Clawing back: Inside Red Lobster's high-stakes revival
· Business Insider
Fortune
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On a recent Friday night in Times Square, a pair of 25-year-old tech-finance bros sat in a booth at Red Lobster, sharing a lobster tail and a plate of lobster and shrimp linguine. It was the first time for both. They'd come, they said, because of the CEO.
"The guy's, like, 36 and already on his second turnaround," said Rohit Majumdar.
"I'm kind of rooting for him personally," added Aveek Ganguly. "We literally came here tonight to see what the turnaround looks like, to see if he's doing a good job."
They were talking about Damola Adamolekun, the private-equity wunderkind who was named CEO in August 2024, fresh from a successful run leading P.F. Chang's, and has become the public face of Red Lobster's comeback. (Adamolekun turned 37 this month.)
Not long ago, Red Lobster was a punchline. The disastrous Endless Shrimp promotion cost the 56-year-old chain $11 million in three months. A revolving door of owners alienated loyal fans by slashing perennial favorites like hush puppies from the menu, and left the restaurants looking dated and stale. By the time Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy in May 2024, it was more than $1 billion in debt.
But now, Red Lobster is having a moment. At a time when Americans are dining out less, foot traffic is up, and diners are spending more.
Adamolekun's playbook has been mostly straightforward: fix the menu, refresh the restaurants' look and feel, and generate buzz. The picture isn't entirely rosy; earlier this month, Adamolekun said the chain will likely close more locations to cut costs. His critics question whether his plans to turn the chain around are bold enough.
What's clear is that Adamolekun is shifting the narrative, and the strategy of putting Adamolekun front and center has made Red Lobster's turnaround feel like a bootstrapped effort, rather than one straight out of the private-equity playbook. "You think of him first as the face of the brand, and you kind of forget there's a firm behind him," Ganguly says.
The Red Lobster in the heart of Times SquareCraig T Fruchtman/Getty Images
The chain's popular shake-and-serve seafood boils went viral on TikTok when they were introduced last summer. When Jason and Travis Kelce took a shot at lobster on the "New Heights" podcast, calling it a fancy delivery system for butter, Adamolekun extended an invitation to Red Lobster over TikTok. A visit never materialized, but it drove a lot of engagement.
During an appearance on "The Breakfast Club" podcast, host Charlamagne Tha God said it was the first time he could remember wanting to talk to a restaurant chain CEO. On YouTube, where the video racked up 1 million views, one commenter summed up the response: "Who is planning on going to Red Lobster because of this interview? I AM."
In an industry where most executives operate behind the scenes, Adamolekun has turned his own ambition into a proxy for the brand's. The bet is that if diners believe in him, they'll believe in Red Lobster again.
"I think Damola is a rock star," says Kelly O'Keefe, founding partner of the marketing consultancy Brand Federation. "He's authentic and passionate in what he believes is possible with Red Lobster. In turn, people seem to believe in him," he says.
The enthusiasm around Adamolekun is unusual in the restaurant business. So, too, is Adamolekun's path to leading Red Lobster. He's a Harvard-trained finance guy in an industry where most CEOs spend decades rising through the ranks.
As one of the younger CEOs around, he casts himself as the ultimate overachiever. Born in Nigeria to a neurologist father and pharmacist mother, Adamolekun was 9 when he moved with his family to the United States. They settled first in Illinois (where he tried Red Lobster) and then Maryland, where he attended high school (and developed a taste for crab).
In his "Breakfast Club" interview, Adamolekun said his parents would fixate on that single B on his report card, never mind that the rest were As. "'Whatever you do, just be the best at it.' That was all they ever cared about," Adamolekun said.
That was fine, since, as Adamolekun put it, "there's very little evidence of me not excelling in anything that I've tried to do."
Childhood friends say the assessment is in line with the Adamolekun they remember. Xavier Martin, who played high school football with Adamolekun, remembers him as "freakishly" good at pretty much everything. A rare exception was when they were paired together in driver's ed. "He was the worst driver. It was really tough for him in the beginning," Martin says. "That was the one thing that he wasn't the best at. Probably the only thing."
Adamolekun went on to Brown, where he played football and studied economics and political science. He landed a job at Goldman Sachs. After getting an MBA from Harvard, Adamolekun joined the hedge fund run by billionaire John Paulson.