Red Lobster Closures Hit Tucson with At Least 1 Local Restaurant Closing

A local Red Lobster restaurant is now closed.Photo byTim MossholderonUnsplash

It has not been an easy go at it for chain restaurants over the last several years. With the rise of inflation, higher food costs, and increased demand to pay kitchen and serving staff livable wages, large, national restaurants have proven slow in their pivot. This is nothing new, however, as often is the case, the larger the brand the more difficult it is to change. Restaurant managers have their hands tied not only when it comes to shopping around for better-priced produce, but in how much they can pay their staff. This has led to all kinds of problems for brands such as Red Lobster, and now a Tucson-area Red Lobster is closing up shop. 

Recently, Red Lobster announced it would close no fewer than 50 restaurants scattered around the country. The restaurant brand, which first opened back in 1968 in Lakeland Florida, expanded rapidly throughout the United States, as was the case with a number of popular chain restaurants. In the years that followed, Red Lobster has been purchased and taken over by a number of investment firms. Currently, Thai Union Group, based out of Samut Sakhon, Thailand, now is the parent organization. 

Due to poor sales and the problem of offsetting rising food and labor costs, the closing of 50 restaurants represents around eight percent of all the Red Lobster restaurants around the country, including the location at 11695 North Oracle Road. Oro Valley had been the restaurant darling of greater Tucson in recent years, as both local and national chains moved into the rapidly growing community. However, with three other locations around Tucson, it no longer made sense for the brand to have four locations, so the North Oracle Road location was chosen to shut down. 

This does not mean the other three restaurants are out of the woods just yet. Red Lobster is currently considering bankruptcy protection, which would likely lead to the further closure of additional locations. It would be possible that the restaurants could be sold off individually, although menu items would more than likely need to be changed, which longtime customers would likely not appreciate. 

There is no timetable as to when Chapter 11 paperwork might be filed. However, if you are a fan of Red Lobster, it might be a good idea to stop by for a meal, as the closures are happening fast, with very little ahead-of-time warning. So if future Tucson locations are closed, you likely won’t receive much, if any, advanced warning.