Which Restaurants May Be Serving You Cheap Fish Instead Of Lobster

Celebrity chef and author Rocco Dispirito loves lobster lobster roll. The iconic American dish should be all lobster. You'd think what he's saying should be obvious. You order lobster. You get lobster, right? Uh, not always. We tried out lobster dishes of every conceivable kind at 28 restaurants around the country. It may shock you to learn that in 35% of our samples instead of lobster, we found cheap fish substitutes at red lobster, the largest seafood chain in America. We tested the lobster bisque from three locations and scooped out the meat. Then we sent it off to a lab. We do look at it carefully, but then the final answer is done by DNA analysis. According to the lab, the lobster in one sample was actually langostino. Two others had a combination of langostino and lobster. So what is langostino? This is a langostino and it looks nothing like a lobster. As a matter of fact, it's more closely related to the hermit crab and costs about half as much as lobster does per pound. At the world famous Nathan's in Coney Island, Brooklyn, the lobster salad sandwich we tested came back as this guy, whiting a much cheaper fish that certainly doesn't look like lobster. Rocco Dispirito says restaurants are under pressure to keep costs down, but that's still no excuse. If you say seafood roll, then it's okay that you put some of this in there. Seafood roll. Exactly. Not lobster. I would, I would make the distinction or you could say lobster and seafood roll. You definitely want your customers to know. I'm Lisa Guerrero with inside edition. At this restaurant called get hooked outside Tampa, the lobster in their lobster roll also came back as whiting. Yes, people. I did not purposely rip the public off. The owner says he makes his lobster rolls with a frozen mixture called lobster sensations that he buys from an outside vendor. It has lobster, but it's also filled with other cheaper fish like whiting and Pollock. The issue is on the menu. It doesn't say that there's any other fish except lobster in your lobster. Oh, okay. If you want to get technical, yes, you're, you're absolutely right. Manhattan's little Italy is the go-to neighborhood for great seafood, but we wondered what was in the lobster ravioli at Sophia's. Our lab found no lobster. Just are you ready for this? She's Lisa Guerrero with inside edition. Hello? Yes. He didn't want to talk to us about his, uh, lobster ravioli. And what about soup, man? That's the place made famous in the Seinfeld soup Nazi episode for you. It's supposed to have the best soup in New York city. Guess what? Our test showed that the lobster bisque was loaded with the real thing. Lobster. No soup for you. We spoke to actor Larry Thomas who played the so-called soup Nazi. Our soup can only be the best if we have the right real ingredients. He's got that right. Are you kidding me? That is so good. Isn't it? Nothing beats the real thing. Now, red lobster told us their lobster bisque can contain meat from Maine lobster, langostino lobster, or a combination of both. As for Nathan's, they told us the main ingredient in their lobster salad is in fact lobster, but that it does include a healthy mix of lobster, Pollock and whiting. Experts say DNA testing is the only way to know for sure if you're getting real lobster, but they say if your meal is priced too low, that could be a red flag.