The financial woes hitting seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster have prompted it to close dozens of locations and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with some of the blame being heaped on the chain's endless shrimp bargain.

In the wake of the pandemic, Red Lobster looked to boost traffic to its restaurants by offering a $20 all-you-can-eat shrimp deal that the company hoped would serve as a loss leader and bring in more customers who would become regulars.

However, the deal itself proved too good for customers to pass up. The Los Angeles Times reported that some patrons took to social media to brag about how many shrimp they were able to scarf down, including one woman who said she ate 108 shrimp during a four-hour meal.

"I think the distinction between something like an Olive Garden with endless breadsticks and Red Lobster with bottomless shrimp is that shrimp is like an entree whereas breadsticks are more of a side," Jim Salera, a research analyst at Stephens focused on restaurants and packaged food and beverages, told FOX Business. "The goal with any type of deal like that is you bring in consumers, and then you either add incremental purchases to the ticket, whether it's alcohol or, you know, appetizers, things like that expand the ticket."