Restauratour: Red Lobster's Decor a Shore Thing

Red Lobster’s remodel gives guests a taste of seaside living.

By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 1/1/2003

Take an online tour of Red Lobster

While design elements in older Red Lobster restaurants hint at the ocean, the seafood chain’s new prototype practically shouts it.

Called Coastal Home, the design is meant to make guests feel as if they’re visiting a seaside residence. Many elements combine to lend that feeling: dormers and clapboards outside; a palette of light-washed pastels; paned window frames that separate but do not segregate the different dining areas; and opaque transoms that are a fixture in seaside homes.

And fish—lots of them—from iconic to live with everything in between. Fish swim on conical milk-glass light fixtures. Bar-height tabletops are molded into fish shapes. Fish in a metal cutout sculpture above the bar swim in a sea of ever-changing light. Fabric fish nestle in booth fabric, and real fish (not the edible kind) swim in tall glass tanks.

All these fish convey Red Lobster’s marketing message of fresh seafood, says designer Denny Gerdeman of Chute Gerdeman Inc. in Columbus, Ohio. “Red Lobster is the country’s largest shipper of fresh seafood, and they weren’t getting credit for it,” he says. “Customers just expected the fish was frozen.”

Enhancing the Brand
He’s right, says John Altomare, senior vice president of operations development for the Orlando, Fla.-based chain. About four years ago, Red Lobster started opening new restaurants after what, for the chain, had been a fallow season. “We determined that we needed a new prototype that was in line with the brand vision going forward,” he says.

The chain told Gerdeman to create a residential look to replace the lobster-shack theme, make the restaurant more efficient and appeal to a broader customer base. “They wanted it to open up, be more lively,” Gerdeman says.

The dormers, transoms, brighter lighting and pastel colors all add up to a residential feeling. So does the open kitchen, which is visible without being fully on display. As they would while dining in a friend’s home, customers can see flashes of stainless steel, hear kitchen chatter and smell the aroma of cooking, particularly the Cheddar Bay Biscuits, the chain’s signature bread. “We celebrate that a little more,” Altomare says.

The new shape of the kitchen, a T that streamlines production, makes the kitchen more efficient. Expeditors positioned at the foot of the T can see when each component of an order is done and hold off on plating until everything is hot, fresh and ready, says Magie Pickens, general manager of the Kissimmee location.

The dining-room layout is more efficient, too. Coastal Home restaurants average 7,100 square feet and 218 seats, compared with 7,200 square feet and 172 seats for older stores. More seats in a smaller space do not add up to a cramped feeling, though. While the restaurant looks like one big room, in reality it is four or five different spaces separated by paned wood window frames.

The slight separation affords a measure of privacy between the different spaces but at the same time keeps the energy moving throughout the space. “No matter where you are, if you’re engaged in conversation and want to close out the rest, you can,” Altomare says. “You can get connected but not feel like you’re on display.”

Fresh Results
That combination of privacy and connectedness works wonders in attracting a broader customer base, ranging from families to couples to tourists to businesspeople, according to Pickens. The restaurant gets louder than do older Red Lobsters, and that’s because of the light, cheery atmosphere. “It’s like walking into a club versus walking into a small, dark bar,” Pickens says. “People talk more because of the light.”

The first remodeled unit opened in May 2001 in Orlando; the chain will open eight to 12 new restaurants a year, and plans to have half of its 670 existing stores remodeled by the end of May 2004. So far, check averages and alcohol sales have increased, but Altomare would not say by how much. In addition, the design captures higher customer rankings in just about every attribute the chain tests for, he says. “It’s our best work ever.”

Outsiders agree. Coastal Home accomplishes everything Red Lobster wanted it to, says Chris Doerschlag, CEO of WD Partners, the Columbus, Ohio-based firm that helped conceptualize the prototype. “In the foodservice business, food is number one, service two, and aesthetics three,” he says. “Red Lobster hit a home run by bringing all three to the forefront.”