I love sea food, growing up near Seattle means you always have fresh sea food and good sea food restaurants. When I was a kid, it was always “Ivar's Seafood Bar”. Then came “Ivar's Acres of Clams”. Fish & Chips, Clam Strips and Chips, Clam Chowder, always hot and fresh.

Ivar's Bar
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There were plenty of up-scale restaurants where you could get fresh seafood in Seattle. But in our house when we went out to eat, it was more like A&W or Lou’s Drive-in (now the site of a Taco Bell) in Burien. With four kids in the family, we went through a lot of food.

Red Lobster got its start on March 22nd, 1968, in Lakeland, Florida with Bill Darden and Charley Woodsby. In 1970 Red Lobster caught the attention of General Mills. Backed by their resources, Red Lobster restaurants rapidly multiplied from coast to coast. In 1974 Red Lobster debuted Popcorn Shrimp. People go crazy for it, and rightfully so. In 1979 they started the first of many successful ad campaigns.

The exterior of Red Lobster
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Now Red Lobster has at last count 649 locations. In Washington State there are 10 locations. Add two in Idaho and two in Oregon if you are counting in our Northwest neighbors.

The last time I had a meal at Red Lobster I didn’t even order lobster. That seems wrong somehow. I had shrimp (create your own combination) with the seafood stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer (Yum).

Just thinking about it now makes me wish Red Lobster would come to town. Unfortunately we'll still have to drive out to Yakima or Seattle.

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