'I ate 108 in four hours': Customers react after Red Lobster's $20 'endless shrimp' deal is blamed for its demise

Red Lobster customers have taken to social media to say goodbye to the beloved chain as it edges towards bankruptcy.

But other Americans have boasted about how much they ate in the chain's famous $20 'endless shrimp' promotion, recently raised to $27, which is blamed for the chain's demise.

One customer claimed she managed to guzzle down 108 shrimp as part of the deal by staying at the restaurant for four and a half hours. 

'I set a new record at my local Red Lobster, this is my greatest achievement in life' the poster explained in a TikTok video.

The seafood chain announced the immediate shuttering of almost 100 restaurants across 21 states on Monday night - and is auctioning off the contents of 48 of them. 

The abrupt closures come after the chain's owners reported losses of $11 million in three months last year, which its CFO blamed on its unlimited shrimp deal. 

The company is now expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to reports. 

Some posters saw the funny side of the company's predicament, while others expressed regret for the laid off staff and the loss of a dining out fan favorite. 

'Only in America could we eat Red Lobster into bankruptcy' one user wrote on X, alongside a Rebel Wilson gif reading 'crushed it.'

Another posted a Judge Trudy meme of red lobster characters in court with the caption 'Day One of the Red Lobster bankruptcy proceedings and the lobsters have already disrupted order in the court.'

A third posted a picture of Christopher Moltisanti from the hit TV show The Sopranos with the speech caption 'Now Tone don't get mad, but the Red Lobster's closed. They're sayin' we had one too many 'endless shrimps', but I told these pricks that's the f****n' point.'

Others posted their memories of enjoying Red Lobster's $27 endless shrimp deal.

One content creator, using the handle darnitdamon on TikTok posted a recent review of his experience at Red Lobster. 

'Apparently they lost $11 million because they underestimated how much shrimp people can eat, and I'm not sorry for contributing to that because it was so worth it' he says in the video.

'We started off with the Cheddar Bay biscuits which I used to love as a kid, and then my friends and I ordered all eight options of shrimp to try everything.'

'Collectively we had about 64 shrimp so we had to keep going. 

'By the end I ate 34 shrimp.' he added. 

'I decided to test the unlimited claim when I was like 10 and I ate so many shrimp I got sick and didn't eat them again for 13 years' one viewer wrote in the comments under the video.

'My dad used to go to a place that had a weekly all you can eat shrimp deal...he was asked to go to other locations bc he was dipping into their profit' another commented.

'In the current environment, consumers are looking to find value and stretch budgets where they can,' Jim Salera, a research analyst at Stephens, told the Wall Street Journal. 

'At $20, it's very possible for a consumer to eat well past the very thin profit margin' he said of Red Lobster's woes.  

Another poster, using the name KrystalwithaK on TikTok said she was stunned to hear about the closures after dining in her local Red Lobster on Sunday night.

'Without any knowledge, even the Red Lobster people didn't know, on Sunday we were there until 9:30 at night, so we had to be the last people and then they closed on Monday for good,' she said in a video posted to the platform. 

'They closed the location and its been there forever, that's where my grandparents go.' 

'On a serious note,' she added, 'that's a nasty move right at this point in time with the world is the way it is, to lay off that many people without any notice whatsoever.' 

'This just happened to me and my husband. I was with the company for 10years he was with them for 20+years' one viewer wrote in the comments. 

'I'm devastated. I just ordered the my way shrimp Friday.. me and my mom used to go to RL all the time when I was a kid… uggghh' another added. 

The contents of the closed locations are set to be auctioned off on Thursday.

The auctions will be run by Restaurant Equipment Bid. They specialize in selling off gear from restaurants that close down and need to liquidate quickly.

Red Lobster items available vary by location but include the likes of high-performance ovens, upright refrigerators and freezers, cooking and warming gear, as well as 'comprehensive bar and dining setups', according to the auction site.