On Monday, new Red Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun, 35, told TODAY that the chain’s mega-popular $20 endless shrimp deal has ended permanently. It also almost ended the restaurant.
After offering endless shrimp as a limited-time, usually once-a-year deal for decades, Red Lobster made the promotion a regular menu item—and immediately regretted it. The deal proved too popular and cost the parent company a nearly $11 million profit loss in Q3 2023.
“We knew the price was cheap. But the idea was to bring more traffic in the restaurants,” said the CFO of Thai Union, the then-major shareholder, in a November 2023 earnings call.
Related: Red Lobster Changed Its ‘Endless Shrimp’ Promotion After Losing $11 Million in One Quarter
Adamolekun became CEO of Red Lobster in August and was previously CEO of P.F. Chang’s. When TODAY asked if Endless Shrimp would ever return, he said probably not, “because I know how to do math.”
However, he did announce some new menu items including bacon-wrapped sea scallops, lobster pappardelle pasta, grilled Mahi, and the return of hush puppies—which he seems to be a personal fan of.
“I expect a stampede into our restaurants because we’re bringing back the hush puppies,” Adamolekun said. “I stopped going to Red Lobster because they stopped the hush puppies. Since I was in college I love the hush puppies. I’m glad they’re back.”
35 year old Red Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun has $60M to do what he calls a brand refresh for Red Lobster
This is a story to watch pic.twitter.com/1keRjSX7WT
— Josh (@JoshuaOgundu) November 12, 2024
