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Red Lobster

3 star rating
11 reviews Rating Details

Category: Seafood  [Edit]

20 Dundas St W
Toronto, ON M5G 2C2
(416) 348-8938
Price Range:
$$
Accepts Credit Cards:
Yes
Attire:
Casual
Good for Groups:
Yes
Good for Kids:
Yes
Takes Reservations:
No
Delivery:
No
Waiter Service:
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible:
Yes
Outdoor Seating:
No
Alcohol:
Full Bar

11 reviews for Red Lobster

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Red Lobster

 

4

11

Aaron G.

Toronto, ON

3 star rating
2/26/2010

I'm a maritimer so I'm always up for a good lobster feed. I decided to hit up Red Lobster for their annual Lobsterfest and check out the goods.

Calamari and clam strips appetizer:
The calamari was ok.
The clam strips were crap but I expected that. I just wanted to eat all of the sea creatures available on the menu.

Lobster Lover's Dream
I had never tried rock lobster before so I had to include this in the order. To tell the truth, I don't need to order it again. It's rather tough when compared to maritime lobster. The linguine, while stuffed with shrimp and lobster meat, lost its creaminess very quickly. The maritime lobster tail was tasty, if salty.

Ultimate Feast
The garlic shrimp are tasty, the breaded shrimp are fine, The crab was succulent and the lobster tail was satisfactory. I would use less salt overall.

Service was  pretty good. No complaints except that our server removed two of the uneaten biscuits somehow, mid-feast, without us noticing. I would have objected. I thought the price was good for the enormous amount that we consumed.

Was it a superior seafood experience? No

Did I eat all of the sea creatures? Yes

Did that make me a happy boy? Yes

Win!

P.S.
A word on tartar sauce: I don't know where anyone got the notion that tartar sauce made with sweet pickles and/or anything resembling miracle whip is any way to enhance a fish eating experience. If you are going to serve something like this please make it a savoury mayonnaise and if it must have pickle, use proper, dill pickle for Pete's sake!

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Red Lobster

Elite '10

124

129

Vivek S.

Toronto, ON

3 star rating
1/23/2010

What can one say about Red Lobster?  I'm not going to mention the biscuits because we've all heard enough about the biscuits. And it's redundant to discuss the quality of the seafood here.  What I will say about this Bay and Dundas location is that the service is superb.  We showed up on a rainy night with a bus to catch and a short window of time in which to eat. They accommodated us wonderfully.  If you must eat Red Lobster, try this one!

Obligatory Title Pun:  Maybe they should call it: "I love the BREAD" lobster.

Menu Readability: Replace all the fowl in Swiss Chalet's menu with seafood.  Ta da!

Need to mention:  Right across from the bus terminal.

What this place teaches me about myself: If there is a seafood lover in me, he is forever being jostled by the biscuit lover in me.

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Red Lobster

Elite '10

200

182

susan c.

Brooklyn, NY

USA

3 star rating
2/5/2010

2 ** for the food but I'll bump it up because of those dang biscuits
5 ***** for the service

I've never been to a Red Lobster before. NYC doesn't have many of these big chain restaurants and I'd been feeling a bit deprived, what with everyone talking about how awesome the biscuits are here. (Funny how nobody raves about the amazing lobster at Red Lobster.)

Stephanie C., Kat T. and I went here for lunch just to try the biscuits. And, yes! They are indeed delicious. They're served warm and have a mild cheesy crust with a fluffy interior that pulls apart like cashmere yarn. Be careful, though; the grease on the biscuits is uncontainable and will ooze all over your hands and soak through your napkins.

Too bad the rest of the food that I actually paid for didn't measure up to the complimentary biscuits. The New England clam chowder was gloppy and most likely thickened by flour instead of real cream. The shrimp garden salad was sad, almost like what you'd find in an unreplenished salad bar at 4 p.m. Overall, not a bad deal at $9.99 for the two at lunch but I wouldn't eat it again.

One thing Red Lobster does right is in training its staff. Every point of contact from the hostess to our server, Joe, was friendly, professional and engaging. Joe is the nicest waiter I've come across in a long time but, more importantly, he does his job well.

He even gave each of us a bag of warmed biscuits to take home and for that I gave him my eternal gratitude and a 30% tip.

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Red Lobster

Elite '10

27

81

Jennifer L.

Toronto, ON

2 star rating
12/28/2009

uh yeah uh no

Sometimes i like to play mean jokes on myself by eating at an establishment like Red Lobster in a city of billions of unique restaurants because, well, I dunno why. I'll compare it to when I go traveling: I've eaten at a Montana's Steak House or Pizza Hut in Seoul (yes), or a Hard Rock Cafe in Barcelona (my lame-o traveling partner had a hankering for nachos and tacky atmosphere?? sure, why not.) because it's like a little piece of 'home' when you're in a land of the unfamiliar. But why do this to yourself it you actually live in a city filled with decent to fine eateries. Why. I am asking myself this question.

Nothing really tasted good here. I ordered the Lobster and Shrimp Pasta which cost me $12. I shoulda saved that $12 for, uh, I don't know, something else that wasn't Red Lobster. Maybe I could have walked a few more blocks towards Chinatown or to Kensington Market and ate something great there. Or even to the Pickle Barrel, or Milestones, cuz that's even better, am I right??

The service was amazing though. Such great smiles and apologies from the hostess. She apologized right off the bat knowing that the food was going to be CRAP.

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Red Lobster

Elite '10

47

177

Melinda M.

Toronto, ON

2 star rating
1/22/2010

I had a group outing with some female friends last night - dinner and a show. Said friends all ganged together and chose "Red Lobster" for dinner, sort of in an ironic, retro, rural kind-of way. Knowing I would be late and miss most of the meal, I said I was in. They met at 6, and I sms-ed one of them at 6:30 to say I was about to leave. They were just ordering then, so I had them add in a shrimp ceasar salad for me.

I arrived at almost 7 and the food had not yet arrived. I recommend this as the best way to experience Red Lobster - you can avoid the waiting!! Just have your friends go early and order for you! Food came within 5 minutes of my arrival, so it really was perfect for me.

I was surprised by the fact that they did wait so long because the restaurant was not busy at all, and Jason, our server, was extremely pleasant and accessible. One of the stars is solely for Jason.

I found the prices too high for what was served. Entrees are in the $20+ range, and the portions are measly. All I got was the ceasar salad, and the shrimp definitely seemed like frozen bagged shrimp, and the dressing was very heavy. Bland.

The biscuits they serve were REALLY GOOD though! Seriously good. One of the stars is for the biscuits. And Jason kept bringing more baskets of them, without charging us.

Another plus was that Jason obligingly provided separate bills, without any complaints. I liked him. I hope he can move up to a better establishment soon.

All in all, Red Lobster was better than I expected, but then, I didn't expect much.

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Red Lobster

 

23

121

Ric T.

NY

USA

2 star rating
7/24/2009

if you like buttery seafood and want to seal the deal this place does trick. If the girl loves the Mandingo take her here. She will be impressed by the 70-100 for two dinner they will serve you. Large, diabetes inducing frozen drinks paired with artery clogging fried Seafood will set the mood. Ordered some tilapia, a few vegetables, along with a glass of Red Wine(gotta make sure the cox works afterward) meanwhile my date ordered a daiquiri the size of a japanese fighting fish bowl along with some fried slop. Waiter here was extra friendly, food came out on time and i had this animal naked in my hotel room(literally across the street, why else would I come here) playing the meat flute minutes after paying the bill here.

Did the job for me, hope it does for you.

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Red Lobster

 

13

118

Thomas B.

North Bay, ON

4 star rating
7/21/2009

Although I'm not a big seafood eater I have to hand it to Red Lobster for making me a sea food lover everytime I go through.

My ex-girlfriend and a couple friends of ours, we have this tradition of going to Red Lobster every summer during lobster season. Usually we go to the one up in Sudbury but this summer since we are all in Southern Ontario (and the fact that I work in the same building) we decided to hit this one up.

The atmosphere is typical of any Red Lobster and though appropriately themed the place was also well-kept. I think the biggest mess was around my spot because when I eat... I EAT! (That sounded so sexual, oh gawd)

The food was great. But that is also typical of a Red Lobster. The one thing I noticed, however, is that Southern Ontario chain restaurants are generally better at what they do than in the North.

The service was great! One strange quirk is that I ordered a dessert to be brought to my ex after her meal since it was her birthday and when we got the bills they seperated them all and put the cake on her bill... I was picking up her bill anyways but how strange that they would have put it on her bill when someone else requested it for her. Sheesh!

All in all a great red lobster. Would definitely reccomend it to someone looking for a Red Lobster. It was worth the drive downtown from North York to hit this Red Lobster.

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Red Lobster

Elite '10

18

98

Adam P.

Toronto, ON

5 star rating
9/9/2009

I have to give this place 5 stars not necessarily because of the amazing tasting food, but because of the service of this place. People's opinion of Red Lobster is usually hit or miss; either people love the food or they don't. Personally I love the food. Being a franchise this place will have food that tastes like any other Red Lobster, so service is what separates the restaurants.

Our baseball team goes every year to pig out on AYCE shrimp. With 9 people going, most of them eating all the shrimp they can, it can be pretty demanding on the waiters. Although we had to wait for about 30 mins to get a table because they don't take reservations, I'm willing to overlook that.

With such a large party, there were 2 waiters assigned to our table, and they kept the shrimp and refill drinks coming to the very end.  It even got to the point where they were bringing out shrimp dishes even if we didn't order them because they knew they would have to at some point. There were no unusually long waits in between shrimp deliveries and the food coming out was hot and fresh.

Approximately 825 shrimp later the feast was finished and a grand time was had by all.

Word of warning; Every time I've been to this place there is always a lineup. It seems to start between 6 and 7 so be ready to wait if you go.

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Red Lobster

 

1

28

Keith C.

Chicago, IL

USA

1 star rating
12/15/2009

Awful. The shrimp was undercooked and overcooked at the same time. I felt that I lost about 5 years of my life just coming here. The vegetables were dry and tasteless. There are so many better seafood places in Toronto. This is not one of them.

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Red Lobster

 

34

131

Julianna B.

Toronto, ON

3 star rating
4/29/2009

Notable for the coronary-inducing cheese biscuits and the sheer variety of seafood you can order soaked in your choice of butterfat.  Far be it from me to say anything against butter and cream, but here it feels a bit... mechanical?  It's an easy place to take kids, and it's a relatively inexpensive place to indulge your shrimplust.  Good comfort food!

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Red Lobster

 

0

13

Sara T.

Toronto, ON

4 star rating
3/6/2009

Decent seafood at a good price. Cheap drinks, kid friendly, an east choice - a fave!

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