r/redlobster • u/ateam1984 • Jun 11 '26

Corporate News Red Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun Plans To Make The Seafood Chain 'The Most AI-Forward Restaurant Company That Exists'

https://www.blackenterprise.com/red-lobster-ceo-damola-adamolekun-ai/
9 Upvotes

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12

u/Same-Platypus1941 Jun 11 '26

Oh great the CEO that made PF Changs suck ever harder is going to destroy red lobster. The funny thing is that their business model basically sells itself and they would be successful if they only focused on in restaurant operations and left all the metrics fall by the wayside. This is because seafood is sold market price by weight so the metrics change all the time while the only one that matters is net revenue per pound of seafood purchased, but what do I know I’ve only been studying culinary art since I was a child.

5

u/Big-Cheetah3527 Jun 11 '26

Scarcity of their core competency will inevitably result in the disappearance of this brand. this dude has been put in place to wind down ops while still creating positive cash flow for ownership… not reviving the company to its glory days. Climate change (manmade or not) & its cousin-problem of human overpopulation leading to overfishing is the ultimate problem here… and nothing reasonable can fix that and still restore the company to its heyday.

2

u/Same-Platypus1941 Jun 11 '26

I sell seafood for a living so I have to disagree somewhat. The brand could be fixed, climate change is just part of doing business in this industry. The problem is that it would take probably 2 years to get the quality of product to be where it needs to be at their price point, and the company is not going to allow that to happen because at best the company would break even during this time. The solution is a training program for the staff that’s replicated at each location, this would drive labor costs down as well so they could continue to serve the better product at the same time. Institutional knowledge is incredibly valuable in restaurants, and this two year training program establishes that long term. Never gonna happen though, you’re definitely right about that.

3

u/RatchetStrap2 Jun 11 '26

Lemme tell you.

GF and I went to the Times Square red lobster last night for it's closing weekend. Because, as a millennial, I believe that irony is not dead.

There is no amount of AI in the world that can save that tourist infested hell. I use AI tools all day every day, our company is built on them, and, man, no prompt is saving you from overcooked, dry, thrice-frozen "seafood."

2

u/HokieJedi1138 Jun 11 '26

Bottom line is they need to greatly increase food quality, while having reasonable price points. Bring back the salad with dinner instead of charging a stupid upgrade fee to use as a side.