Red Lobster - Eau Claire

the gal that served myself and my Mom was outstanding. She went way above the normal service person normally does.

We went for the Lobsterfest menu, which was extensive but on the pricey side for about half of the items listed. My wife had the Lobster Lover's dream (regular and rock lobster and linguini with shrimp mixed in). It was far too much food for her, and most of the linguini came home. I had the surf-and-turf -- small lobster tail and a 7 oz. sirloin. The steak was excellent, the lobster was good but would have been better if the waitstaff had either pulled in out of the shell for me, or provided a lobster fork so I could do it. I added the Norwegian mashed potatoes (lobster chunks mixed in) but it wasn't worth the $4 add-on charge -- the lobster taste got lost amid the potatoes.

Our waitcreature provided good and fairly quick service once she was told by the manager that we were at one of her tables. The manager apologized profusely for the 8-10 minute delay on getting us started and comp'd us a dessert to take home.

My mom and I had a wonderful meal at Red Lobster - we had coconut shrimp and also the salmon, blackened, and ordered a couple glasses of wine; the manager came around to each table and asked how things were and was very kind and pleasant. I had initially ordered one merlot and one chardonnay for wines, but the waitress only brought 2 chardonnay and I said that was okay, although I pointed out that I had ordered merlot for myself, not chardonnay. The manager was kind enough to have a glass of merlot brought to me.
A pleasant place and the manager took extra steps to make sure each customer was happy.

Unfortunately, the experience at this Red Lobster wasn't quite up to par based on what I typically experience at the one near my home. Ob the plus side, the server was very attentive and made sure I had what I needed throughout dinner. But, there were a couple of disappointments: (1) my cocktail had a fruit fly in it (which I found AFTER taking several sips), and (2) the split lobster tail as part of the "Feast" platter I ordered was very scrawny (I'd say I got three 1" long bites from each half of the tail).

I didn't say anything about the tail since I figured that was just the reality between the menu pictures and the real food.

When I pointed out the fly in my drink, the manager promptly brought me another, and he also said he'd pay for the drink and take 10% off the total bill. I thought that was a generous offer and thanked him. He must not have told the server, because the bill was for the full amount when it was brought to me. I tactfully asked the server to check with the manager to make sure it was right, and he brought a corrected bill back to the table.

So...the drink/food experience was not quite as good as expected, but the service overall was good.

Wonderful waiter, Luke, made it a delightful meal. We hadn’t been to a Red Lobster in several years-we will be back! Glad we have it another try.

Excellent food, excellent service