Red Lobster Unveils Most Comprehensive Menu Transformation in Brand History

Menu provides greater value and broadens appeal through more choice and variety

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Oct 15, 2012, 04:05 ET

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Red Lobster introduces their most comprehensive core menu transformation in the brand's history. The menu will offer significantly more items with price points below $15. It will also substantially increase the number of non-seafood selections. Additionally, the menu will offer more choice and variety, including lighter-style options and more fish and shrimp entrees.

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The new Red Lobster menu is the latest in a series of changes contributing to the brand's broader refresh, which includes their new "Sea Food Differently" advertising campaign featuring the real people of Red Lobster, their Bar Harbor restaurant remodel program, the introduction of wood-fire grills in the restaurants and the expansion of the Today's Fresh Fish menu.

"We know guests are looking for value and greater choice and variety, and that's exactly what this new menu will deliver," said Salli Setta, executive vice president of marketing, Red Lobster. "We're excited to give more guests more reasons to visit Red Lobster more often."

Everyday Affordability
Nearly 60 percent of the dishes on Red Lobster's new menu are under $15. That's an increase from 40 percent on the previous menu. The 15 new dishes under $15 are called "Maine Stays" and are available every day.

New "Maine Stays" include entrees like:

Tilapia with Roasted Vegetables: Seasoned and roasted in a parchment bag with white wine, asparagus, artichokes and wild rice pilaf.
Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp: With a peach-bourbon BBQ glaze and pico de gallo, served over mashed potatoes and choice of accompaniment.
Wood-Grilled Chicken with Portobello Wine Sauce: Served with mashed potatoes and choice of accompaniment.

Also, in response to its popularity, Red Lobster's 4-Course Feast has been added to the menu permanently. The 4-Course Feast allows guests to choose a soup, a salad, one of nine entrees and a dessert, with unlimited Cheddar Bay Biscuits, all for only $15.99 (may vary by location).

More Than Just Seafood
Nearly 25 percent of Red Lobster's new menu offers non-seafood options. That's an increase from 8 percent non-seafood options on the previous menu.

Examples of these dishes include:

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Alfredo: Served over corkscrew pasta and fresh broccoli.
Wood -Grilled Pork Chops: Topped with apple compote and peach-bourbon BBQ sauce, served over mashed potatoes and choice of accompaniment.
Roasted Vegetable Skewer: Topped with a lemon-garlic beurre blanc and served with wild rice pilaf.
Blue Cheese Sirloin: A 7 ounce peppercorn-crusted sirloin, wood-grilled and topped with a creamy blue cheese sauce. Served over mashed potatoes and choice of accompaniment.

Choice and Variety
Red Lobster's new menu offers more choice and variety, including lighter-style options and more fish and shrimp entrees. Some examples include:

Lighter-style options like:

Bar Harbor Salad with Shrimp: With dried berries and honey-roasted pecans with a blueberry-balsamic vinaigrette and crumbled blue cheese served upon request (260 calories, 9 fat (g) with no dressing or blue cheese).
Tropical BBQ Glazed Chicken: Wood-grilled and brushed with papaya-BBQ sauce and topped with fresh pineapple salsa. Served with wild rice and choice of an accompaniment (390 calories, 6 fat (g)).

New seafood options like:

Island Grilled Mahi Mahi and Shrimp: Wood-grilled, wild-caught mahi-mahi and a shrimp skewer brushed with a papaya-BBQ sauce and topped with fresh pineapple salsa. Served with broccoli and choice of accompaniment.
Chesapeake Shrimp with Crab: A Chesapeake-grilled shrimp skewer topped with crab butter and five crab-and-seafood-stuffed shrimp with lobster beurre blanc, served with wild rice pilaf and choice of accompaniment.

New appetizers like:

Sweet Chili Shrimp: Hand-battered shrimp tossed in a spicy chili sauce.
Southwest Chicken Pizza: A crisp thin‐crust pizza topped with BBQ chicken, roasted corn and poblano peppers. Drizzled with jalapeno ranch.

Several guest favorites remain on the menu including:

Today's Fresh Fish Menu: Features four to eight fresh fish selections daily.
Wood-Grilled Lobster, Shrimp and Scallops: A split Maine lobster tail, skewered shrimp and wild caught sea scallops with a buttery garlic finish, over wild rice pilaf.
Ultimate Feast: A tender split Maine lobster tail, steamed North American snow crab legs, garlic shrimp scampi and Walt's Favorite Shrimp.

New Advertisements
The brand will be supporting the new menu with a robust communications program, which includes new national advertisements and a significant presence in the digital and social media spaces. The advertisements feature real people and their unscripted reactions when invited to taste various dishes from Red Lobster's new menu. These advertisements launch today and are part of the brand's current "Sea Food Differently" campaign that features the real people of Red Lobster.

Plateware Donations and Bar Harbor Remodels
With the introduction of the new menu, Red Lobster is also introducing new plateware into all restaurants. As part of Red Lobster's commitment to the communities they serve, the company has donated an estimated 330,000 pieces of plateware – including bowls, plates and platters – to local hunger relief agencies and Habitat for Humanity ReStore resale outlets across North America. This supports the company's goal of sending zero waste to landfills and making a positive difference in local communities.

This is in addition to the donations being made to Habitat for Humanity ReStore resale outlets as part of Red Lobster's large-scale restaurant remodel program. Red Lobster donates its furnishings from remodeled restaurants to Habitat for Humanity ReStore resale outlets, which sell quality, donated household and construction materials to the public to help Habitat provide decent and affordable housing in communities. This is part of a larger partnership between Red Lobster's parent company, Darden Restaurants, and Habitat for Humanity International. To date, more than 50 percent of Red Lobster restaurants have been remodeled, and all Red Lobster restaurants across North America will undergo the redesign by the end of 2014.

To learn more about Red Lobster and to find a local restaurant, visit RedLobster.com and connect on Facebook and Twitter at Facebook.com/RedLobster and @RedLobster.

ABOUT RED LOBSTER
Red Lobster is the world's largest casual dining seafood restaurant with more than 700 locations and 60,000 employees delivering delicious, high-quality seafood to guests across North America. Red Lobster is a division of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI), the world's largest full-service restaurant operating company. In 2012, Darden was named to the FORTUNE "100 Best Companies to Work For" list for the second year in a row and is the only full-service restaurant company to ever appear on the list. Red Lobster is committed to making a difference in the lives of others in the local community. As part of this commitment, all Red Lobster restaurants participate in the Darden Harvest program, which has donated more than 50 million pounds of food to local community food banks across the country. For more information on Red Lobster please visit www.RedLobster.com.