Hit This Restaurant Chain If You Want High-Quality Seafood

Most people aren't expecting top quality and the pinnacle of sustainably sourced food when they sit down to eat at a chain restaurant. However, some may feel differently about Red Lobster. According to a Mashed Poll, 34% of people are confident that they're getting good seafood when they slide into one of the restaurant's cozy booths. And in this case, they're right.

When we think of fresh seafood, we imagine it being pulled from a fishing boat's nets to the restaurant's loading dock, fileted, and served. Of course, with over 500 locations across the U.S. (most of them in Middle America), that's just not possible for every Red Lobster. However, as one of the chain's with the highest quality seafood, Red Lobster ensures that when its ingredients are frozen, they're flash frozen — either on the boat or on the dock. This practice works to maintain seafood at peak levels of freshness.

While this surely affects the taste and quality of the food, it's the restaurant's commitment to sourcing its seafood sustainably that truly stands out. Red Lobster has had sustainability in its mission statement since its first store opened in 1968. However, in 2019, the restaurant launched its Seafood with Standards program, which ensures that all seafood coming through its stores is from a trusted source.

So, where does Red Lobster source its seafood from? That's largely dependent on the dish. However, every lobster and crab sold at the restaurant has been wild caught by fishermen who adhere to strict sustainability practices. In the case of lobster, this includes having a size minimum and maximum, allowing lobsters that are too small to be released to complete a reproduction cycle. Lobsters that are too big are also released so they can continue populating the ocean with more tasty lobster babies. (Lobsters weighing 4 pounds and over tend to be reproductive powerhouses.) Fertile females are also marked with a "V" and released. By only working with fishermen who proudly uphold practices that maintain the ocean's lobster population, the restaurant is doing its part to make sure you don't just get quality seafood now; You will be able to get it in the future, too. 

Meanwhile, most of the crabs are Alaskan-caught in crab traps or pots. Others come from the coast of Chile. Again, Red Lobster follows strict  guidelines to ensure that compromising the ocean's crab population doesn't become an issue. Even the farm raised fish and shrimp Red Lobster buys must be Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certified. This ensures that they must be raised in healthy environments and fed adequate diets, which can have an effect on how the food tastes as well as its nutritional value.