Hush puppies, once a staple on Red Lobster’s menu, are coming back.
It’s part of broader changes at the chain, which recently emerged from bankruptcy and is now under the control of a 35-year-old CEO hoping to turn around the seafood restaurant chain’s fortunes. Rolling out this week is an overhauled menu that is 20% smaller but has nine new items, including the beloved cornmeal fritters.
“There was a social media riot over us taking off the hush puppies a few years ago,” CEO Damola Adamolekun told NBC News. “I expect a stampede into our restaurants because we’re bringing back the hush puppies,” he jokingly added.
Among the new items are bacon-wrapped scallops, lobster bisque, lobster pappardelle and a Parmesan-crusted chicken dish. Red Lobster is also “crafting a new tartar sauce that brings back all the flavors” from its original recipe, according to its Facebook account.
Adamolekun said he wants to make Red Lobster “relevant, compelling and exciting” and likely emulate the success of other chains, like Chili’s, whose sales are rapidly growing after slimming down its menu and focusing on food that people love to eat and share on TikTok.
But the chain still has to hold on to Red Lobster’s customer base of Baby Boomers — around 40% are older than 55, a demographic Red Lobster calls “quality traditionalists” — while also drawing in a new generation of diners.
Diners will soon notice new lighting at the restaurants and new music as part of Adamolekun’s efforts to attract younger customers who might have grown up going to the chain but haven’t been back for some time.
Red Lobster emerged from bankruptcy in September under new ownership, led by one of its lenders, Fortress Investment Group, which has initially committed $60 million to revitalize the chain. It also hired Adamolekun, who recently successfully ran P.F. Chang’s, to lead the charge.
One menu item that isn’t coming back right away? The $19.99 endless shrimp deal. “I never want to say never, but certainly not the way that it was done,” Adamolekun previously told CNN. “We won’t have it in a way that’s losing money in that fashion and isn’t managed.”
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