All I really needed to know I learned working at Red Lobster

Hearing about Red Lobster closing restaurants in Waterloo and Council Bluffs two weeks ago and eventually filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy brought a wave of nostalgia for me. I worked for Red Lobster for several years as a waiter and then as a manager in Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, St. Louis, and Wichita. I started working at Red Lobster in college and returned a few years later after dropping out while raising a young family.

There are many reasons for Red Lobster's struggles: the pandemic hit the entire industry hard, ‘fast casual’ restaurants like Panera and Chipotle have been growing in popularity, and rising costs combined with the impact of inflation on disposable income have only made things worse. Then, there’s the infamous “shrimp that ate Red Lobster.” The decision by new corporate management to make ‘Endless Shrimp’ a regular menu item was hugely popular but also led to massive financial losses.

It has been over 35 years since I put away my manager’s nametag. Rather than dwell on Red Lobster's financial troubles, I want to share some of the lessons I learned during my time there — lessons that have shaped both my personal and professional life. These lessons include knowing how to work as a team, understanding that every job is a service job, the importance of communication, motivating others, and making hard decisions.

Red Lobster taught me about teamwork. When I started working as a waiter, I had the idea that since I made my living off tips, I needed to do everything for my tables. The more the guests saw me do for them, the more money I would make. The problem is that on busy nights with lots of tables, it wasn’t always possible to do everything myself. For example, one table needs drink refills, another is waiting to order, and another needs me to show them how to remove a lobster from its shell. I had to learn both to ask for help and give it when necessary. Ultimately, working with the rest of the staff increased my tips because guests didn’t have to wait for me for everything, and they were happier.

Every job is a service job. As a waiter (or, in modern terms, a server), it is easy to see how your role involves direct service to the customer. When I was a new manager, I was primarily responsible for the kitchen staff. Sometimes, a waiter would make a mistake on an order and they would be frantic to try and fix it for the customer. I worked very hard to get the team in the kitchen to see that the waiters and ultimately the guests were their customers and they needed to understand the urgency and importance of making sure they had a good experience.

Communication is important. Back in the day, Red Lobster used to have daily fresh fish specials. These fish really were fresh, even in the middle of the United States, because they were never frozen and flown in directly from the source. Fresh fish is expensive and so are the associated shipping costs. In order to ensure freshness, company policy was only to keep fresh fish for a couple of days, and what didn’t sell was to be discarded. When I was in training, the manager I was working with made a mistake and ordered way too much fresh fish! We were going to have to throw out a lot of very expensive fish. Our area supervisor came into the store and asked the manager to go with him into the walk-in freezer. After closing the door, he proceeded to yell at him for what seemed like half an hour. When I finished training, I worked for the same area supervisor. Yes, he had a temper, but one thing I appreciated about him was that he always let you know how he felt about you. Over the years, I have learned that the worst type of manager is the one who doesn’t communicate. In my career, I have gone into performance reviews having no idea whether I was going to be promoted or fired. At least with that area supervisor, you knew where you stood.

One of the most important things a manager has to do is motivate others. Some managers told waiters that if a customer had a problem, they should call a manager to handle it. In my experience as a waiter, whenever I had to call a manager to fix something for a guest, like recooking a steak or comping part of a meal because of a mix-up, I already had a solution but needed the manager’s permission to make it happen. When I was a manager, I tried very hard to empower my staff to do the right thing for the customer without asking for my permission. I told them that I still wanted to talk to customers who had issues, but I hoped that I could come to the table after the problem was dealt with so the customer could tell me what a great job they had done. By allowing the waiter to be the hero and solve the customer’s problem, issues were resolved quickly, customers were happy, and waiters made more in tips.

Sometimes, you have to make hard decisions. I remember the first time I had to fire someone. He could be a good worker, but he started missing shifts and showing up late. After talking to him and documenting multiple incidents, I had to fire him. It was difficult — I liked him, and he told me that he really needed the job, but it would not be fair to the rest of the team to keep him on the payroll. Not only did I have to fire him for cause, but corporate policy required me to testify against him at an unemployment hearing. It was a difficult decision, but it had to be done.

It's funny — even now, after spending over 35 years working in technology, when people learn that I used to work at Red Lobster, they all have the same question. They ask me, “Do you still eat at Red Lobster?”

When I heard about the bankruptcy filing, I took my wife to Red Lobster last week, so the answer is, “Yes!”

David Chung is a Gazette editorial fellow. david.chung@thegazette.com