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Red Lobster
Category: Restaurants Seafood Seafood [Edit]
20 Dundas St WToronto, ON M5G 2C2
Neighbourhood: Downtown Core
(416) 348-8938
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
26 reviews for Red Lobster
26 reviews in English
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Review from Josh G.
Vancouver, BC
My meal here actually warranted a review, surprised.....well sit back and read on my friend.
After a few underwhelming meals, I decided to give up on adventuring and go for something bulletproof. So I walked a few blocks to red lobster, my first time ever, sat down and ordered the largest lobster on the menu, steamed, with a beer.
Sometimes the simplest things are always the best. My entire lobster came out, and I instantly tore into him...ripping off the claws and the tail, I was one happy camper.
After dismantling my meal like a pro, I dived in headfirst, no bib mind you, and the scene that ensued was spectacular. The lobster was tender, sweet and delicious. Every bite made me sad and ever more aware that this foodgasmic endeavor was inevitably coming to an end.
I ripped every single piece of meat from that beast, and even dipped the delicious biscuits in the lobster water and butter...pure heaven.
I totally understand the 2 star reviews from other people, but why order anything other than an entire steamed fresh lobster...you can even pick one from the tank at the front...sexy -
Review from Christine C.
Toronto, ON
1/8/2012
The Red Lobster is currently running a menu special where for a mere $18, you can get a full 4 course meal (soup, salad, entree, dessert). We went for a late lunch at 3pm, Saturday, when there wasn't any lineup and it was not busy. We each ordered the special. I had clam chowder, caesar salad, jumbo coconut shrimp with baked potatoe, and chocolate fudge brownie with ice cream. My friend ordered the exact same except her entree was blackened tilapia with a side of broccoli. The salads all come with all you can eat cheese biscuits. To keep our budget in check, we didn't order any cocktails or beer. Just water. Lucky for us, because after the soup and salad and a few biscuits, we couldn't eat our entrees! We each had a couple of forkfuls of our mains and were stuffed! I think it was the biscuits. So we asked the waiter who was very nice, to bring us containers to box up our entrees to go. Then he asked if we wanted to still have our dessert or to box that up too? Ha ha... we totally forgot that we had dessert coming. The chocolate chip sprinkled brownies were served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. We ate the ice cream and had the brownies boxed up too.
Now that I am home and working on my doggie bag, I think the best thing about Red is the service and the ambiance. It is a relatively comfortable downtown space that is not too pricey with pleasant wait staff who don't put pressure on you to order drinks and meal extras, if you don't want it. That and their Cheese biscuits, they were delicious. The soup and salad was ok, the mains we had, I don't recommend. -
Review from Q H.
North York, ON
11/29/2011
Alright. The foods aren't good. Lobster is dry and lacks smooth sweetness. The foods are overpowered by strong salty flavor. Their foods really give me headaches after eating them. I feel clogged in my head as my forehead is about to explode. Maybe their foods are drenched too much in oil and grease - scallops, shrimps, etc.
On a brighter side, the restaurant has a cozy warm environment. Well all the Red Lobster restaurants do. Tables are large enough, but they aren't spaced out enough to give privacy. Servers are generally nice, but aren't really attentive. They are really busy. So it is hard for them to come by your table.
The biscuit is good, but it makes you full even before your orders arrive. So I suggest eating not too many of them. -
Review from Sayno H.
Toronto, ON
12/6/2011
Really good biscuits. almost a zillion calories in each, but irresistible. Ambiance is nice, very relaxing seats. The waitress was very cooperative. I kept on asking lame questions and she kept on answering with a friendly smile.
Overall, pretty nice. -
Review from Juliana H.
Toronto, ON
9/18/2011
Red Lobster? This choice was made strictly to cap off a day of nostalgia for certain members of our party. We expected to enjoy the camp factor; what we didn't expect was the hordes of people there. I had no idea that a Saturday night around 8:15 pm would be so damn busy! We were told our wait was going to be one hour and ten minutes. I wanted to go else where, but everyone else wanted to stick it out.
Finally, over an hour later we got our table. Our server, although very polite, clearly had too much going on and it took forever to get drinks and food. I ordered the Seaport plate - a lobster tail, two kinds of shrimp, some rice, and broccoli. I also had a salad and a biscuit. Everything was extremely salty and bland. The best thing about this experience was the wine prices - only $7 per glass for a serviceable red. Otherwise, everything else was overpriced for what it was.
I heard two birthdays being celebrated at nearby tables. It reminded me that the only other time I've been to the Lobster since childhood was
celebrating a relative's birthday too. Then I had a similar thought. Why with all the interesting restaurants in Toronto, is this place still so popular? -
Review from Jim G.
8/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
This Red Lobster has been at this location in the Atrium on Bay forever. This restaurant has a nice, comfortable bar facing Bay Street, though the last time I visited the bar smelled awfully hoppy. The service in the bar is great. The table service the night I was there recently was not good--missing cutlery and napkin, slow to order a drink, slow to see the salads and entrees, and we weren't asked if we wanted a second drink or dessert.
The food was decent. The buns, as has already been established, are deliciously salty. The caesar salad was passable and the garden salad looked like something you might see at a seniors restaurant. The crab was very well prepared. The shrimp and scallops were oversauced and really salty, but decent.
I'll go back. I know what I'm getting and I'm okay with that, and it's not bad at about $40 a person for a decent amount of seafood (assuming you get one of the specials and don't order something silly in this seafood restaurant such as chicken) and a drink, including tax and tip. -
Review from Emily K.
Toronto, ON
7/22/2011
As a rule I generally try to avoid chain restaurants and I generally only frequent Red Lobster during AYCE shrimp. But one night (a Sunday night) my husband and I were out walking just looking for a place close by to eat, and we succumbed to our desire for Red Lobster (it had been a few years). It was Shrimpfest. Not AYCE but we figured this would do.
Looking in from outside (and given the time - 9:00pm) we figured there would be no problem getting a table for two. We waited about 5-10 minutes for a table, not bad for Red Lobster.
The food was as we expected it to be. We had a pleasant time here. Because we were in no rush we didn't let the exuberantly slow service bother us too much. Our waiter was VERY apologetic at the end of our meal explaining that he was given our table even though it was outside his section, which we figured, since he was rarely around for us to catch his attention when need be. He thanked us for our patience and then asked where we were from. He was shocked to learn that we were from Toronto, and then said he has never served such polite Torontonians! Compliment?! I'll take it. What does that say about Torontonians though? Are we rude? Whatever, as I said, I'll take the compliment. I just hope the next time I'm there the service is a bit faster. -
Review from Yumi K.
Richmond, BC
5/13/2011 16 photos
Since there's no Red Lobster in Vancouver, and I was in Toronto for school... but never went to Red Lobster in those 4 years...
I finally decided to go there after my last exam as an undergraduate student.
The waitress' service was okay, nothing special.
However, I think the food can be better. The lobster was dry, the shrimp was dry... the aspragas was charged extra but didn't taste good... it was dry too!
Basically the food was... b a d ... simply put it. For the price of the menu that we ordered, I could get so much better food!!!
oh... the ONLY good thing about the food was, the buttery, GREASY biscuit we got as SIDE... lol
anyways, it was my first time in Red Lobster... so expected more! but it was a disappointing experience :-( -
Review from rennie w.
5/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
Good service at this place, first spot we ate at when we arrived on our first night and our last as well.
Food is of course specialised in lobster and other shellfish, the clam chowder was rather delicious and rivals that I had in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. Lobster was tender too and the prawns (shrimp) juicy and plump.
One thing is the food can be a bit salty - we found this to be generic of Torontonian food though so not sure if it's just us foreigners lol
Special shoutouts to Mark and Robert who served us both times who were friendly and helpful. -
Review from Justine H.
Toronto, ON
8/17/2011 2 Check-ins Here
My second trip to Red Lobster happened about 2 weeks ago but it's just been crazy past 2 weeks. To be honest I wasn't even going to blog about this place but I found 3 decent photos on my phone so I thought I might as well share these.
My first trip to Red Lobster was about 4 years ago in New York. This much hyped up (in Vancouver cause we don't have Red Lobster there) franchise restaurant pretty much disappointed me with pricey yet big portions of bad quality seafood. Price-wise, I believe it was almost 30-40% more expensive compared to regular Red Lobster cause it was located in Time Square (tourist trap, duh). The food was mediocre and it's their fault they make their advertisements look so good :P
However, I gave it another try with my family in Toronto and I am glad I did. Whenever you order a main dish, it comes with a salad and some biscuits to start off. You get a choice between caesar and garden salad, and the biscuits are re-fillable. Caesar salad was well done but the biscuits were a bit salty.
For the main dish, I had the Shrimp trio (deep fried shrimp, butter shrimp and shrimp fettuccini) that came with baked potato (there is an option of baked/mashed/scalloped/etc). It is def big in portion and I would recommend getting 3 main dishes for 4 people. Deep fried shrimps were a bit on the dry side but it went well with the cocktail sauce that came with it. Butter shrimps were my favorite but the shrimps were kind of on the small side- and the shrimp fettuccini was decent.
I would def go back and try one of their famous lobster dishes if I had the chance. -
Review from Sergey S.
11/20/2010
I used to live in a corporate condo right across the street and visit Red Lobster at least twice a month. Not because it's that great a place, but it was exactly for the three stars: "A-OK".
Seafood is precisely ok. Sometimes a bit better than that, frequently a bit worse than expected. Portions are huge, really huge. Crabs are so-so, lobsters are good, rest is somewhere in the middle. Sauces are cheap, kraft-style. And yes, obviously there are those biscuits - sickeningly unhealthy, and of widely variable quality. May I suggest not to try their cocktails - those are really bad. Like zuko with alcohol and some sugar on top.
Service is professional and reasonably fast, they all smile and sort of engage in a friendly conversation, but that's fake - try to talk to the same server just a week later, he won't even remember you. Surprise! :-)
Overall I would categorize Red Lobster as a place where I don't hesitate to go, but won't suggest it myself. Nothing personal (pun intended). -
Review from Serge B.
Toronto, ON
11/30/2010
We recently had dinner at this Red Lobster location before going to the theatre. To be honest, this was our backup choice, since the kids wanted to go to The Pickle Barrel, but the wait was too long.
I had not been to a Red Lobster in many years, and all I remembered was shrimp and seafood drenched in butter... not great.
However, there are now some pretty decent healthier choices on the menu, and we found the food to be very good. The kids also enjoyed their selections.
What really surprised me however, was the excellent service. When we told them we had limited time because we had to get to the theatre, we were seated almost immediately. The manager came to see us to assure us that we would be OK to make it on time. Our waiter was very friendly and efficient. Our food came quickly, but without feeling like we were rushed... a fine balance.
We would definitely go back. -
Review from Vivek S.
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.Listed in: Eats on the TO Subway Line, Lions and Tigers and Bears
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Review from susan c.
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. -
Review from Lisa C.
Toronto, ON
5/12/2011
I would never in a million years rate this place with 5-stars in a city like Toronto with fantastically amazing food just a stones throw away from just about any neighborhood downtown. However, my boyfriend and I enjoy seafood and especially shrimp so we come here to eat as its directly across from work and an easy place to go for dinner.
It gained its two stars for a few reasons: usually we don't wait for a table, at lunch or at dinner time and the food is consistent. Not consistently amazing or anything, just consistent. The biscuits are yummy and I always get second helpings, but the staff isn't always eager to bring me second helpings of biscuits for some reason. I can almost never finish my entire meal (usually the downfall of me eating so many biscuits) but I get to have leftovers for lunch which is pretty good most of the time.
I can't agree that the service is top notch at this location. The staff frequently stand around the computer stations talking instead of getting drink refills or checking up on their customers. And when your section isn't that full, I'd rather see you doing your job than screwing off where you think I can't see you. I've never seen any manager troll the areas to ask people how they're doing either. Which probably would give them some good quality feedback that they could put to good use. I've had some fairly negative staffing experiences at this location: servers trying to tell us that they're 'fighting' over who's table gets biscuits first in the back (give me a break - its lunchtime and you should have plenty of those bad boys); ordering something pretty basic and having them get it wrong, taking away my plate while my friend starts to eat and 5 minutes later bringing back the same wrong plate with the right part on the side (I could have spent that time eating); spouting off random friendly crap that you know is 100% insincere and taking FOREVER to get drinks (seriously, it takes less than 1 minute to pour a pop out of a fountain machine).
Although there are better places to eat in Toronto, when you're craving shrimpies and greasy cheese biscuits, nowhere will satisfy that craving like Red Lobster.
Perhaps I need to start rethinking WHY we eat here so often... -
Review from Ric T.
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. -
Review from Moritz H.
Toronto, ON
7/22/2011
As usual
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Review from Jennifer L.
Toronto, ON
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. -
Review from Thomas B.
North Bay, ON
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. -
Review from Melinda M.
Toronto, ON
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. -
Review from Aaron G.
Toronto, ON
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! -
Review from Adam P.
Toronto, ON
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. -
Review from Keith C.
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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Review from Julianna B.
Toronto, ON
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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Review from Sara T.
Toronto, ON
3/6/2009
Decent seafood at a good price. Cheap drinks, kid friendly, an east choice - a fave!
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Review from art f.
Toronto, ON
10/15/2010
service is hit-and-miss. food is typical red lobster.
