Red Lobster

So we finally decided to go to the red lobster in Columbia. We were immediately greeted and sat. Being a Friday going into dinner the restaurant wasn’t to busy. The server was a little slow getting to us, it took about 10 minutes before a the server came to our table, which normally at that point we would have walked out. To start we had a couple of cocktails and a couple of apps. We ordered the seafood stuffed mushrooms and bacon wrapped scallops both were on point and flavorful. Entree’s we had the New Orleans salmon and the admirals feast. Now the Salmon was 10/10 great flavors nice portion as far as the admirals feast which we heard was the must try was no so great, fish was dry and salty, clam strips were bland, the shrimp was good but not so much everything else on the plate. The fried Brussel sprouts were amazing but a little to heavy on the balsamic glaze which was a little to sweet. Overall the experience was good, service was a bit slow at times, but the Manager Nikki made our first visit amazing. Nikki would probably be the reason we give it another try. We definitely aren’t ones for chain restaurants but this was okay.

Very rushed by server. We would have ordered another appetizer but felt like it would be served with the meal. Fried food items were very grease. Server rushed the meal along taking plates away to fast and didn't even entertain offering dessert. just slapped the check down. (Place wasn't even busy). *** NOTE: Server never wore her mask over nose or mouth) Won't be coming back to this location.

Had an extremely unpleasant experience with their wait staff. Had a $100 gift card, dinner pictured was around $68, I signed off and tipped $15-17 in cash and card showed balance of ~$30 left on the receipt. Next time we came in, the gift card had only $0.07 left. I just now spoke with the manager and they were accommodating to give me a $50 gift card. I still don’t understand how the waiter first boasted how he’d made $500 that day, then said he had forgotten to punch in our order so we got our food 42 min after we placed it, and then proceeded to collect $50ish in tips on our $68 dinner.

We love Red Lobster and today we found ourself in Columbia and decided to eat here for Lunch. This was our first experience at this location. Our server was a very nice young man Jaelin. Forgive me if I spelled it wrong. He was attentive and friendly and our order was prepared just how we asked. The restaurant was clean and the other staff we encountered were friendly. I would like to add that we tried to redeem the kids eat free with purchase of an entree all week promo until January 9th 2022. They honored the discount and we also learned on Tuesdays kids free. Thanks Red Lobster for another great dining experience.