Red Lobster customers have taken to social media to say goodbye to the beloved chain as it nears bankruptcy.
But other Americans have boasted about how much they ate in the chain’s famous $20 “endless shrimp” promotion, recently raised to $27, which is blamed for the chain’s demise.
One customer claimed she managed to devour 108 shrimp as part of the deal by staying at the restaurant for four and a half hours.
“I set a new record at my local Red Lobster, this is the biggest achievement of my life,” the poster explains in a TikTok video.
The seafood chain announced Monday night the immediate closure of nearly 100 restaurants in 21 states and is auctioning off the contents of 48 of them.
The abrupt closures come after the chain’s owners reported losses of $11 million in three months last year, which its chief financial officer attributed to its unlimited shrimp deal.
The company is now expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to reports.
Some posters saw the funny side of the company’s situation, while others expressed regret over laid-off staff and the loss of a fan-favorite restaurant.
“Only in America could we eat Red Lobster out of business,” one user wrote on
Another posted a Judge Trudy meme of red lobster characters in court with the caption, “Day one of Red Lobster’s bankruptcy proceedings and the lobsters have already disturbed order in the court.”
A third posted a photo of Christopher Moltisanti from the hit TV show The Sopranos with the caption of the speech: “Now Tone, don’t be mad, but the Red Lobster is closed.” They say we had too many ‘endless shrimp’, but I told these morons that’s the damn point.
Others posted their memories of enjoying Red Lobster’s endless $27 shrimp offering.
A content creator, who goes by the handle darnitdamon on TikTok, posted a recent review of his experience at Red Lobster.
“Apparently they lost $11 million because they underestimated how much shrimp people can eat, and I don’t regret contributing to that because it was worth it,” he says in the video.
“We started with the Cheddar Bay Biscuits that I loved as a kid, and then my friends and I ordered the eight shrimp options to try everything.”
‘All together we had about 64 shrimp, so we had to keep going.
“In the end I ate 34 shrimp.” he added.
“I decided to try unlimited affirmation when I was 10 and ate so much shrimp that I got sick and didn’t eat it again for 13 years,” one viewer wrote in the comments below the video.
“My dad used to go to a place that had a weekly deal on unlimited shrimp…they asked him to go to other places because he was taking advantage of their profits,” another commented.
“In the current environment, consumers are looking to find value and stretch budgets as far as possible,” Jim Salera, research analyst at Stephens, told the Wall Street Journal.
“At $20, it’s entirely possible for a consumer to eat well beyond the slim profit margin,” he said of Red Lobster’s problems.
Another user, who went by the name KrystalwithaK on TikTok, said she was shocked to learn of the closures after dining at her local Red Lobster on Sunday night.
“Unbeknownst to us, not even the people at Red Lobster knew, on Sunday we were there until 9:30 at night, so we had to be the last ones and then they closed on Monday for good,” he said in a video. published on the platform.
“They closed the store and it’s been there forever, that’s where my grandparents go.”
“Seriously,” he added, “that’s a disgusting move at this time when the world is the way it is, laying off so many people without warning.”
‘This just happened to me and my husband. “I was with the company for 10 years, he was with them for over 20 years,” one viewer wrote in the comments.
‘I’m devastated. I just ordered shrimp my way on Friday…my mom and I used to go to RL all the time when I was a kid…uggghh,” added another.
The contents of the closed places will be auctioned on Thursday.
Auctions will be conducted by Restaurant Equipment Bid. They specialize in selling restaurant equipment that goes out of business and needs to be liquidated quickly.
Available Red Lobster items vary by location, but include high-performance ovens, upright refrigerators and freezers, cooking and warming equipment, as well as “comprehensive bar and dining facilities,” according to the auction site.