Red Lobster is closing its iconic Times Square restaurant after more than two decades in the heart of New York City. The restaurant, located at 5 Times Square, will permanently shut its doors on June 14 after serving customers for 23 years.
The prolonged construction work on the corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, combined with plans to convert the property into residential housing, made it impossible to continue operating the location, restaurant officials told the New York Post. “Times Square has been an important chapter in Red Lobster’s history, and this was a difficult decision,” Red Lobster said in a statement.
The three-story restaurant opened in 2003 and became one of the chain's most recognisable locations, serving tourists, theatregoers and New Yorkers. It gained national attention for special promotions, including a widely publicised free lobster giveaway in 2023.
In 2024, as Red Lobster struggled to keep the Times Square restaurant open, the owners of 5 Times Square sought approximately $2.2 million in annual rent for the 16,482-square-foot space. Employees were reassured at the time that the restaurant remained a “high-performing” location despite concerns about the chain’s finances.
Employees at the Times Square restaurant will be offered transfers to other Red Lobster locations of their choice, though it was the chain's only remaining location within New York City’s five boroughs. “All team members are being offered the opportunity to be transferred to the Red Lobster location of their choice and to receive additional pay to support them through this transition,” the company said.
The closure is part of a wider restructuring following Red Lobster’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in May 2024. Despite operating more than 500 US locations at the end of 2025, sales fell 6.2 per cent year over year to $1.56 billion.
