Red Lobster Locking Doors – Illinois Restaurants are Affected

Red Lobster reportedly locked the doors on more than 80 restaurants overnight and it's been confirmed that Illinois locations have been affected.

USA Today reported on this "abrupt" closing of restaurants by Red Lobster. They say that "temporarily closed" has been posted on the doors, but there is speculation that it's more than just a temporary closing.

According to this new closings list, two Illinois locations have been confirmed closed which includes these:

Red Lobster - 391 West Army Trail Road - Bloomingdale, Illinois 60108

Red Lobster - 3217 Vermillion Street - Danville, Illinois 61832

The USA Today report lists a total of 87 Red Lobster restaurants that have closed immediately.  As of this writing, these are the only confirmed Illinois Red Lobster locations that are closed.

As recent as one month ago, Bloomberg reported that Red Lobster was considering bankruptcy. Could it be that these immediate closings are in preparation for that process? It's all speculation at this point as there has been no confirmation as of this writing that Red Lobster will go that route.

As this is a developing story, it will be updated once new information is released and/or if more Illinois Red Lobster restaurants are affected.