This review is not so much about the food but about our waitress Cheryl. We came last night and was disappointed in our service. Although the good was tasty, we thought we had done something to offend our waitress. We were on our way to Albany OR, and stopped for a late dinner. We still had a long drive ahead of us. After our salads, we waited an hour for our main entree. Cheryl hardly came to check on us during that time. The other waitress next to our table was bustling and friendly to our table and the tables around us, but we never saw Cheryl. We even saw people seated around us who arrived later than us, finish their meals before us and leave. Really disappointed.
(2)
Michelle H.
My family came into town for the weekend. My mom loves red lobster, and they where having their crab fest. So, naturally they ran out of crab cakes. I understand after working in the industry. The manager came over and took off my entire steak meal. He was very accommodating and very respectful. They are always nice.
(4)
Pat M.
Just dined here with 5 of my colleagues. I was the guy paying the bill I ordered a rather expensive advertised 1-1/4 lb lobster. I think I got the 1/4#, but that's a push. I made numerous comments about my feeling myself shorted. No response. Just a nice smile. Service was great, but no extra mile here.
(1)
Veruca S.
What can I say.. it's Red Lobster...a chain. It's lobster fest this month..woo hoo...(sarcasm laid thick)... This particular location is undergoing renovation so it was a bit hectic inside. I went for lunch and ordered their fish and chips. As much as the food snob in me hates to admit it...they do serve a good fish and chips. Most places lay the batter on so thick it's a 50/50 split on fish to batter ratio..but not RL. My filet was nice and thick with just a thin crispy crust. The fries were...well...fries.. eh. Service level was ok. The intro was friendly and peppy...lol...then "poof"...she vanished for a long time. She came back eventually. My friend ordered the batter fried shrimp basket which was a tad overdone. I'd go back for the fish and chips or the lobster pizza..but nothing else really.
(3)
Kathy H.
This is one of our granddaughters favorites; She's six, loves seafood and a food critic in her own way. She was disappointed they don't serve steamers. It's a chain, and steamers don't come frozen and don't come deep-fried...service was spot-on, considering it was Sunday afternoon and busy. Stopping here a couple times a year is A-ok with me.. ! ;-)
(3)
Lenny L.
Heh... So we were driving back from Portland and I hadn't been to a Red Lobster in ages.. I have to say that those Cheddar Biscuits are just awesome!! No questions about that.. However, I do not remember it being so expensive and so .... mediocre. We shared a large salad and a bowl of soup and both left kinda unhappy. I guess I expected for it to be better.. but in retrospect I probably had memories as a child of it being a cool place to go.. Now.... not so much.
(2)
Cherene R.
To be honest, after my date to a high school formal took me to a Red Lobster restaurant, I realized how overrated this chain was and never thought about eating here ever again. Years later (only eight years!), I'm on my way to a wedding in Oregon with my current boyfriend and he was apparently starving and could not wait until the dinner at the wedding. We took a stop in the little town of Kelso and the only tolerable place we could find to dine at was here. It wasn't too busy when we arrived and we were seated fairly quickly - could it be the town population or the lack of popularity? We did not know. However, the waitress was very attentive to us and our orders. We started off with the complimentary biscuits. How should I describe them? They were like butter-covered KFC biscuits except with a nice garlic flavor! Delicious! I don't remember having these from my high school date! My boyfriend and I decided to split the New England seafood platter and a full order of crab linguini alfredo. Aside from the breaded clams, which tasted like the kind that you could buy in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store, the seafood platter also had some pretty good generously-sized bacon-wrapped scallops and yummy stuffed mushrooms. And I have to say that their crab linguini alfredo was awesome! And for a full order of $15 for the portion of pasta we received, I was so impressed. And there was a lot of dungeness crab (not that imitation crab stuff!) in it, too! Om nom nom nom! Kelso, WA - you may be a small town, but you have a Red Lobster restaurant that you should be very proud of. I was happy with the food, the service, and the tab!
(4)
Amy W.
I give one star for good friendly service. The food, however, bad. The chowder was not fresh made, had a metallic flavor, as though from a can. I ordered a glass of chardonnay, a brand I know well, and the wine I was served was NOT what I asked for, but some cheap tasting stuff. Total rip off If you're looking for food between Seattle and Portland, check out some spectacular Mexican food at La Tarasca in Centralia. All hand made and fresh, interesting dishes, all made by the Mother of the fam in the kitchen. Just check the days open...
Was here in late July and had the 3 course meal special for $15 which actually is a great deal. I got a garden salad, salmon filet with rice pilaf & veggies, and a piece of chocolate cake. I was full and content for under $20. Awesome! The servers are overly bothersome as probably to encourage customers to move it along.
(3)
Yosafena C.
Three of us stopped in at the height of the lunch hour and held an impromptu business meeting, taking up one of their largest booths. Sure, we ordered food, but we stayed for three and a half hours. Though they were busy and we were obviously taking up some prime real estate, our waitress was as gracious as could be. Our coffees, sodas, and bread baskets were replenished again and again without asking. And the food was better than I had expected. I'm not a fan of chain restaurants and had never eaten at a Red Lobster. I can't say I'll begin to seek them out wherever I travel, but this one provided us with the perfect venue for a very important meeting. I'm sure we'll return, as it's a great midway point to meet with Portland colleagues.
(4)
Wanderin' J.
It had been several years since we had been to a Red Lobster. We normally stayed away from big chain restaurants. I love seafood so we thought we'd give it a try again ... and it was so good the first time that we went back the following week. The fish and chips were the best I had tasted in a very long time .. excellent. The following week I went for their 3-dish special. It included salmon, shrimp scampi and lobster mac'n cheese. Needless to say, it was another amazing meal. Service? Well, it could not have been better. We had everything with a smile even before we asked. Drinks were refreshed before they got low. I wish I could remember the names of the staff but I can't. One was a cute, little girl and the other said she only worked one day a week. What an amazing experience. Thank you Red Lobster and we'll be back!
(5)
Al E.
The five stars are for the service! We had a large work party and we had the best service I have ever experienced. Renee and Scott were kind and their hospitality reminded me of the south. Huge thanks to them both for taking care of us!
(5)
Joye H.
Red Lobster is the Mc donalds of seafood sorry but true . The biscuits are great. The staff is great but will not go back.
(1)
Scott P.
Service was non existent, waited to long to be acknowledged and got up and walked out. This was @ 2:00 in the afternoon
(1)
Lucas V.
Stopped at this place for lunch with my mom. The food was about what you'd expect from a chain restaurant of this type: some good items and some poorer ones. The scallops and crispy fish that my mom had were near flavorless, as was the calamari (though the fried broccoli that came with it was interesting). However, the grilled tilapia and roasted vegetables that I had were fairly good, and the cheddar biscuits were excellent. The service was excellent as well; the waitress was friendly and helpful, and saw to everything we wanted. Nevertheless, it was not good enough for me to really recommend it.
(3)
Kyle R.
In the last three years since I first visited here we have never had anything but friendly and helpful service. Their selection is pretty wide and changes a little bit every day. The only thing I use to not care for was the interior, however, they have recently remodeled the restaurant and it looks crisp and modern now.
(5)
Jana B.
I really like this place, this was my first time going to a Red Lobster, since we don't have one in BC (booo!). The complementary biscuits are really good, but at 150 calories a piece they can fill you up pretty fast, so take it easy on them. The service here was great, the waitress was really nice and seemed to enjoy her job.The food was delicious, but the only reason I'm giving this place 4 stars and not 5 is because of the price. Like some other people have said this place is expensive. Family restaurant style, for fancy restaurant prices....well just about.
(4)
Jennifer C.
Kelso, WA is a good pit stop for me when traveling between [insert some westernly location in Oregon here] and Seattle. I used to just duck in at Mickey D's but a couple trips ago I discovered Red Lobster over by the Target on the west side of the freeway. In complete honesty, the Kelso, WA Red Lobster staff could come up to many a fine dining establishment in Seattle and teach them a thing or two about good service. Not even kidding. I don't know if it's a Red Lobster thing or Kelso thing, but the staff at this location are consistently excellent without going overboard. On today's visit, as soon as I approached the foyer doors, two staff nonchalantly opened them for me...very polite, but not over-the-top. I was seated immediately, set up with water quickly, and my waiter was consistently on-the-ball. When I make Kelso a pit-stop, I am typically a female dining alone, and I really appreciate that the Red Lobster staff doesn't act weird about it. Not an eyelash is batted when I say "just one", and my waiter helpfully suggested, "Are you shopping, or just passing through?" I was just passing through, but I said, "Shopping" just for the fun of it. (I learned that apparently the Kelso Three Rivers Mall is quite nice!) As far as the food goes, hey...it's Red Lobster. It's not an upscale place in Portland or Seattle. If you read "scallops", they're probably bay scallops, and if you read "shrimp", you might want to check on the per-pound count. Plenty of fats are used in preparation...the herb-cheddar rolls are very tasty but they're basically a lot of cheese and butter mixed with a little bit oi flour. You aren't going to pay a premium for this meal, though, and for less than $10 today I had a starter salad, shrimp scampi, broiled (bay) scallops, and a baked potato. It's all good if you're not a big food (seafood) snob. I highly recommend the Kelso Red Lobster as great place for lunch or dinner if you are traveling between locations in OR and WA. Although the food is fine, I stop there because I know I'm going to be treated well in the midst of a long drive.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes
Jeff C.
This review is not so much about the food but about our waitress Cheryl. We came last night and was disappointed in our service. Although the good was tasty, we thought we had done something to offend our waitress. We were on our way to Albany OR, and stopped for a late dinner. We still had a long drive ahead of us. After our salads, we waited an hour for our main entree. Cheryl hardly came to check on us during that time. The other waitress next to our table was bustling and friendly to our table and the tables around us, but we never saw Cheryl. We even saw people seated around us who arrived later than us, finish their meals before us and leave. Really disappointed.
(2)Michelle H.
My family came into town for the weekend. My mom loves red lobster, and they where having their crab fest. So, naturally they ran out of crab cakes. I understand after working in the industry. The manager came over and took off my entire steak meal. He was very accommodating and very respectful. They are always nice.
(4)Pat M.
Just dined here with 5 of my colleagues. I was the guy paying the bill I ordered a rather expensive advertised 1-1/4 lb lobster. I think I got the 1/4#, but that's a push. I made numerous comments about my feeling myself shorted. No response. Just a nice smile. Service was great, but no extra mile here.
(1)Veruca S.
What can I say.. it's Red Lobster...a chain. It's lobster fest this month..woo hoo...(sarcasm laid thick)... This particular location is undergoing renovation so it was a bit hectic inside. I went for lunch and ordered their fish and chips. As much as the food snob in me hates to admit it...they do serve a good fish and chips. Most places lay the batter on so thick it's a 50/50 split on fish to batter ratio..but not RL. My filet was nice and thick with just a thin crispy crust. The fries were...well...fries.. eh. Service level was ok. The intro was friendly and peppy...lol...then "poof"...she vanished for a long time. She came back eventually. My friend ordered the batter fried shrimp basket which was a tad overdone. I'd go back for the fish and chips or the lobster pizza..but nothing else really.
(3)Kathy H.
This is one of our granddaughters favorites; She's six, loves seafood and a food critic in her own way. She was disappointed they don't serve steamers. It's a chain, and steamers don't come frozen and don't come deep-fried...service was spot-on, considering it was Sunday afternoon and busy. Stopping here a couple times a year is A-ok with me.. ! ;-)
(3)Lenny L.
Heh... So we were driving back from Portland and I hadn't been to a Red Lobster in ages.. I have to say that those Cheddar Biscuits are just awesome!! No questions about that.. However, I do not remember it being so expensive and so .... mediocre. We shared a large salad and a bowl of soup and both left kinda unhappy. I guess I expected for it to be better.. but in retrospect I probably had memories as a child of it being a cool place to go.. Now.... not so much.
(2)Cherene R.
To be honest, after my date to a high school formal took me to a Red Lobster restaurant, I realized how overrated this chain was and never thought about eating here ever again. Years later (only eight years!), I'm on my way to a wedding in Oregon with my current boyfriend and he was apparently starving and could not wait until the dinner at the wedding. We took a stop in the little town of Kelso and the only tolerable place we could find to dine at was here. It wasn't too busy when we arrived and we were seated fairly quickly - could it be the town population or the lack of popularity? We did not know. However, the waitress was very attentive to us and our orders. We started off with the complimentary biscuits. How should I describe them? They were like butter-covered KFC biscuits except with a nice garlic flavor! Delicious! I don't remember having these from my high school date! My boyfriend and I decided to split the New England seafood platter and a full order of crab linguini alfredo. Aside from the breaded clams, which tasted like the kind that you could buy in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store, the seafood platter also had some pretty good generously-sized bacon-wrapped scallops and yummy stuffed mushrooms. And I have to say that their crab linguini alfredo was awesome! And for a full order of $15 for the portion of pasta we received, I was so impressed. And there was a lot of dungeness crab (not that imitation crab stuff!) in it, too! Om nom nom nom! Kelso, WA - you may be a small town, but you have a Red Lobster restaurant that you should be very proud of. I was happy with the food, the service, and the tab!
(4)Amy W.
I give one star for good friendly service. The food, however, bad. The chowder was not fresh made, had a metallic flavor, as though from a can. I ordered a glass of chardonnay, a brand I know well, and the wine I was served was NOT what I asked for, but some cheap tasting stuff. Total rip off If you're looking for food between Seattle and Portland, check out some spectacular Mexican food at La Tarasca in Centralia. All hand made and fresh, interesting dishes, all made by the Mother of the fam in the kitchen. Just check the days open...
(1)Elena M.
It was a dark and stormy night... We were driving back to Seattle from Portland, and, as anyone who has done this trek knows, the food pickins just off of I-5 along this stretch are pretty slim. We decided to stop at the Red Lobster in Kelso because it is a convenient, semi-known quantity. (This was actually my first time at any Red Lobster.) We were greeted by the hostess, who was told by someone (the manager, I assume) to make sure our table was given to, oh, we'll call her Flo. I immediately sensed there was more behind this than making sure customers were evenly distributed amongst servers. From what was said, and they way it was said, I got the feeling that Flo's shift was ending shortly and, lately, she'd been balking about getting new tables assigned to her too close to her shift's end, and she was not going to be too pleased about having to serve us. I was pretty much on the mark. At first, all was fine. Flo was completely friendly. She took our drink orders, answered our questions about the menu, brought our drinks and salads and entrées. All this was done within perfectly reasonable and expected time frames. Then, though, the winds started to turn. My husband, the fast eater, finished his entrée within a few minutes. I had barely made a dent in mine. She immediately whisked away his plate and asked me, while I literally had forkful of food somewhere between my plate and my mouth, if I would like a box or was I still "picking at" my food. I told her I had just started eating. A minute or so later, she brought the check! I continued to eat. She continued to peek back every twenty seconds or so to see if some cash or a credit card had been put into the check bill fold. At one point, she came over to actually look inside the bill fold, at which time I told her quite directly, "I'm still eating." We were never asked how our food was. Never asked if we wanted a second round of drinks or if we wanted dessert. Basically, our "service" was about the rudest and most unprofessional I've ever experienced. I understand the restaurant management wanted to make sure Flo played by the rules, which sometimes means getting a new table thrown at you close to quittin' time. But, in the process, they ensured we got crappy service. I give two stars only because the food overall was completely decent and Red Lobster allowed us to eat along that stretch of I-5 at a place whose name did not include the word "Denny" or "Eats."
(2)Kevin G.
Was here in late July and had the 3 course meal special for $15 which actually is a great deal. I got a garden salad, salmon filet with rice pilaf & veggies, and a piece of chocolate cake. I was full and content for under $20. Awesome! The servers are overly bothersome as probably to encourage customers to move it along.
(3)Yosafena C.
Three of us stopped in at the height of the lunch hour and held an impromptu business meeting, taking up one of their largest booths. Sure, we ordered food, but we stayed for three and a half hours. Though they were busy and we were obviously taking up some prime real estate, our waitress was as gracious as could be. Our coffees, sodas, and bread baskets were replenished again and again without asking. And the food was better than I had expected. I'm not a fan of chain restaurants and had never eaten at a Red Lobster. I can't say I'll begin to seek them out wherever I travel, but this one provided us with the perfect venue for a very important meeting. I'm sure we'll return, as it's a great midway point to meet with Portland colleagues.
(4)Wanderin' J.
It had been several years since we had been to a Red Lobster. We normally stayed away from big chain restaurants. I love seafood so we thought we'd give it a try again ... and it was so good the first time that we went back the following week. The fish and chips were the best I had tasted in a very long time .. excellent. The following week I went for their 3-dish special. It included salmon, shrimp scampi and lobster mac'n cheese. Needless to say, it was another amazing meal. Service? Well, it could not have been better. We had everything with a smile even before we asked. Drinks were refreshed before they got low. I wish I could remember the names of the staff but I can't. One was a cute, little girl and the other said she only worked one day a week. What an amazing experience. Thank you Red Lobster and we'll be back!
(5)Al E.
The five stars are for the service! We had a large work party and we had the best service I have ever experienced. Renee and Scott were kind and their hospitality reminded me of the south. Huge thanks to them both for taking care of us!
(5)Joye H.
Red Lobster is the Mc donalds of seafood sorry but true . The biscuits are great. The staff is great but will not go back.
(1)Scott P.
Service was non existent, waited to long to be acknowledged and got up and walked out. This was @ 2:00 in the afternoon
(1)Lucas V.
Stopped at this place for lunch with my mom. The food was about what you'd expect from a chain restaurant of this type: some good items and some poorer ones. The scallops and crispy fish that my mom had were near flavorless, as was the calamari (though the fried broccoli that came with it was interesting). However, the grilled tilapia and roasted vegetables that I had were fairly good, and the cheddar biscuits were excellent. The service was excellent as well; the waitress was friendly and helpful, and saw to everything we wanted. Nevertheless, it was not good enough for me to really recommend it.
(3)Kyle R.
In the last three years since I first visited here we have never had anything but friendly and helpful service. Their selection is pretty wide and changes a little bit every day. The only thing I use to not care for was the interior, however, they have recently remodeled the restaurant and it looks crisp and modern now.
(5)Jana B.
I really like this place, this was my first time going to a Red Lobster, since we don't have one in BC (booo!). The complementary biscuits are really good, but at 150 calories a piece they can fill you up pretty fast, so take it easy on them. The service here was great, the waitress was really nice and seemed to enjoy her job.The food was delicious, but the only reason I'm giving this place 4 stars and not 5 is because of the price. Like some other people have said this place is expensive. Family restaurant style, for fancy restaurant prices....well just about.
(4)Jennifer C.
Kelso, WA is a good pit stop for me when traveling between [insert some westernly location in Oregon here] and Seattle. I used to just duck in at Mickey D's but a couple trips ago I discovered Red Lobster over by the Target on the west side of the freeway. In complete honesty, the Kelso, WA Red Lobster staff could come up to many a fine dining establishment in Seattle and teach them a thing or two about good service. Not even kidding. I don't know if it's a Red Lobster thing or Kelso thing, but the staff at this location are consistently excellent without going overboard. On today's visit, as soon as I approached the foyer doors, two staff nonchalantly opened them for me...very polite, but not over-the-top. I was seated immediately, set up with water quickly, and my waiter was consistently on-the-ball. When I make Kelso a pit-stop, I am typically a female dining alone, and I really appreciate that the Red Lobster staff doesn't act weird about it. Not an eyelash is batted when I say "just one", and my waiter helpfully suggested, "Are you shopping, or just passing through?" I was just passing through, but I said, "Shopping" just for the fun of it. (I learned that apparently the Kelso Three Rivers Mall is quite nice!) As far as the food goes, hey...it's Red Lobster. It's not an upscale place in Portland or Seattle. If you read "scallops", they're probably bay scallops, and if you read "shrimp", you might want to check on the per-pound count. Plenty of fats are used in preparation...the herb-cheddar rolls are very tasty but they're basically a lot of cheese and butter mixed with a little bit oi flour. You aren't going to pay a premium for this meal, though, and for less than $10 today I had a starter salad, shrimp scampi, broiled (bay) scallops, and a baked potato. It's all good if you're not a big food (seafood) snob. I highly recommend the Kelso Red Lobster as great place for lunch or dinner if you are traveling between locations in OR and WA. Although the food is fine, I stop there because I know I'm going to be treated well in the midst of a long drive.
(4)