Over the years the quality of the food at Red Lobster has decreased while the price has remained the same. Low quality seafood for $20 a plate with small size portions to boot. No thanks. The trip reminded me of why I haven't been to Red Lobster in years. The service wasn't half bad but this might as well be food you pick up in the frozen section of Wal-Mart.
(2)
Chris P.
Food Poisoning. The last two times I've been here: about 8 years ago and 2 months ago. The food isn't that good anyway, everything is overcooked and comes out cold. Look elsewhere, you can get excellent seafood from Siro or another Japanese restaurant in Novi for comparable prices.
(1)
ryan k.
Wow. What in the world IS this place? Last night my wife an I were in the mood for Arabic so we drove out to Pita Cafe. Strangest thing, they close at 3pm on Monday. Who's ever heard of such a thing? So there we are in the parking lot trying to figure out where to go. We decide on another local favorite so we headed in their direction. Driving down Novi Rd. we pass Red Lobster and notice it's not crowded. We both figured, hey you know what, we haven't been here in years and pulled in. We walked in and the hostess was really gross looking. Not to be mean but come on, she was wearing 450lbs of make up in every shade of the rainbow and had her hair super glued to her head and in spirals down the sides of her face. Whatever, who am I to judge? She takes us to our booth and I saw the funniest thing (though I didn't realize HOW funny until a few minutes later). The guy in the booth behind us has his woman pretty much sitting on his lap with her frazzled weave all in his face. He was swirling a glass of red wine under his nose as if it was a 2001 Napa vintage. He sipped it and acted like he was drinking Cristal. It was hilarious, but only got funnier when I looked at their wine list and all they offer is Beringer and Sutter Home! LOL! Ok ok, enough judging the other patrons, and on to my own experience. As I do when I first sit anywhere I go is I look at the beer menu. Ugh. Sam Adam's Oktoberfest, Blue moon, and then the usual beer flavored water most other places offer (miller, bud light). I decided that the Sam Adam's Fest was the least of the evil so I ordered one, only to find out they don't have it. Another strike. Next in line was Blue Moon, so I got one of those instead. I couldn't decide on my entree, I either wanted the endless shrimp, or the fire grilled chicken, scallops, and shrimp. I ended up going into left field and ordering the Admirals Feast. It was basically a plate full of flash frozen, fried, junk. Best $17 ever spent! (or not). My wife got the endless shrimp with cajun and hand battered. Her cajun shrimp tasted alright. Our waiter was a great guy, you could tell he wished he worked somewhere else but managed to keep his cheer. I commend him on his efforts, but not enough to add another star to this review. Red Lobster in general has become such a dump, even their lobsters only looked to be about 6oz. I've eaten langoustine larger than these lobsters. Our bill was $48 plus a $10 tip. Honestly I don't get how a place can charge what they do for their food when it's obviously sub standard frozen trash that you can buy at Costco. It lures people who don't know any better to think they are experiencing fine dining, sipping SUTTER HOME like it was a fine malbec. Red Lobster should go out of business, it's good for nothing, expensive for the trash you eat, and have to sit near, and deserving of this one star review. Absolutely foul. I understand completely how degrading to the establishment this review is. It needed to be. I needed to accurately portray the unmitigated horror that is a dining experience at Red Lobster.
(1)
Jerry K.
had lunch today, March 16, 2015. had the fish and chips, my wife had the lobsterfest with shrimp. both were beyond outstanding. giant piece of fish with great batter on it. no bones at all. great shrimp and lobster as well. the restaurant itself has been remodeled and looks great. very clean. great server named Latoya. we will be going weekly from now on. i highly recommend this Red Lobster. if you have not been here for awhile, go there, you will love it. being from NYC and knowing seafood, i give it 10. i am loving "The Lobster"
(5)
Nykol M.
Typically, I do not dine here, as most of their dishes comprise of globs of cheese and oil, but my mom likes the place, so I agreed to dine with her. I intended to get a salad, but my eyes stopped at the Bar Harbor Lobster Bake special. I couldn't resist. What a delight. Usually, their seafood is a little iffy--sometimes overcooked, hence chewy. However, this dish was perfect. Not overly oily, the mussels, scallops, shrimp and lobster cooked just right. I was in seafood heaven. The service was good (waitress was a toothy little cheerleader whose name escapes me, but she was a delight). I recommend this dish. They have another bake special that I am going to try in the next coming weeks. Ciao for now.
(4)
Marcy C.
I came here with my family and had the worst experience ever last weekend. It took us 45 minutes to be seated, which is to be expected, and we ended up being stuck there for about two hours more. The food was not cooked right and our waiter Darren, would argue against our comments. The service was incredibly slow and management was useless too. Much too over priced, especially when you do not end up with what you want. 0/10. Do not recommend.
(1)
Terri C.
Except for the waitress being hyper, it was a great meal. Excellent Passion Colada and shrimp.
(4)
Torrie M.
Who doesn't love Red Lobster? I mean seriously...those biscuits, fresh salads, ever changing seafood specials...it's no wonder that Red Lobster is a favorite to so many. This location is quite popular, with its close proximity to Twelve Oaks Mall. The best time to come is lunch or early evening. If you come after 7:00, be prepared to wait. Or you can sit at the bar and have dinner if the wait is too long. I have never had any issues at this location. The food is great, the service is really nice and the ambiance is relaxing.
(5)
Robert P.
Here today with the family for a Sunday brunch. Excited to try the new offerings from the Crabfest which includes a wild caught option. The Crab Lovers Dream to be specific which is $ 27.99. The atmosphere is typical of any Red Lobster and there are a few families spread through out. I wouldn't say that this is a busy place by any means but it delivers what is expected. A nice touch was having the manager walk by tables to see how everything was.
(4)
Evie B.
Service was great- busy at 3:30 on a Sunday- about a 20 minute wait- took forever for main entrees to come out- we always go once a year for shrimp feast- this is our last year as for the cost, quality and the fact that we dont eat more that the one serving isn't worth $17 per person. The breaded shrimp were soooooo tiny. Instead of potato we ordered the green beans- they were far too crunchy for my liking- they had a bitterness to them- I understand not want to serve mushy greens but these needed to be a bit more tender- the side salad was very good, as were the biscuits
(3)
April C.
I love their coconut shrimp. We have a tradition that we go and coconut shrimp and their surf and turf. Some of the restaurant locations look outdated but their food is still fantastic. Typically the novi location is able to seat you right away.
(5)
Trevis H.
Went to the Novi location to celebrate my daughter's 17th birthday. Worst ever restaurant experience to date! Called at 5:00 to let them know we have a party of 20 coming in at 7 pm. Received a call back at 5:02, asking me if I was a part of another group-precursor for the debacle of an evening. Arrived at 6:40 and checked in with the greeters immediately. Groups of 7+ were on the list; however we were the first group to check in. My entire party was inside the restaurant at 7 pm. There may have been 30-40 additional people awaiting an opportunity to be seated. The general manager who had her coat on in preparation to leave around 7:30 overheard a lady expressing her displeasure for waiting 30 minutes, whereas I am now a full hour in without one single tidbit of information. The GM walks this customer around the restaurant and whispers something to the greeters, even calling the manager on duty over and addressing this customer's issue with her (MOD-Jennifer). We did check in with the greeters twice and was told at 7:15 our prescribed tables were cashing out. It takes a few minutes for larger groups to wrap up, so I did not expect to have our group seated until 7:30-7:45 allowing time to clean the tables and modify the seating arrangement. I'm extremely upset and my wife asks to speak with the manager. Unbelievable the level of ineptitude of this particular GM, getting one group moved to the front of the line without inquiring about the other 50 guests. While there is virtually a packed waiting room of customers, the GM leaves. Around 8 most others had been seated, some coming after me were leaving and my group had not been seated yet. The wait for parties of 2-4 had gone from 45 minutes to under 10. I informed the greeters we should have been seated by 7:45 and my group was the only persons waiting to eat. Now that my wife has spoken with Jennifer, after nearly clearing the entire waiting room, and her sharing of a "plan" she had in place, people are looking at us, both customers and employees, as if something is wrong with us. I had to ask Jennifer what happened to the general manager. She tells me the GM had been there since 4:30 am and has left for the day. I totally understand the level of service now, as a GM in the service industry being in the establishment 7 hours before the first customers show up and leaving with two restaurants full of people knowingly many of which are upset, can literally kill a business and is no concern of this GM. At 8:41, we are told there are seats available for the party. One of the greeters says your table is ready and grabs numerous menus then begins to walk off as if I know what she wants 23 people to do after saying your table is ready to someone but clearly not to anyone in our group directly. One of her coworkers asks if she needed help and her response was "No, I just need these people to hurry up!" We are a bother now and she has the audacity to say we should hurry up, loudly where not only patrons and coworkers can hear, but some of the people in my party and me also! Now you'd think we are certainly seated together. Not the case. We have people cleaning, vacuuming, and slamming things while others are attempting to serve us. Jennifer assures me, we are going to get 3 of the best servers ever! I told her "I don't think there are 3 good servers on her staff based on the level of competence the management has displayed." The first server/waitress we encountered actually began explaining the process by which she is going to take orders. You can't be serious! Did we actually look as though we had never gone to a restaurant? I am incredulous at this point, so upset I can't even eat. My group is all over the restaurant, certainly something which could have been accomplished an hour earlier, I have a server who wants to tell me about Red Lobster policies and 22 other people who don't so much as have a biscuit or glass of water after 2 hours of waiting by the door and 10 minutes of waiting in their seats! My wife asks Daniel, not one of our servers, to grab us bread and a couple glasses of water, and in nearly seconds he returns with at least 6 baskets of biscuits and retreats for mere moments and comes back to the main table with glasses of water. Joe is taking care of one of the booths and has salads out, before the "explaining server" has the drinks for those our table. I cannot enumerate how many things were wrong with the meals for my group because someone mixed up the orders. The only thing which was right was Joe adhering to my request to not have any of the 3 other servers assisting our group sing Happy Birthday to my daughter. Hats off to Joe and Daniel for doing their best to take care of my family and friends, we also had another server, Tyra, I believe, who partially took care of one of the booths, before being run off by the "explaining server". Much more but ending my commentary about my experience at Red Lobster in Novi on December 29, 2014.
(1)
Aaron M.
Good reliable seafood. The grilled trout is a favorite and the cheese biscuits are a guilty pleasure. Ask for the romaine lettuce they use on the Ceasar salad for a free upgrade in the salad. Our waitress was attentive and polite with no long delays in pacing. I'm always looking for a good seafood place. Red Lobster hits the intersection of price, quality and consistency. This Red Lobster fits the bill.
(4)
Nathasja T.
Fair is fair, this Red Lobster has changed from meh, to a very enjoyable experience. Worthy of the elusive 5th star, for sure. I don't know about you, but most Red Lobster 's I've been to in the past few years have usually been a bit of a disaster. Stale biscuits, dirty dining room, limp salad, cold mash, cold shrimp, etc. Matter of fact, about a year and a half ago we gave up on the chain. Last week we returned to this particular location for the AYCE shrimp special because it sounded good and this is the closest location to our home. Plus we figured we could muster up some room in our heart for a Second Chance. The hostess greeted us, and after a small wait (reasonable for a Friday evening) we were seated. Our waitress Claudette was a breath of fresh air. Our waters never went below a 1/4 of the glass full, and the pace of dinner was enjoyable. Biscuits kept appearing like magic, fresh and hot every time. She was prompt on shrimp refills and kept us updated on the status of our order(s). Props to this location and their kitchen staff; cold, fresh lettuce for the salads, fresh and fluffy biscuits, HOT shrimp, only seconds removed from the broiler, heck - even the side dishes were warm. I like the parmesan shrimp and am happy to report that Red Lobster has jumped on the panko bandwagon - the parm topping on the scampi is even better and crisper than it used to be when prepared with regular breadcrumbs in the past. Overall, between the good food and Claudette's amazing service this was a surprisingly pleasant visit. We will definitely be back! And if you're into that sort of thing, the shrimp fest goes on until the first week of November this year.
(5)
Maya C.
Red lobster totally hit the spot! Great service today, from beginning to end. Our waiter, Joey, was prompt, friendly and efficient. Ordered the shrimp feast, maple glazed chicken and a non- seafood lover, ordered the bacon cheeseburger. He said it was pretty good, but no pickles in the whole place. The chicken was really good, the maple glaze is very tasty. Loved the biscuits as well. Of course, the shrimp was great and their tarter sauce is some of the best. Will be coming back!
(4)
Jaclyn S.
I had a really enjoyable dinner here! The service was really friendly and accommodating. The meals were hot and fresh. We ordered the Lobster on Lobster (24.99), the Ultimate Feast (crab, shrimp, lobster) (24.99) and I had the Parmesan encrusted tilapia ($16.99). Each meal came with a salad either Cesar or garden and the fresh, warm garlic biscuits! We ordered drinks - Bahama Mama, mojito and beer all were tasty and cute. I took off a star because the restaurant was little messy, and out dated looking, which doesn't suit the experience. Again food and service on par, atmosphere lacking a bit! We went on a Friday night at 7 and only had to wait 10 mins for a table for 3.
(4)
Cindy W.
We have been seated for an hour. We ordered our food 45 minutes ago. There are only 2 of us. No explanation, horrible wait time. We won't be back here.
(1)
Lauren P.
The location of this Red Lobster is situated perfectly right by the Twelve Oaks mall, so you can assume this place is not hurting for business. That said, my family and I experienced some very outstanding service that went above and beyond on our last visit here. Ate here for my birthday and the wait was around 15 mins which was a lot less than their estimated 30. As a side note, this place is packed during the weekends and they do not take reservations, however we arrived around 9 when the dinner crowd was thinning, otherwise expect to be sitting there for awhile. Our server was attentive and pleasant and was good with the drink refills. We all ordered shrimp dishes. I had the coconut shrimp. Other than the dipping sauce that was super sweet the meal was pretty good. While we were eating we had a few managers/owners check in on us, which was nice and appreciated. Getting to the point of this review and why I gave this location five stars is what they did for my family, which was basically comp us two meals for the time we waited for our dinner. There was five of us and we were pretty engaged in our conversations to really have much of an issue with the wait of the food (I have waited MUCH longer for food before). They did something that I felt wasn't necessary at all (honestly it couldn't have been more than 15 mins maybe) which considering how much business they take in really was above and beyond, which further cements this location as our favorite Red Lobster.
(5)
Jem G.
I have not one complaint about this location. I was greeted immediately upon entrance and my waitress was friendly and thorough. The manager even checked in on our service, which I was more than pleased with. We ordered the endless shrimp which was scrumptious. I definitely will dine at this location again.
(5)
Debbie Z.
This Red Lobster is pretty nice inside. Clean (the one on Telegraph in Dearborn Heights is horrible) and the servers are very friendly. The food was spectacular -- was craving sea food and Red Lobster did not disappoint! Will I go again - especially to this Red Lobster I definitely will!
(4)
Alex S.
So, I'm going to preface this with two things 1. This was my first time at a seafood restaurant 2. I've found out I'm not a seafood person. Not the Red Lobster's fault by any means. So, with all of that in mind, let us begin. -- Arrival Friday night. Very busy. A bit of a chaotic atmosphere. There's quite the commotion towards the front of the house. This doesn't make waiting the most pleasant of experiences. The inability of the Lobster to take reservations doesn't help the situation either. Very little of the corral was visible from our particular seats, so I won't harp too much on this. -- Service Let me say that our service was excellent. Our waitress was incredibly knowledgable and patient considering that all of us were clearly bewildered and far out of our comfort zone. She was able to help walk us through the menu and make suggestions. At one point, she even offered to show me how to cut open a crab leg, since I had never done it before. I politely declined but she was absolutely fantastic at associating us with the strange world under the sea. -- Food Here's where I have issues with the Red Lobster. We got an Ultimate Feast as well as a shrimp pasta dish (a name would be very helpful, my apologies). Quick sidebar- We were explicitly told that the Ultimate Feast would not feed two, but alas, it did. The feast seemed slightly hit or miss. Grilled shrimp- decently done with just the proper amount of seasoning. Lobster legs- Rather high quality with a generous portion for a "single" person meal. Crab legs- I'm not a fan so I won't say anything to avoid a bias. The shrimp pasta dish was very mediocre. It was incredibly over seasoned which completely over powered the shrimp and pasta. The biscuits were amazing and managed to live up to the hype. Much like the breadsticks of an Olive Garden, they were a defining part of the meal. Overall, the food was alright. Better than the typical non-seafood oriented establishment. On par with homemade (this is a good thing. Many restaurants don't seem to be able to compete with a good homemade meal. Quite the sad state of affairs, but that's for a different review...). But it was just alright. -- Price Here's the big problem. The food was alright. I had higher expectations for my first seafood restaurant and I was let down. If the prices were lower, I would have come out a happier customer. But, at these prices, the restaurant needs to bring up its game. The seafood was on par with a mid-to-high end grocery store and the recipes were far too hit or miss. Chain restaurants of this stature have to really hit it out of the park to be able to justify the bill we spent. --The End (finally) Red Lobster is one of those places you have to go to once. The Novi Rd. location is good as any. Maybe, if prices are lowered and the food is better, it might turn into twice.
(3)
Alyssa M.
Lately I've been lovin Red Lobster like a fat kid loves cake....and tonight I was definitely a fat kid. As usual, my eyes are a little bigger than my stomach so I ordered the Ultimate Feast (lobster, fried shrimp, crab legs, shrimp scampi). On top of that, I ordered the crab stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer (D-LI-CIOUS!). AND the meal came with a caesar salad and baked potato--"Butter and Sour Cream?" "Yes Please!" :-) ON TOP OF THAT I can never resist those cheddar 'crack' biscuits! If you're on a diet stay away!! The service was PHENOMENAL! The waitress was extremely pleasant and not fake. The owner also came to our table to make sure everything was okay. I'm very surprised to see others have not had a nice experience here. Maybe they've tightened up their game. Well, my leftovers are calling....peace PS The strawberry daiquiris are always on point here
(4)
Jessica S.
I don't know why I decided to give this place the benefit of the doubt, as I generally don't like chain restaurants and I have been disappointed at every Red Lobster I have dined at in the past. I guess my friend and I decided to meet here because it is in a convenient location to where I was staying in Novi, and her home in Farmington Hills, and it was easy for me to find (It is located in front of Twelve Oaks Mall, which, might I add, has totally declined in terms of the quality of clientele since I relocated to Chapel Hill almost 8 years ago). For starters, I'd like to insert the opinion that Michigan ought to quit whining about the state of the economy. I was in town for 5 days, for the purpose of helping my brother decorate his new home, and EVERY place we stopped at to shop or eat, be it 1pm on a weekday or 6 pm on a weekend, was packed full of people. The parking lots were overflowing. Recession my foot. Stop whining, seriously, it's annoying. Anyway, the wait at this location was 30 minutes at 6pm on a Sunday. We chose to wait, because, like I said, it didn't seem to matter where I went in SE Michigan, people were out in droves, so a few minute wait wasn't a big deal. Our choice to wait had nothing to do with the fact that we had high expectations of the meal. My general thoughts of chain restaurants is that you'll at best be moderately satisfied. This meal was no exception. Portion size was generous, to say the least, and their prices are in line with other chain establishments, which is to say, slightly high for the quality of food. I got a steak and shrimp scampi "create your own" feast with broccoli and a salad as the side. I asked for my steak to be cooked medium well, and it was more like medium, but edible. The seasoning was good. The shrimp was actually better than I expected, but was still not anything to write home about. The steamed broccoli was practically raw. My friend ordered talapia with the same sides, and said that it was "ok". We shared a giant chocolate chip cookie for dessert that was enormous and could have fed 3 more people easily. Tons of food, it would be difficult to leave hungry simply due to portion size alone. They have a full bar, but a very, very small wine selection that is rather overpriced. Our waitress was a young girl named Remmi. She was pleasant enough, but took forever to bring anything to the table, forgot our silverware when she dropped off our salads and with the location of our table, we didn't see another server for several minutes, so we had to wait to receive some. She didn't refill our drinks unless we specifically asked her to. When I asked for the dessert with two spoons, she forgot, and when I asked again, it took her 10 minutes to return (and the cookie is warm, and is them topped with a scoop of ice cream, so this wait resulted in the dessert melting). When she took the bill, she was gone with my card for ten minutes, which always makes me nervous. The food quality was acceptable, but not stellar. The service was fair. The cleanliness of the restrooms and floors was passable, but not overly impressive. There was ample parking. The menu offers many selections, and a few non seafood items if that's your preference. There is a children's menu. You won't starve, but I don't think you'll be in a hurry to go back, either.
(2)
Faisal A.
Food was very good. We were a group of 13. The service was great and the staff were welcoming. The total was 200 including appetizers, no dessert.
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Brunch Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
Alexander L.
Over the years the quality of the food at Red Lobster has decreased while the price has remained the same. Low quality seafood for $20 a plate with small size portions to boot. No thanks. The trip reminded me of why I haven't been to Red Lobster in years. The service wasn't half bad but this might as well be food you pick up in the frozen section of Wal-Mart.
(2)Chris P.
Food Poisoning. The last two times I've been here: about 8 years ago and 2 months ago. The food isn't that good anyway, everything is overcooked and comes out cold. Look elsewhere, you can get excellent seafood from Siro or another Japanese restaurant in Novi for comparable prices.
(1)ryan k.
Wow. What in the world IS this place? Last night my wife an I were in the mood for Arabic so we drove out to Pita Cafe. Strangest thing, they close at 3pm on Monday. Who's ever heard of such a thing? So there we are in the parking lot trying to figure out where to go. We decide on another local favorite so we headed in their direction. Driving down Novi Rd. we pass Red Lobster and notice it's not crowded. We both figured, hey you know what, we haven't been here in years and pulled in. We walked in and the hostess was really gross looking. Not to be mean but come on, she was wearing 450lbs of make up in every shade of the rainbow and had her hair super glued to her head and in spirals down the sides of her face. Whatever, who am I to judge? She takes us to our booth and I saw the funniest thing (though I didn't realize HOW funny until a few minutes later). The guy in the booth behind us has his woman pretty much sitting on his lap with her frazzled weave all in his face. He was swirling a glass of red wine under his nose as if it was a 2001 Napa vintage. He sipped it and acted like he was drinking Cristal. It was hilarious, but only got funnier when I looked at their wine list and all they offer is Beringer and Sutter Home! LOL! Ok ok, enough judging the other patrons, and on to my own experience. As I do when I first sit anywhere I go is I look at the beer menu. Ugh. Sam Adam's Oktoberfest, Blue moon, and then the usual beer flavored water most other places offer (miller, bud light). I decided that the Sam Adam's Fest was the least of the evil so I ordered one, only to find out they don't have it. Another strike. Next in line was Blue Moon, so I got one of those instead. I couldn't decide on my entree, I either wanted the endless shrimp, or the fire grilled chicken, scallops, and shrimp. I ended up going into left field and ordering the Admirals Feast. It was basically a plate full of flash frozen, fried, junk. Best $17 ever spent! (or not). My wife got the endless shrimp with cajun and hand battered. Her cajun shrimp tasted alright. Our waiter was a great guy, you could tell he wished he worked somewhere else but managed to keep his cheer. I commend him on his efforts, but not enough to add another star to this review. Red Lobster in general has become such a dump, even their lobsters only looked to be about 6oz. I've eaten langoustine larger than these lobsters. Our bill was $48 plus a $10 tip. Honestly I don't get how a place can charge what they do for their food when it's obviously sub standard frozen trash that you can buy at Costco. It lures people who don't know any better to think they are experiencing fine dining, sipping SUTTER HOME like it was a fine malbec. Red Lobster should go out of business, it's good for nothing, expensive for the trash you eat, and have to sit near, and deserving of this one star review. Absolutely foul. I understand completely how degrading to the establishment this review is. It needed to be. I needed to accurately portray the unmitigated horror that is a dining experience at Red Lobster.
(1)Jerry K.
had lunch today, March 16, 2015. had the fish and chips, my wife had the lobsterfest with shrimp. both were beyond outstanding. giant piece of fish with great batter on it. no bones at all. great shrimp and lobster as well. the restaurant itself has been remodeled and looks great. very clean. great server named Latoya. we will be going weekly from now on. i highly recommend this Red Lobster. if you have not been here for awhile, go there, you will love it. being from NYC and knowing seafood, i give it 10. i am loving "The Lobster"
(5)Nykol M.
Typically, I do not dine here, as most of their dishes comprise of globs of cheese and oil, but my mom likes the place, so I agreed to dine with her. I intended to get a salad, but my eyes stopped at the Bar Harbor Lobster Bake special. I couldn't resist. What a delight. Usually, their seafood is a little iffy--sometimes overcooked, hence chewy. However, this dish was perfect. Not overly oily, the mussels, scallops, shrimp and lobster cooked just right. I was in seafood heaven. The service was good (waitress was a toothy little cheerleader whose name escapes me, but she was a delight). I recommend this dish. They have another bake special that I am going to try in the next coming weeks. Ciao for now.
(4)Marcy C.
I came here with my family and had the worst experience ever last weekend. It took us 45 minutes to be seated, which is to be expected, and we ended up being stuck there for about two hours more. The food was not cooked right and our waiter Darren, would argue against our comments. The service was incredibly slow and management was useless too. Much too over priced, especially when you do not end up with what you want. 0/10. Do not recommend.
(1)Terri C.
Except for the waitress being hyper, it was a great meal. Excellent Passion Colada and shrimp.
(4)Torrie M.
Who doesn't love Red Lobster? I mean seriously...those biscuits, fresh salads, ever changing seafood specials...it's no wonder that Red Lobster is a favorite to so many. This location is quite popular, with its close proximity to Twelve Oaks Mall. The best time to come is lunch or early evening. If you come after 7:00, be prepared to wait. Or you can sit at the bar and have dinner if the wait is too long. I have never had any issues at this location. The food is great, the service is really nice and the ambiance is relaxing.
(5)Robert P.
Here today with the family for a Sunday brunch. Excited to try the new offerings from the Crabfest which includes a wild caught option. The Crab Lovers Dream to be specific which is $ 27.99. The atmosphere is typical of any Red Lobster and there are a few families spread through out. I wouldn't say that this is a busy place by any means but it delivers what is expected. A nice touch was having the manager walk by tables to see how everything was.
(4)Evie B.
Service was great- busy at 3:30 on a Sunday- about a 20 minute wait- took forever for main entrees to come out- we always go once a year for shrimp feast- this is our last year as for the cost, quality and the fact that we dont eat more that the one serving isn't worth $17 per person. The breaded shrimp were soooooo tiny. Instead of potato we ordered the green beans- they were far too crunchy for my liking- they had a bitterness to them- I understand not want to serve mushy greens but these needed to be a bit more tender- the side salad was very good, as were the biscuits
(3)April C.
I love their coconut shrimp. We have a tradition that we go and coconut shrimp and their surf and turf. Some of the restaurant locations look outdated but their food is still fantastic. Typically the novi location is able to seat you right away.
(5)Trevis H.
Went to the Novi location to celebrate my daughter's 17th birthday. Worst ever restaurant experience to date! Called at 5:00 to let them know we have a party of 20 coming in at 7 pm. Received a call back at 5:02, asking me if I was a part of another group-precursor for the debacle of an evening. Arrived at 6:40 and checked in with the greeters immediately. Groups of 7+ were on the list; however we were the first group to check in. My entire party was inside the restaurant at 7 pm. There may have been 30-40 additional people awaiting an opportunity to be seated. The general manager who had her coat on in preparation to leave around 7:30 overheard a lady expressing her displeasure for waiting 30 minutes, whereas I am now a full hour in without one single tidbit of information. The GM walks this customer around the restaurant and whispers something to the greeters, even calling the manager on duty over and addressing this customer's issue with her (MOD-Jennifer). We did check in with the greeters twice and was told at 7:15 our prescribed tables were cashing out. It takes a few minutes for larger groups to wrap up, so I did not expect to have our group seated until 7:30-7:45 allowing time to clean the tables and modify the seating arrangement. I'm extremely upset and my wife asks to speak with the manager. Unbelievable the level of ineptitude of this particular GM, getting one group moved to the front of the line without inquiring about the other 50 guests. While there is virtually a packed waiting room of customers, the GM leaves. Around 8 most others had been seated, some coming after me were leaving and my group had not been seated yet. The wait for parties of 2-4 had gone from 45 minutes to under 10. I informed the greeters we should have been seated by 7:45 and my group was the only persons waiting to eat. Now that my wife has spoken with Jennifer, after nearly clearing the entire waiting room, and her sharing of a "plan" she had in place, people are looking at us, both customers and employees, as if something is wrong with us. I had to ask Jennifer what happened to the general manager. She tells me the GM had been there since 4:30 am and has left for the day. I totally understand the level of service now, as a GM in the service industry being in the establishment 7 hours before the first customers show up and leaving with two restaurants full of people knowingly many of which are upset, can literally kill a business and is no concern of this GM. At 8:41, we are told there are seats available for the party. One of the greeters says your table is ready and grabs numerous menus then begins to walk off as if I know what she wants 23 people to do after saying your table is ready to someone but clearly not to anyone in our group directly. One of her coworkers asks if she needed help and her response was "No, I just need these people to hurry up!" We are a bother now and she has the audacity to say we should hurry up, loudly where not only patrons and coworkers can hear, but some of the people in my party and me also! Now you'd think we are certainly seated together. Not the case. We have people cleaning, vacuuming, and slamming things while others are attempting to serve us. Jennifer assures me, we are going to get 3 of the best servers ever! I told her "I don't think there are 3 good servers on her staff based on the level of competence the management has displayed." The first server/waitress we encountered actually began explaining the process by which she is going to take orders. You can't be serious! Did we actually look as though we had never gone to a restaurant? I am incredulous at this point, so upset I can't even eat. My group is all over the restaurant, certainly something which could have been accomplished an hour earlier, I have a server who wants to tell me about Red Lobster policies and 22 other people who don't so much as have a biscuit or glass of water after 2 hours of waiting by the door and 10 minutes of waiting in their seats! My wife asks Daniel, not one of our servers, to grab us bread and a couple glasses of water, and in nearly seconds he returns with at least 6 baskets of biscuits and retreats for mere moments and comes back to the main table with glasses of water. Joe is taking care of one of the booths and has salads out, before the "explaining server" has the drinks for those our table. I cannot enumerate how many things were wrong with the meals for my group because someone mixed up the orders. The only thing which was right was Joe adhering to my request to not have any of the 3 other servers assisting our group sing Happy Birthday to my daughter. Hats off to Joe and Daniel for doing their best to take care of my family and friends, we also had another server, Tyra, I believe, who partially took care of one of the booths, before being run off by the "explaining server". Much more but ending my commentary about my experience at Red Lobster in Novi on December 29, 2014.
(1)Aaron M.
Good reliable seafood. The grilled trout is a favorite and the cheese biscuits are a guilty pleasure. Ask for the romaine lettuce they use on the Ceasar salad for a free upgrade in the salad. Our waitress was attentive and polite with no long delays in pacing. I'm always looking for a good seafood place. Red Lobster hits the intersection of price, quality and consistency. This Red Lobster fits the bill.
(4)Nathasja T.
Fair is fair, this Red Lobster has changed from meh, to a very enjoyable experience. Worthy of the elusive 5th star, for sure. I don't know about you, but most Red Lobster 's I've been to in the past few years have usually been a bit of a disaster. Stale biscuits, dirty dining room, limp salad, cold mash, cold shrimp, etc. Matter of fact, about a year and a half ago we gave up on the chain. Last week we returned to this particular location for the AYCE shrimp special because it sounded good and this is the closest location to our home. Plus we figured we could muster up some room in our heart for a Second Chance. The hostess greeted us, and after a small wait (reasonable for a Friday evening) we were seated. Our waitress Claudette was a breath of fresh air. Our waters never went below a 1/4 of the glass full, and the pace of dinner was enjoyable. Biscuits kept appearing like magic, fresh and hot every time. She was prompt on shrimp refills and kept us updated on the status of our order(s). Props to this location and their kitchen staff; cold, fresh lettuce for the salads, fresh and fluffy biscuits, HOT shrimp, only seconds removed from the broiler, heck - even the side dishes were warm. I like the parmesan shrimp and am happy to report that Red Lobster has jumped on the panko bandwagon - the parm topping on the scampi is even better and crisper than it used to be when prepared with regular breadcrumbs in the past. Overall, between the good food and Claudette's amazing service this was a surprisingly pleasant visit. We will definitely be back! And if you're into that sort of thing, the shrimp fest goes on until the first week of November this year.
(5)Maya C.
Red lobster totally hit the spot! Great service today, from beginning to end. Our waiter, Joey, was prompt, friendly and efficient. Ordered the shrimp feast, maple glazed chicken and a non- seafood lover, ordered the bacon cheeseburger. He said it was pretty good, but no pickles in the whole place. The chicken was really good, the maple glaze is very tasty. Loved the biscuits as well. Of course, the shrimp was great and their tarter sauce is some of the best. Will be coming back!
(4)Jaclyn S.
I had a really enjoyable dinner here! The service was really friendly and accommodating. The meals were hot and fresh. We ordered the Lobster on Lobster (24.99), the Ultimate Feast (crab, shrimp, lobster) (24.99) and I had the Parmesan encrusted tilapia ($16.99). Each meal came with a salad either Cesar or garden and the fresh, warm garlic biscuits! We ordered drinks - Bahama Mama, mojito and beer all were tasty and cute. I took off a star because the restaurant was little messy, and out dated looking, which doesn't suit the experience. Again food and service on par, atmosphere lacking a bit! We went on a Friday night at 7 and only had to wait 10 mins for a table for 3.
(4)Cindy W.
We have been seated for an hour. We ordered our food 45 minutes ago. There are only 2 of us. No explanation, horrible wait time. We won't be back here.
(1)Lauren P.
The location of this Red Lobster is situated perfectly right by the Twelve Oaks mall, so you can assume this place is not hurting for business. That said, my family and I experienced some very outstanding service that went above and beyond on our last visit here. Ate here for my birthday and the wait was around 15 mins which was a lot less than their estimated 30. As a side note, this place is packed during the weekends and they do not take reservations, however we arrived around 9 when the dinner crowd was thinning, otherwise expect to be sitting there for awhile. Our server was attentive and pleasant and was good with the drink refills. We all ordered shrimp dishes. I had the coconut shrimp. Other than the dipping sauce that was super sweet the meal was pretty good. While we were eating we had a few managers/owners check in on us, which was nice and appreciated. Getting to the point of this review and why I gave this location five stars is what they did for my family, which was basically comp us two meals for the time we waited for our dinner. There was five of us and we were pretty engaged in our conversations to really have much of an issue with the wait of the food (I have waited MUCH longer for food before). They did something that I felt wasn't necessary at all (honestly it couldn't have been more than 15 mins maybe) which considering how much business they take in really was above and beyond, which further cements this location as our favorite Red Lobster.
(5)Jem G.
I have not one complaint about this location. I was greeted immediately upon entrance and my waitress was friendly and thorough. The manager even checked in on our service, which I was more than pleased with. We ordered the endless shrimp which was scrumptious. I definitely will dine at this location again.
(5)Debbie Z.
This Red Lobster is pretty nice inside. Clean (the one on Telegraph in Dearborn Heights is horrible) and the servers are very friendly. The food was spectacular -- was craving sea food and Red Lobster did not disappoint! Will I go again - especially to this Red Lobster I definitely will!
(4)Alex S.
So, I'm going to preface this with two things 1. This was my first time at a seafood restaurant 2. I've found out I'm not a seafood person. Not the Red Lobster's fault by any means. So, with all of that in mind, let us begin. -- Arrival Friday night. Very busy. A bit of a chaotic atmosphere. There's quite the commotion towards the front of the house. This doesn't make waiting the most pleasant of experiences. The inability of the Lobster to take reservations doesn't help the situation either. Very little of the corral was visible from our particular seats, so I won't harp too much on this. -- Service Let me say that our service was excellent. Our waitress was incredibly knowledgable and patient considering that all of us were clearly bewildered and far out of our comfort zone. She was able to help walk us through the menu and make suggestions. At one point, she even offered to show me how to cut open a crab leg, since I had never done it before. I politely declined but she was absolutely fantastic at associating us with the strange world under the sea. -- Food Here's where I have issues with the Red Lobster. We got an Ultimate Feast as well as a shrimp pasta dish (a name would be very helpful, my apologies). Quick sidebar- We were explicitly told that the Ultimate Feast would not feed two, but alas, it did. The feast seemed slightly hit or miss. Grilled shrimp- decently done with just the proper amount of seasoning. Lobster legs- Rather high quality with a generous portion for a "single" person meal. Crab legs- I'm not a fan so I won't say anything to avoid a bias. The shrimp pasta dish was very mediocre. It was incredibly over seasoned which completely over powered the shrimp and pasta. The biscuits were amazing and managed to live up to the hype. Much like the breadsticks of an Olive Garden, they were a defining part of the meal. Overall, the food was alright. Better than the typical non-seafood oriented establishment. On par with homemade (this is a good thing. Many restaurants don't seem to be able to compete with a good homemade meal. Quite the sad state of affairs, but that's for a different review...). But it was just alright. -- Price Here's the big problem. The food was alright. I had higher expectations for my first seafood restaurant and I was let down. If the prices were lower, I would have come out a happier customer. But, at these prices, the restaurant needs to bring up its game. The seafood was on par with a mid-to-high end grocery store and the recipes were far too hit or miss. Chain restaurants of this stature have to really hit it out of the park to be able to justify the bill we spent. --The End (finally) Red Lobster is one of those places you have to go to once. The Novi Rd. location is good as any. Maybe, if prices are lowered and the food is better, it might turn into twice.
(3)Alyssa M.
Lately I've been lovin Red Lobster like a fat kid loves cake....and tonight I was definitely a fat kid. As usual, my eyes are a little bigger than my stomach so I ordered the Ultimate Feast (lobster, fried shrimp, crab legs, shrimp scampi). On top of that, I ordered the crab stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer (D-LI-CIOUS!). AND the meal came with a caesar salad and baked potato--"Butter and Sour Cream?" "Yes Please!" :-) ON TOP OF THAT I can never resist those cheddar 'crack' biscuits! If you're on a diet stay away!! The service was PHENOMENAL! The waitress was extremely pleasant and not fake. The owner also came to our table to make sure everything was okay. I'm very surprised to see others have not had a nice experience here. Maybe they've tightened up their game. Well, my leftovers are calling....peace PS The strawberry daiquiris are always on point here
(4)Jessica S.
I don't know why I decided to give this place the benefit of the doubt, as I generally don't like chain restaurants and I have been disappointed at every Red Lobster I have dined at in the past. I guess my friend and I decided to meet here because it is in a convenient location to where I was staying in Novi, and her home in Farmington Hills, and it was easy for me to find (It is located in front of Twelve Oaks Mall, which, might I add, has totally declined in terms of the quality of clientele since I relocated to Chapel Hill almost 8 years ago). For starters, I'd like to insert the opinion that Michigan ought to quit whining about the state of the economy. I was in town for 5 days, for the purpose of helping my brother decorate his new home, and EVERY place we stopped at to shop or eat, be it 1pm on a weekday or 6 pm on a weekend, was packed full of people. The parking lots were overflowing. Recession my foot. Stop whining, seriously, it's annoying. Anyway, the wait at this location was 30 minutes at 6pm on a Sunday. We chose to wait, because, like I said, it didn't seem to matter where I went in SE Michigan, people were out in droves, so a few minute wait wasn't a big deal. Our choice to wait had nothing to do with the fact that we had high expectations of the meal. My general thoughts of chain restaurants is that you'll at best be moderately satisfied. This meal was no exception. Portion size was generous, to say the least, and their prices are in line with other chain establishments, which is to say, slightly high for the quality of food. I got a steak and shrimp scampi "create your own" feast with broccoli and a salad as the side. I asked for my steak to be cooked medium well, and it was more like medium, but edible. The seasoning was good. The shrimp was actually better than I expected, but was still not anything to write home about. The steamed broccoli was practically raw. My friend ordered talapia with the same sides, and said that it was "ok". We shared a giant chocolate chip cookie for dessert that was enormous and could have fed 3 more people easily. Tons of food, it would be difficult to leave hungry simply due to portion size alone. They have a full bar, but a very, very small wine selection that is rather overpriced. Our waitress was a young girl named Remmi. She was pleasant enough, but took forever to bring anything to the table, forgot our silverware when she dropped off our salads and with the location of our table, we didn't see another server for several minutes, so we had to wait to receive some. She didn't refill our drinks unless we specifically asked her to. When I asked for the dessert with two spoons, she forgot, and when I asked again, it took her 10 minutes to return (and the cookie is warm, and is them topped with a scoop of ice cream, so this wait resulted in the dessert melting). When she took the bill, she was gone with my card for ten minutes, which always makes me nervous. The food quality was acceptable, but not stellar. The service was fair. The cleanliness of the restrooms and floors was passable, but not overly impressive. There was ample parking. The menu offers many selections, and a few non seafood items if that's your preference. There is a children's menu. You won't starve, but I don't think you'll be in a hurry to go back, either.
(2)Faisal A.
Food was very good. We were a group of 13. The service was great and the staff were welcoming. The total was 200 including appetizers, no dessert.
(4)