Red Lobster closes Stony Brook location amid nationwide sweep
Seafood giant Red Lobster, which has nearly 650 restaurants nationwide, closed at least 50 of them on Monday — including 14 in New York and New Jersey. The only Long Island store shuttered in the mass closure is in Stony Brook, at 2220 Nesconset Hwy.
The Red Lobster restaurant on Nesconset Highway in Stony Brook has closed. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
Red Lobster’s financial struggles aren’t new. In January, Thai Union Group PCL, the Thai seafood company that owns Red Lobster, said it was planning to exit from its minority investment in the brand, blaming inflation and the pandemic. In March, a new CEO, Jonathan Tibus, was appointed. A veteran bankruptcy expert, Tibus and Red Lobster had been considering a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last month, according to Bloomberg.
Long Island Red Lobster fans can still get their fix at the six restaurants still open, in Hicksville, Ronkonkoma, Deer Park, Valley Stream, Carle Place and Copiague.
Among the other locations shut in New York are Lakewood, Buffalo, Amherst, Williamsville, Rochester, Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Scarsdale and Nanuet.
Calls to the Stony Brook restaurant were picked up by an automated recording loop. Calls to corporate offices also went unanswered.
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.