Exploring the struggles of casual dining restaurants in adapting to changing consumer tastes, labor costs, and competitive pressures, with insights into the closures, reinvention efforts, and profitability challenges faced by chains like Red Lobster, Chili's, and Applebee's.
The seafood chain found itself deep in the red after a disastrous unlimited shrimp promotion. Wall Street Journal restaurant reporter Heather Haddon explains what sunk Red Lobster — and the troubled waters facing other casual dining chains.
This episode was produced by Denise Guerra and Haleema Shah, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by David Herman and Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by David Pierce.
Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast
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