Good news for remorseless eating machines, arr!
Red Lobster is reportedly planning to revive the disastrous “endless shrimp” deal that helped push the seafood chain into bankruptcy.
A limited-time version of the $20 all-you-can-eat shrimp offer could launch as soon as this month, Bloomberg reported, citing sources with knowledge of the plans.
A Red Lobster rep told the outlet that it doesn’t have “anything to announce at this time,” adding that endless shrimp has long been a favorite of guests and one of its most popular promotions.
Red Lobster did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Fortress Investment Group, which owns Red Lobster, declined to comment.
CEO Damola Adamolekun – the 37-year-old who was hired in August 2024 after leading a turnaround effort at PF Chang’s – has repeatedly claimed Red Lobster will be “the greatest comeback in the history of the restaurant industry.”
The revival of its ill-fated endless shrimp deal would mark an unexpected way to attempt that comeback.
The decision to offer it for a limited time comes after the permanent menu fixture caused Red Lobster to lose a whopping $11 million in a single quarter.
For two decades, endless shrimp existed as a seasonal, limited-time deal.
But in 2023, Red Lobster’s previous owners decided to try making it permanent.
It was so popular and costly that it forced restaurants to churn through massive inventories of shrimp, and has been blamed for the chain’s downfall.
Since emerging from bankruptcy in September 2024, Red Lobster has struggled to win over inflation-battered customers in a highly competitive fast-casual dining sector.
The privately-held company forecast a nearly $52 million loss in 2025. It’s hoping to turn a profit this year.
As the chain’s new owners reportedly grow reluctant to shell out more cash, Adamolekun has focused on making changes inside existing restaurants and trying to appeal to a younger, more diverse crowd.
He launched a new hospitality effort in restaurants and trimmed menu offerings by 20%, keeping classics like cheddar bay biscuits and adding new items like bacon-wrapped scallops, lobster bisque, spicy seafood boils and extra happy hour specials.
The company has also considered selling more Red Lobster-branded products, like a special biscuit mix, in retailers.
But Red Lobster is still suffering from a 2014 deal under prior ownership that stuck it with expensive, long-term leases at unprofitable restaurant locations.
Some of those leases cover multiple properties, which has made it difficult for the company to close underperforming locations that are covered under the same lease as high-performing ones.
Red Lobster has been working with advisers to try to renegotiate many of these burdensome leases, according to Bloomberg.
The company would ideally have dozens fewer restaurants in its portfolio if it could skirt around these leases – implying that more store closures could come down the line, the Wall Street Journal earlier reported.
During the 2024 bankruptcy process, Red Lobster shuttered 130 restaurants. It currently has around 500 locations.
Meanwhile, Adamolekun has argued that the financial support from Red Lobster’s owners is a key facet of the brand’s turnaround strategy – and implied that his commitment to the company depends on that relationship.
“Part of my role is to show this is a business worth investing in,” he told Bloomberg in January. “Now, if I make that case, and I believe it, and I’m not getting a positive reaction? Then, you know, this is at-will on all sides.”
