Red Lobster has confirmed it will close its iconic Times Square location, with final service on Sunday, June 14, citing construction impacts and a building shift to residential use. The move lands amid a broader wave of closures as the company reassesses under
For weeks, Red Lobster regulars have stacked up cravings around its familiar Endless Shrimp pitch. But in one of the places where the chain became part of the city’s routine, the last check will arrive on the calendar’s most unforgiving day for foot traffic.
Red Lobster confirmed it will close its Times Square restaurant after its final service on Sunday, June 14. The decision comes after 23 years in business at the location, the company said.
In an emailed statement to MISRYOUM. Red Lobster said the move followed extensive and prolonged construction activity at the building—work that. it said. significantly impacted restaurant access. visibility. and foot traffic. leaving continued operations economically unsustainable. The chain also pointed to a reported transition of the building into a residential tower. saying future use “does not provide a viable long-term runway for a high-volume restaurant at this location.”.
The Times Square closure is part of a wider churn already unfolding across the country. Red Lobster declined to comment on whether the Times Square restaurant was included in a larger round of shutdowns. Even so, multiple locations have already ceased operations.
Red Lobster’s oldest continuously operating restaurant—located in Tallahassee. Florida—had its final day on May 24. according to reporting from the Tallahassee Democrat. The store’s manager and employees confirmed the closure to that outlet on May 18. In the Kansas City metro area, the Kansas City Star reported on May 29 that two locations had closed for good. Central Pennsylvania saw a similar ending on May 24. with ABC 27 News—an ABC affiliate based in Harrisburg—reporting that another location stopped operating.
Behind the closures sits a company trying to reshape its footprint after a costly year.
Red Lobster’s CEO. Damola Adamolekun. told The Wall Street Journal in February that the chain was assessing its roster of restaurants and the locations’ leases. with the possibility of more closures. “There’s a lot of positive signs. but we inherited a very damaged brand. so there’s still work to do to repair all of that. ” Adamolekun said. adding that he had become CEO in August 2024.
The company had also signaled a preference for cutting lower-performing locations. In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that Red Lobster would prefer to drop dozens of lower-performing restaurants, if possible, citing people familiar with the company’s discussions.
That pressure traces back to the company’s May 2024 bankruptcy filing. Red Lobster closed 129 locations in the months surrounding that filing. Court documents revealed the bankruptcy was driven by multiple problems. including significant debt. management changes. a decline in customers. and what was described as a problematic all-you-can-eat shrimp offering. The “endless shrimp” promotion resulted in $11 million of the company’s $76 million net loss in 2023, according to Reuters.
The sequence playing out now is hard to miss: construction throttles the kind of steady, high-volume traffic restaurants depend on, the building’s future points away from restaurant use, and closures follow—one location at a time.
For Red Lobster fans, the Endless Shrimp return for a limited time is an attempt to spark the familiar. But Times Square won’t get that chance for long. After Sunday, June 14, the curtains will come down on a flagship address where the chain has traded in appetite for more than two decades.
Red Lobster Times Square closure Endless Shrimp bankruptcy restaurant closures Damola Adamolekun U.S. retail dining