Communities around the country are losing cheddar bay biscuits and all-you-can-eat seafood deals as troubled Red Lobster closes around 100 US restaurants, with up to 135 more closures looming.

But Red Lobster’s decline is particularly a loss for many Black diners, who formed a loyal base for the brand and still account for a higher share of customers than other major casual chain restaurants, according to historians, customers and former Red Lobster executives.

“Red Lobster cultivated Black customers. It has not shied away from that customer base like some brands have,” Clarence Otis Jr., the former CEO of Darden Restaurants from 2004 to 2014, when the company still owned the chain, told CNN.

After Otis became CEO, Sacramento Observer columnist Mardeio Cannon wrote that “it is only fitting” Red Lobster had a Black CEO because “if there is any restaurant in America that most African Americans love, it’s Red Lobster.”

In a 2015 presentation to investors, Red Lobster said 16% of customers were Black, two percentage points higher than the Black share of the US population. Red Lobster did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on current customer demographics.

The chain hired Black workers and served Black guests from its beginnings in the South in the late 1960s, and Black celebrities such as Chris Rock and Nicki Minaj worked there before they became famous. (Minaj later joked about being fired from “all three or four” of the Red Lobsters where she worked over “Lobsterita” drinks and cheddar bay biscuits with Jimmy Fallon.) And Beyoncé sang about taking a romantic partner to Red Lobster in her 2016 song “Formation,” which addresses police brutality, Hurricane Katrina and Black culture in America.
Although Black customers did not immediately frequent Red Lobster, the chain gradually built strength with Black patrons as it expanded in the South and across the country.

Red Lobster developed a reputation for being friendly and open to Black customers, in part because it had Black staff when a new restaurant opened, and it later developed marketing strategies to court Black diners, say historians and former executives.

Walter King, who was hired in 1971 to manage a Red Lobster restaurant, was one of the company’s earliest Black employees and stayed with the chain for 36 years. Red Lobster later named one of its signature dishes after King: “Walt’s Favorite Shrimp.” King died last year.

“They’ve been loyal to us and we’ve been loyal to them,” Beverly Boatwright said. “We went there because the food was delicious. It was the only place you could get good seafood. It was a luxury.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/08/busin...ory/index.html