What’s better than a $60 hamburger for lunch? How about steak and lobster at Red Lobster? The cool thing about a steak and lobster lunch is it actually cost less than the $60 hamburger. The first Red Lobster opened its door in Lakeland, Fla., in 1968. Today, Red Lobster has has nearly 700 locations across the US and Canada and is part of the Darden Restaurants empire, which includes the Olive Garden, Smokey Bones and Bahama Breeze.
As successful as Red Lobster sounds, I have to wonder about the sign stating shoes and shirt required. I can only assume this is a throw-back to their original store in hot and sunny Florida. I can’t imagine someone going into a Red Lobster without shoes or shirts in cold and rainy Seattle.
The Starter Salad
All main courses begin with a nice refreshing salad. I topped mine with Italian dressing while Sarah went with the 1000 Island. There is also a bottomless basket of freshly baked Cheddar Bay Biscuits.
Endless Shrimps
Endless Shrimps happens once a year at Red Lobster and it’s great for someone who’s really hungry and loves shrimps. You get to choose from five types of shrimps: Garlic Shrimp Scampi, Hand-Breaded Shrimp, Shrimp Linguini Alfredo, Crunchy Popcorn Shrimp or the new Buffalo Shrimp.
Choose two of your favorites to start. When you’re ready for more, they’ll bring it. My favorite of the five was the Garlic Shrimp Scampi. Man, it was good! I think we order five plates. I also like the Buffalo Shrimps.
Steak and Lobster
Steak and Lobster is normally part of the dinner menu but Red Lobster will make any dinner item for lunch. I ordered the New York strip steak with rock lobster tail. The lobster was great but the steak was just a tad over done.
The service at Red Lobster was exceptional. Our server was friendly and answered all our questions. Lunch for Sarah and myself came to $70, which is only $10 more than one $60 hamburger. It’s too bad there are no Red Lobsters in Vancouver. I would have steak and lobster for lunch more often.