No lobster
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Dozens of Red Lobster locations across the country abruptly shuttered their doors on Monday.
More than 80 Red Lobster locations in at least 27 states were listed as "temporarily closed" on the restaurant's website.
Workers at the shuttered restaurants shared their disbelief on social media and said they received no notice whatsoever.
A liquidation company announced it is conducting an online auction of Red Lobster kitchen equipment and other contents of the closed restaurant locations.
The closures come as bankruptcy rumors circled the seafood restaurant chain in recent weeks. Red Lobster has been searching for a buyer to avoid filing for Chapter 11, multiple media outlets reported last month.
The Orlando-based chain, known for its endless shrimp deals, has reportedly been eyeing bankruptcy filing to restructure its debt and downsize from its 650 US locations, CNN reports.
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Cracker Barrel has problems. Bean counter problems. Many menu items that used to be made from scratch (hashbrown casserole) are now made with pre-packaged ingredients. Quality has suffered. They are also experiencing labor problems in the front of the house and in the kitchen.
Lastly, some corporate efforts (liquor sales at some locations, among other things) have alienated their customer base.
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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Red Lobster was majority bought by a Thai company, which had been the main supplier.
Seafood production company buying a restaurant chain. No experience with restaurants. Not surprising things have gone badly.
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Cracker Barrel has problems. Bean counter problems. Many menu items that used to be made from scratch (hashbrown casserole) are now made with pre-packaged ingredients. Quality has suffered. They are also experiencing labor problems in the front of the house and in the kitchen.
Lastly, some corporate efforts (liquor sales at some locations, among other things) have alienated their customer base.
@Jolly said in No lobster:
Cracker Barrel has problems. Bean counter problems. Many menu items that used to be made from scratch (hashbrown casserole) are now made with pre-packaged ingredients. Quality has suffered. They are also experiencing labor problems in the front of the house and in the kitchen.
Lastly, some corporate efforts (liquor sales at some locations, among other things) have alienated their customer base.
This is true. We ate at one on the way out to Nevada last summer. Quality and staff were both considerably worse than I remembered.
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I've been into two Cracker Barrels, and even as somebody who grew up in England with it's long-standing reputation for food quality and service I thought they were a bit shit.
I was only joking
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They used to be quite good. Live seen a lot of places go downhill when they switched scratch items to food service to save money. Charge me what you need to, but keep the quality please.
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They used to be quite good. Live seen a lot of places go downhill when they switched scratch items to food service to save money. Charge me what you need to, but keep the quality please.
@Mik said in No lobster:
They used to be quite good. Live seen a lot of places go downhill when they switched scratch items to food service to save money. Charge me what you need to, but keep the quality please.
This was a few years ago. I was so surprised to see rainbow trout on the menu that I lost my mind and ordered it. I'd always been told there was a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow. It was certainly a crock of something.
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I've been into two Cracker Barrels, and even as somebody who grew up in England with it's long-standing reputation for food quality and service I thought they were a bit shit.
@Doctor-Phibes said in No lobster:
I've been into two Cracker Barrels, and even as somebody who grew up in England with it's long-standing reputation for food quality and service I thought they were a bit shit.
Sadly, they used to excel at a 24-hr breakfast menu and a version of a reasonably priced full meal (one meat, one or two sides, bread).
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I was surprised to learn that they actually sell over 150K of those rocking chairs per year.
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/05/24/cracker-barrel-stock-price/73836299007/
Cracker Barrel's stock has taken a beating since the restaurant chain held an investor call in which its new CEO admitted the Southern country restaurant chain isn't as "relevant" as it once was.
Since Cracker Barrel's 2019 fiscal year, the company's store traffic year to date is "down approximately 16%," Masino told investors.
"Although the casual dining industry is also significantly down during this period, the reality is we've lost some market share, especially at dinner," the CEO said.
Masino attributed the decline in the company to the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, a lack of relevancy and a stagnant menu.
"We have a lot of menu items but some of our recipes and processes haven't evolved in decades," Masino said. "While there are examples where this makes complete sense, like handmade dumplings and biscuits for example, there are others where it does not like hand cutting lettuce and pineapple."
