11 Discontinued Red Lobster Menu Items Customers Forgot Existed

Whether you identify as a foodie or not, you can probably agree that one of the greatest experiences in life is the sense of discovery that comes with dining out. Walking into a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, and downing that first bite, makes patrons feel like a momentary Magellan, planting feet, or teeth, where no man has before. There is a real joy in finding a hidden gem of a joint, whether it's a family owned spot with a single location, or a bustling business on the brink of expansion. But there's a reason that chain restaurants still exist.

While discovery may be the driving force behind many nights on the town, it's exhausting to ask people to have a sense of adventure every single day. Sometimes, all you need is a familiar, comforting menu, and that's what restaurants like Red Lobster typically provide. This iconic seafood spot stands tall with over 50 mostly permanent menu items, offering an ever present sense of reliability that keeps customers coming back for the same Cheddar Bay Biscuits, and Admiral's Feast. Yet, even restaurants that are specifically built for consistency aren't immune to change. Hidden behind the veil of consistency is a litany of lobster (and non-lobster) menu items that at one time felt permanent, but have since disappeared, and been completely forgotten. Here are 11 discontinued Red Lobster menu items customers forgot existed.

Classic cheddar biscuits, and big, filling feasts may be the chain's most iconic menu items, and among the things everyone should know about Red Lobster. But for many fans, the real star of the show has always been the long list of appetizers. At the top of that list are, of course, Red Lobster's Parrot Isle Coconut Shrimp, and Lobster Bisque. Trailing just behind those two in popularity, however, may be the calamari.

Red Lobster's crispy calamari appetizer was, for the longest time, served right alongside some perfectly salty pieces of fried broccoli, and fried peppers. But late in the 2010s, the company quietly changed its recipe. Currently, the menu touts two calamari starter options: the classic Hand-Breaded Calamari, served with jalapeño ranch and marinara, and the slightly more adventurous Crispy Dragon Calamari, which is tossed in a sweet and spicy chili sauce. While these two options are perfectly serviceable, some diehard Red Lobster patrons find themselves missing the original recipe, and it's hard to blame them.

Sometimes, the best dish is the one that you can make in the comfort of your own home. For that reason, everyone has at some point in their lives attempted to make nachos themselves. Whether they've used a microwave blast or a stacked-up sheet pan, they've likely enjoyed the results enough — but there's something special about sitting down in a restaurant, and snacking on some nachos, labor-free. The typical nacho starter at any given establishment is laden with beef, chicken, or pork, but prior to 2015, Red Lobster had its own variation that featured a signature seafood spin.

Red Lobster's shrimp nachos appetizer was essentially a bed of tortilla chips topped with jalapeños, sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, and shrimp — and it was absolutely glorious in its simplicity. It isn't quite clear why the item got bumped from the menu, as it's relatively simple to make, and has a horde of fans still singing its praises, and requesting it online. Regardless, its disappearance isn't the end of the world, as it's fairly easy to make delicious shrimp nachos at home. Find a decent recipe, lay down your chips of choice, and let the fun begin.

As evidenced by the existence of this list, Red Lobster is no stranger to cutting down and reshaping its menus. Ever since its inception in March of 1968, the casual dining chain has been committed to trimming down the menu, finding the permanent staples, and trying out new things when deemed necessary. The second half of this, the chain's adventurous spirit, led to some indulgent additions like the Bacon-Wrapped Sea Scallops, which are still on the menu today, but not every inventive creation from the kitchen has survived the company's cuts.

One of Red Lobster's casualties was its Stuffed Filet of Flounder, an entree that might sound refined, but in reality was a rich, indulgent dish for those looking to fill up as much as possible. This main course offering was a flounder filet stuffed with succulent, spicy crab. The Red Lobster menu's classics section still has an offering for flounder fans in the form of a Wild-Caught Crunch-Fried Flounder, which is served with tartar sauce, and two sides, but the spicy crab-stuffed version has long since disappeared. This maximalist dish might not have been for everyone, but it remains a reminder of a simpler time at Red Lobster, when more truly was merrier.

A few years ago, a Reddit user dug up a vintage Red Lobster menu that showed current patrons the glory of the restaurant chain's early days. There were, of course, many similarities to the current offerings, including a shrimp cocktail starter, and luxurious platters for feasting. But the thing that caught most eyes was the fact that Red Lobster apparently once had a great chain restaurant kids' menu that it called Tot's Galley.

The current Red Lobster kids' section keeps it simple, with six crowd-pleasing options: Grilled Shrimp, Popcorn Shrimp, Macaroni & Cheese, Crispy Chicken Tenders, Grilled Chicken, and Golden-Fried Fish. However, back in the day, it wasn't afraid to challenge young children with fresh flavors. Tot's Galley looks less like a kid's menu, and more like a list of adult appetizers, with items like a Deviled Crab Cake, Flounder, and Fried Oysters available for little ones to order.

While the section was likely intended to offer smaller portions at affordable prices, it's still hilarious to see a menu so completely devoid of the usual children's menu trappings. In the end, though, perhaps '70s-era Red Lobster restaurants had the right idea: Introduce kids to sophisticated flavors early, so by the time they grow up, their palates will be adventurous, and refined.

Red Lobster might be an American restaurant with some painfully American traditions, and menu options, but it does recognize that seafood isn't a purely Western endeavor. Seafood delicacies can come from all across the world, with different twists, turns, and tastes that make them all worth trying. Current Red Lobster menu items like Crispy Dragon Calamari demonstrate a broader worldview, but none did it better than the Crab Stuffed Shrimp Rangoon, a Red Lobster item that has unfortunately fallen by the wayside.

This somewhat out-of-place, but more-than-welcomed, appetizer featured shrimp filled with a mouthwatering combination of cream cheese and crab, wrapped in a crispy wonton wrapping. The dish was just the right amount of indulgent, and undeniably tasty in its crispy, crunchy, captivating goodness. Unlike other entries on this list, however, the disappearance of the Crab Stuffed Shrimp Rangoon is no mystery. The appetizer was one of a variety of limited-time-only chain restaurant menu items that should be permanent, but will most likely never return.

Of all the discontinued chain restaurant menu items on this list, Red Lobster's Maple Chicken might be the most confounding. Some variation of a chicken entree has hopped on and off the menu for as long the restaurant chain has existed. The company has gone through fried chicken options, grilled chicken options, and has even experimented with a Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich item. None of these tasty-sounding options seem to have staying power, however, and it's difficult to see why.

One of Red Lobster's on-again, off-again chicken items was Maple Chicken, which was unceremoniously removed from the menu after returning. Apparently, not enough people found themselves drawn to the item, though there's little denying that the entree looked appealing. Red Lobster's Maple Chicken featured a generous drizzle of sweet sauce, and even crumbled bacon, but no addition was appetizing enough to keep the dish as a permanent staple on the restaurant chain's menu. As of 2026, Red Lobster patrons looking for chicken can enjoy Parmesan-Crusted Chicken from the Classics section of the menu instead. Diehard diners know that it will not be the same as that maple-bacon deliciousness, but it might be worth trying.

When opening a restaurant, every aspect requires meticulous decision-making, from the aesthetic of the interior, to the exterior, to the marketing, to every menu item, and beyond. Red Lobster's business troubles have been well documented, and in the 1970s, they involved the names of some of its menu items.

Today, if you walk into a Red Lobster location, and glance at the menu, you'll see two options for a steak main course: a 7-ounce Sirloin, and a 6-ounce Filet Mignon. Back in the day, however, it wasn't so clear what each dish entailed. A 1970s Red Lobster menu posted by a fan on Reddit shows that, back then, there were far more options — and most of them were pretty vague. The obvious ones were the New York Strip Steak, and the Chopped Sirloin Steak, but after that came a Captain's Steak, the Mate's Steak, the Commodore's Steak, and Steak on a Skewer. Patrons may have been able to deduce what these options were based on context clues, like the prices, and the information at the top of the section, but the creative names can also be seen as a menu design flaw. It makes sense, then, that the restaurant chain has since done away with them.

There's nothing quite like starting a meal with a nice bowl of soup to whet the appetite. Ordering a hot bowl alongside an appetizer, or a basket of warm bread is one of the life's greatest pleasures, and Red Lobster is a prime place to do that. As of 2026, Red Lobster offers two compelling soup options, its classic Lobster Bisque, and a New England Clam Chowder. But back in the day, around 2012, there was a third option, and it wasn't even seafood-focused.

Chicken Tortilla Soup was a surprisingly spicy option on Red Lobster's menu until around 2014, when it was unceremoniously removed, most likely due to a dip in popularity, or a renewed desire to focus on signature seafood offerings. The dish featured shredded chicken, melted cheese, and tortilla strips for a warming starter that packed a spicy punch. It was never clear why Chicken Tortilla Soup made the menu over one of the many other popular types of soup, but it was a welcome addition while it lasted. While the dish has been gone for over a decade now, it can remind us of Red Lobster's original sense of adventure. We also think it would be welcomed back with open arms by loyal customers.

Due to their cult-classic status on national menus, chain restaurant recipes can eventually take on lives of their own. Some of the most ordered fast food items in America — like the Burger King Whopper, and McDonald's Big Mac — have transcended their respective menus, becoming synonymous with the restaurants themselves. On the complete other hand, some items manage to achieve recognition for how bizarre their existence feels. Some prominent examples of this are the McDonald's Hula Burger, the KFC Chizza, and the Burger King Mac n' Cheetos, which all range from slightly misguided, to entirely bewildering.

One discontinued Red Lobster item that feels like it came from the same brain trust is the Ultimate Fondue. Fondue is the last thing you would expect to see on a seafood restaurant's menu, but the way the company pulled it off was actually quite interesting. While the fondue thankfully featured a cheese base, it also incorporated a seafood bisque element, giving diners a surprisingly fitting mix of briny, sea-soaked flavors, and rich, gooey, salty cheese. To top it all off, Red Lobster's Ultimate Fondue was served in a bread bowl, which always strikes that comfort food chord.

Red Lobster's Endless Shrimp promotion was widely hailed as its best deal, and there was a time when we thought it would never go away. But in 2024, it did just that, and now even the passionate uproar following its removal has died down.

Endless Shrimp was exactly what it sounded like: an opportunity to eat as much shrimp as you could possibly handle in a single sitting, for a flat price. The idea wasn't dissimilar from all-you-can-eat offerings at places like Olive Garden, Pizza Hut, and iHop — and, like those other promotions, it was popular beyond the wildest expectations of those who invented it . Despite its obvious appeal, the deal proved to be too much of a financial burden for the chain. While the promotion undeniably drew in crowds, and likely inspired further purchases, it simply wasn't sustainable in the long term, and it was pulled from the menu at the end of 2024.

The company tried to keep it around for as long as it was financially justifiable. When the promotion first launched, the deal was made available every day, but it was eventually moved to Mondays only after some monetary losses. With Endless Shrimp relegated to the same day every week, the promotion wound up creating long wait times, and it eventually was deemed unsustainable.

America's favorite pizza toppings are ones we all know and love. But sometimes, we want to try something new. Red Lobster gave us the option when it introduced its Lobster Pizza, a surprising pie that won fans over by never trying to be something it wasn't.

The recipe was simple yet indulgent, featuring a thin pizza crust topped with plenty of melted cheese, tomato, fresh basil, and big, buttery chunks of lobster. Like anyone who's tried lobster mac and cheese knows, rich dairy goes very well with sweet, succulent lobster. Meanwhile, the added veggies, and the bready bite of the crust, helped to balance the dish. Red Lobster may not be the only restaurant to ever offer a lobster pizza, but it might have been the one to do it best.

Despite this success, the Lobster Pizza was dropped from the menu in October of 2023, and replaced with a slight variation. As of today, the chain instead offers a Lobster Flatbread starter that features Maine lobster and langostino with mozzarella, parmesan, tomatoes, and basil. The flatbread is a lighter, thinner-crust option that works perfectly well for new patrons, but is completely unrecognizable to the diehard Lobster Pizza fans out there. For those who feel that the new flatbread isn't quite hitting the spot, there are plenty of recipes online from similarly-minded fans who yearn for a taste of the Red Lobster of old. Pick the right one, head home, and get cooking.

As previously mentioned, Red Lobster is no stranger to shaking up its menu, and removing items, but it also isn't afraid to bring things back. One of these shake-ups happened in November of 2024, when CEO Damola Adamolekun shocked the world by ushering in the return of a once-beloved (and once-forgotten) menu item: Red Lobster Hush Puppies were back.

"There was a social media riot over us taking off the hush puppies a few years ago," Adamolekun explained to TODAY. Let's all learn a lesson from that story: If a discontinued menu item — at Red Lobster, or at any chain restaurant in the world — is nagging at you, don't be afraid to speak up. With social media at our fingertips, companies are listening more than ever. It is often said that all it takes is one voice, one post, or one carefully-constructed petition to bring about change, and while this isn't the most serious topic in the world, that mantra undoubtedly still applies.