Red Lobster closed here decades ago, but you don't have to go far to find lobster in RI

Are you distressed or indifferent about the Red Lobster bankruptcy and news it is closing 87 restaurants across 27 states?

Of course, we all feel bad for those restaurant employees, just as one does when they read about massive closings in any American industry.

But it's hard to miss something that made such little impact here in Rhode Island.

There was a great public outcry to bring Red Lobster here to the Ocean State back in the late 1980s. I remember Donna Lee, my predecessor as food and dining editor, calling Red Lobster to see when it would open a restaurant here. There were these commercials on local TV that stirred up a lot of hunger with their photos and bargain food prices.

"The shrimp and lobster look glorious in the Red Lobster ads on TV. And every time the ads run, people call us to ask where to find the restaurant," Donna wrote in The Journal back on May 18, 1988.

"I knew that there were none in Rhode Island, so I called the phone company in Massachusetts to try to track them down. [The] service assistant laughed. 'Every time the ad runs, we get a ton of calls, too. But there aren't any in Massachusetts, either.' "

Connecticut, home to every chain restaurant known to man, was the place Red Lobster first put its claws in New England. It still has several that don't seem to be slated for closing, at least as of the latest published list.

Finally Red Lobster did come to Rhode Island. Its arrival was announced by Joe R. Lee in April 1991 when he visited Providence to be honored as a distinguished visiting professor by Johnson & Wales University.

Lee opened the first Red Lobster in Orlando, Florida, 24 years earlier and made it the No. 1 casual dinner house chain in the nation. He explained that Rhode Islanders saw Red Lobster commercials long before the restaurant arrived because it cost less to buy ads on network TV rather than station by station. He acknowledged the beneficial side effect of creating a demand for Red Lobster.

Red Lobster, which expanded first in the South, began with a fried seafood menu. Lee said that was one reason then-owner General Mills delayed bringing it into New England and California where broiled, baked or steamed seafood was more popular.

"If we had come in here three years earlier, with the concept we had then, we would have flopped," said Lee. They had just changed to a menu with 70% non-fried dishes.

People lined up to dine for the first few months when Red Lobster opened on Universal Boulevard in Warwick in the spring of 1991. But it never was critically acclaimed for the food. A restaurant reviewer from The Journal had to visit three times before being able to write a lukewarm critique about dishes not prepared as described on the menu.

It did last 10 years, which you have say is a good run, especially with all the good seafood available in Rhode Island. It was closed by Darden Restaurants, spun off from General Mills as a publicly traded company. Red Lobster was replaced by the company's new barbecue concept, Smokey Bones, which is still open in Warwick.

In 2023, the seafood chain's "Ultimate Endless Shrimp" deal for $20 became more popular than expected, inadvertently becoming a key factor in an $11-million loss in the third quarter, USAToday reported this week.

Local lobster thrives

Lobsters have to be on the menu for a Rhode Island summer. They are the centerpiece for clambakes. For years, they were on the menu for lobster shore dinners served at Rocky Point.

You can still find the lobster, steamers, mussels and a side of corn on the cob with the clambake dinner at Champlin's Seafood Deck, 256 Great Island Road, Narragansett, (401) 783-3152, champlins.com. It's casual and right on the water at Galilee.

Today, the lobster roll rules a summer table with freshly cooked meat stuffed into a roll. Dine casually on the East Bay at Blount Clam Shack on the Waterfront, 335 Water St., Warren, (401) 245-3210, blountretail.com/warren/home or at Quito’s Seafood Restaurant & Bar, 411 Thames St., Bristol, (401) 253-4500, quitosrestaurant.com.

You can't go wrong at Monahan’s Clam Shack by the Sea, 190 Ocean Road, Narragansett, (401) 782-2524, monahansri.com or Flo's Clam Shack, 4 Wave Ave., Middletown, (401) 847-8141, flosclamshacks.com,

For more elegant dining, and the freshest oysters around, head to Matunuck Oyster Bar, 629 Succotash Road, South Kingstown, (401) 783-4202, rhodyoysters.com. You can order boiled lobster or stuffed lobster. You'll need reservations during the summer. There is outdoor dining on the roof and patio.

The Candy Store and Bistro at The Clarke Cooke House, Bannister’s Wharf, Newport, (401) 849-2900, clarkecooke.com, has steamed lobster, a lobster roll or Thai-style sauteed lobster.

Lobster Mac & Cheese is a popular Rhode Island dish that is all about comfort. You can find it at Warwick's Crow's Nest, 288 Arnolds Neck Road, (401) 732-6575, crowsnestri.com. It also has a lobster roll, plus great outdoor seating and water views.

Italian restaurants across the state offer lobster ravioli, including Andino's Italian Restaurant on Federal Hill at 171 Atwells Ave., Providence, (401) 453-3164, andinosprovidence.com and Costantino's Venda Bar and Restaurant, 265 Atwells Ave., Providence, (401) 528-1100, costantinosristorante.com.

But they aren't the only ones. Find homemade Lobster Ravioli at The Coast Guard House, 40 Ocean Road, Narragansett, (401) 789-0700, thecoastguardhouse.com and The White Horse Tavern, 26 Marlborough St., Newport, (401) 849-3600, whitehorsenewport.com.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Red Lobster closed in RI in 2001: 12 places in RI to get lobster dishes