Red Lobster ‘temporarily' closes dozens of restaurants, including 2 in Illinois

The chain reported a roughly $11 million loss in the third quarter of 2023 due to more customers than expected taking advantage of its "Ultimate Endless Shrimp Deal"

More than 80 Red Lobster locations across the U.S., including two in Illinois were listed as "temporarily closed," weeks it was reported the embattled chain was mulling a bankruptcy filing.

The Bloomingdale and Danville restaurants were among numerous locations listed as "temporarily closed" on the chain's website Monday afternoon. Illinois has 25 Red Lobster restaurants, including 16 in the Chicago area.

In mid-April, a Bloomberg report claimed the seafood chain was considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it looked to restructure its debts. The chain reported a roughly $11 million loss in the third quarter of 2023 due to more customers than expected taking advantage of its "Ultimate Endless Shrimp Deal," according to a previous CNN report.

“We knew the price was cheap. But the idea was to bring more traffic in the restaurants,” Ludovic Garnier, CFO of Thai Union, the chain's parent company, said in an earnings call in November of that year.

Red Lobster also tried to increase sales through another unique advertising campaign, in which it vowed to give 150 winners a complimentary meal of "endless lobster for one day and one day only," according to its website.

A list from an NBC affiliate in Maine showed the chain had listed more than 80 locations as "temporarily closed" on its website. The majority of closures were listed in Florida.

Here's the full list, as of Tuesday morning:

Alabama

Arizona

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Louisiana

Maryland

Mississippi

Missouri

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Washington

Wisconsin

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