When To Dine At Red Lobster For The Best Daily Deals

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Not all restaurants and their special "daily deals" are created equal. As Anthony Bourdain advised in his book "Kitchen Confidential," don't order the fish special on a Monday — mainly because, at the time, chefs often ordered fish on Thursday. That means you're eating five-day old "fresh" fish by the time Monday rolls around. While he later changed his mind about this ordering rule because of evolving restaurant standards, the overall point still stands, which is that seafood specials aren't always "special."

But that doesn't mean all restaurant specials aren't up to par. You just have to do a little research to find out what are the best deals and when you can expect to get them. In the case of Red Lobster, one of the most popular seafood-focused restaurant chains, we did some of the legwork for you. And, for our money, the best day to dine at Red Lobster for the best deal is Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Red Lobster offers its steak and lobster special — which comes with a 7-ounce sirloin, a Maine lobster tail, and your choice of a side. All of that for just $24.99 is a pretty good deal, especially on a couple of entree items that typically receive positive reviews.

Red Lobster offers specials on every weekday, so if steak and lobster isn't your thing, you have other options. These specials include lobster and shrimp scampi for $19.99 on Monday, and a pound of snow crab legs for $24.99 on Tuesday. Of course, Wednesday is the already mentioned steak and lobster special, while Thursday brings a hearty plate of shrimp or chicken Alfredo for $14.99. Finally, to close out the week, Red Lobster offers fish and chips with coleslaw and hush puppies for $15.99 on Friday.

Notably, you'll find many of these entree items on our list of 10 meals to avoid at Red Lobster. But the sirloin and lobster special is nowhere to be found on that list, which makes Wednesday the best day of the week to dine at Red Lobster between value and quality — at least in our humble opinion. When you consider that the 7-ounce sirloin (with two sides) is $23.49 on its own and the Maine lobster tail is $22.49, that's an unbelievable deal. If you were to order these two entrees on any other day of the week, you'll pay about $46. That's almost twice as much as on Wednesday,  when you'll spend just $24.99 for both and a side as well.

Red Lobster has gotten a lot of bad press in recent years, and it's slowly recovering from bankruptcy that was partly related to its flawed endless shrimp campaign. But, even so, the seafood chain hasn't strayed away from offering good deals to its customers, and the steak and lobster Wednesday special is proof of that.