Red Lobster Abruptly Closes Lawrenceville Location

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – On Monday, Red Lobster abruptly closed more than 50 locations across 21 states, including the restaurant in Lawrenceville.

A liquidation company, TAGeX Brands, also announced an online auction of Red Lobster's kitchen equipment, furniture, and more from many of the locations. The auction went live on Monday at 3 p.m. and will end on Thursday.

"As of today, select Red Lobster locations are CLOSED. On our Restaurant Equipment marketplace, we are auctioning off 50+ locations across the country. These auctions are winner takes all – meaning, each winner will receive the entire contents of the Red Lobster location they bid on," according to tagexbrands.com/red-lobster. The closure also includes three other New Jersey locations – East Brunswick, Bridgewater and Ledgewood.

Red Lobster has not made any public comments and a request for comment from Patch was not immediately returned.

The closures follow news in April that the seafood restaurant chain was considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy to recoup $11 million in losses from its endless shrimp promotion, Bloomberg reported.

Red Lobster’s "Ultimate Endless Shrimp" promotion last year was intended as a limited-time offer but brought in enough new customers that the chain added it to its permanent menu in June.

The chain reported fourth-quarter 2023 losses of $12.5 million, the outlet reported.

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