A sign at 1553 North Dixie Hwy. signals a new beginning for Red Lobster in Frenchtown Township.
The sign announces that Red Lobster, burned down on June 9, 2025, will be back with a “fresh new look” in spring 2027.
Nine fire departments responded to the scene about 2:!5 a.m. Flames spreading to the ceiling and roof pushed firefighters out of the building and tower trucks to be used to extinguish the blaze.
Frenchtown Fire Chief Wendy Stevens said at the time the fire began near the front entrance.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office’s investigated the fire.
“It was determined that there was no criminal involvement and the investigation was turned over to the fire investigator of the insurance company,” Detective Sgt. Leland Jordan said in August 2025.
Monroe’s Red Lobster opened for business in February of 1996, according to Monroe News archives. Construction on the 4,000-square-foot restaurant began in October of 1995. The Orlando-based restaurant chain purchased two acres of property off North Dixie Highway from Frenchtown Township. The chain planned a restaurant with a seating capacity of about 150, said Bev McDougall, a company representative at the time.
“It’s one of our smaller ones,” she told The Monroe News, noting that some Red Lobsters are twice as large.
The restaurant chain began trying to develop a store there in 1991, but was delayed by negotiations over the price of the site, according to Monroe News archives.
The Monroe News attempted to reach the Frenchtown Township building department, but nobody was available for comment.
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Red Lobster sets return date after 2025 fire in Frenchtown Township
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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By Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News | USA TODAY Network
