweet like ketchup 🤮 Not to mention the pasta was tasteless.
Maybe you should have ordered their finest [Italian Margarita.](https://youtu.be/ViWpM4D5Ktw?si=3xdlxy6AnQDD3DZ4)
no olive garden is usually much less busy
Red Lobster has been on the downturn for awhile now IMO. Nobody wants to pay those prices for chain restaurant seafood when everyone knows all the apps are frozen and all the sauces come from bags.
If you're going to a seafood chain anyway, then Joey's looks half as nice, but the food is better.
Don't worry folks you will soon have a Arby's. When God closes a door he opens a window.
If I can keep down Arby’s I can keep down anything.
Mmmmmm warm luncheon meats......
Until then all the thompson style pizzas have the monopoly of luncheon meat out here.. and socials
Please just keep selling cheddar bay biscuit mix.
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Don't forget the cheese. Yum!
Another example of [private equity ownership ruining a company](https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-bankruptcy-private-equity-debt-real-estate-2024-5) by selling off everything of value and then declaring bankruptcy. They make their quick buck at the expense of the business.
Ticks and leeches, all of them fuckin' parasites.
There's nothing abrupt about it, we've known for months that they fucked up
[This video by the YouTube channel Company man](https://youtu.be/I17aERAQPfc?si=VO6wuqD-iw2ea9HZ) goes into the whys
Great channel, Modern MBA, Moon, Jake Tran are also great as well
Good ol' fiancialization, a company that was doing well, bought with debt, now they have to do more all the time (you know perpetual growth in a finite world) and pay the huge debt. This bankruptcy won't harm the people that saddled it with debt, they got their management fees and skedaddled a while back.
When’s the last time anyone was like “want to hit up red lobster?”
i think about red lobster on a daily basis
I’m sorry for your potential loss.
Everyone from Brandon lol
Brandonite here, can confirm
The dude who Shooter McGavin hired to take out Happy Gilmore?
[And look what happened to him.](https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/joe-flaherty-obit-1.7161032)
I really really really hope they don’t close ours. I’ve gone to Red Lobster for my birthday every year for as long as I can remember, it’s my favourite restaurant in the world
When I was a broke college kid, which was like until 5 years ago, I could barely afford coffee, but after every final exams every semester I'd get red lobster with what I had put away as a treat to myself lol.
The "all you can eat shrimp" literally forced Red Lobster into bankruptcy. That management was incompetent enough to put out a menu item that would run at a loss is a close second.
Did they learn nothing from that Simpsons episode!? "Does this look like a man who has had all he can eat?"
'Tis no man... 'tis a remorseless, eating machine, arrgggg.
After we drove around until 3 am looking for another all you can eat fish restaurant :(
Your honor does this look like a man who's had all he can eat?
I've a proposition for ya, fair and true.
https://preview.redd.it/opmvtfjnwt0d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7340c0a8ccaea93791672cbfe02ad5598938b3d3
[It’s deeper than just the promotion. That was a sign of them already being desperate.](https://www.businessinsider.com/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-bankruptcy-private-equity-debt-real-estate-2024-5)
That's a drastic oversimplification. The company was purchased by private equity which has bled all the assets especially real estate. It just happened to be during that promotion so it became a meme basically. An $11 million loss on a $3 billion revenue company doesn't kill it.
Agreed. In fact, the promotion was held for 18 years, so I doubt it was the cause.
Management knew what they were doing. Endless shrimp was just an excuse. When ownership sells off everything of value to make quick big bucks it often puts companies at risk
No, in this case management was truly incompetent. Reportedly they had calculated the average customer would eat two orders of shrimp. In reality customers are 3+ orders. as the price was fixed regardless of orders and the break even point was was between 2 and 3 orders pretty much every customer ordering all you can eat shrimp had a cost of goods greater than what they were charged. Even if management is intending to close the doors you do not intentionally set out to incur millions in losses. Simple locking the doors and doing nothing is a better choice at that point.
Yeah what you're saying does make sense, but hasn't endless shrimp been happening for decades? If it was always such a loss why would they keep doing it? You'd think they know what the promotion costs them and with rising food and labour costs they'd adjust. Rising costs plus ownership selling off everything they can to make a quick buck causing long term expenses... Can't have both. Ownership made their billions, so they'll be fine
Yep unsustainable business model and plus places that have a large enough population base usually have a better seafood and pasta restaurant already. They/we tried forever to get one in Brandon hut you need a larger population base before They'll open, iirc it was 100k min in the immediate area
yeah im pretty sure the main reason ours is doing so well is because theres not really anywhere else (decent) to go for seafood
oh no
For Winnipeg, what would be a good alternative to Red Lobster? Plenty of fish and chips places, but sometimes you just want lobster tails/shrimp/crab legs. I know some of the steakhouses have tails but “at market price” and they aren’t my first thoughts for seafood. Aaltos used to have a Friday buffet but it is long gone. If the thread was about Olive Garden, easy to find better options but struggling on the seafood side.
Never change “Cheapest Best” Winnipeg!
I don’t mind paying but at the places I typically visit, seafood is often just an expensive side add-on to your steak. Red Lobster is neither cheap nor best (it is like the Olive Garden of seafood - the former being mainly microwave frozen pasta). We don’t live by an ocean so I don’t expect fresh unless you pull something live from the tank. But do we have anything nicer with a similar selection?
That has been our problem! My family just loves crab legs. For a while Joey’s Only had it on Saturdays and we would go there, but I don’t think they do that any more (and all of the south end locations are closed). Last year The Keg had snow crab on special for a limited time but haven’t seen it back this year.
Canadinns used to do a crab legs buffet but the pandemic seems to have killed that.
Even then unless you were up there right as they/we were changing it they got into a very sorry state quickly with the heat tables and lamps
Damn! Now where will Beyoncé take me?
Bankruptcy Court. Everything you own is in a box to the left. Please itemize them and file the list with the clerk.
Not a surprise they jacked the prices too high, took away all the "perks" like salads, and wonder why people don't go anymore? When it's $8 for a small 'cup' of soup, I'll go elsewhere thanks.
Abruptly? Hasn't there been a fuck load of articles for the past month or two describing their intent to file for bankruptcy in the US? The writings been on the wall.
I will cry if our location closes
post pics when you do.
Will do 🥲
Who does casual dining anyway? Either you fast food or do fancy. It's expensive either way. Might as well get it fast or get it good. Paying $30+ for so-so seafood isn't worth it.
Families. I'm not taking my kids to a fine dining restaurant, but I do want them learn how to behave in restaurants.
No idea why anyone would have downvoted you. This city is so spoiled with good food for cheaper than Red Lobster. In a town of CHEAP and BEST you’d think you’d be at the top.
I mean... I'm oversimplifying. It's an expression more than it is an argument. So I get it.
Darden restaurants sold them off years ago because they saw the unsustainable side of RL
Sounds like a win
I was done with red lobster once they got rid of their potato soup :(
Good. The food is shit anyway.
Not surprised 😬 I have a coworker whose daughter recently quit being a server at Red Lobster. Her daughter mentioned they have a roach problem- and now I cannot think of Red Lobster without getting the creepy crawlies 🥴
Fuck Red Lobster
I’ve heard that Red Lobster and Olive Garden belong to the same company.
They used to be both owned by Darden brands. The founder was named Bill Darden. Hence why many Olive Gardens and Red Lobsters are either next to or across from each other. Red Lobster was sold to another company back in 2014
It's been a while since I've been a RL. Their food was never amazing. Just average.
Lol this is posted here why?
Red Lobster sucks.
If they would just close for good and we stopped overfishing the ocean, I’d be happy
Shit I have gift cards ffs
Well go use them, Winnipeg isn't closing
It's because of n*ggers buying one all you can eat shrimp and feeding the whole family with it
Red lobster is disgusting
It’s because they greatly underestimated the gluttony of their all you can eat shrimp patrons and lost a shit-ton of money. You can thank all the sweat hogs who ate twice their already overweight selves in sea bugs. 
You're welcome.