Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

I wanted to share this:

Sheila and I went out for dinner. It has been over 2 weeks since we did anything together.

We decided to go to Red Robins and have dinner, then maybe a movie....were not decided on the movie part.

We get to Red Robins and there 32 people in the small lobby all jammed in. Sheila puts our name in. We see the bar is wide open (literally, no one sitting there) so we go sit at the bar.

There are 3 bar tenders behind the bar. All of them are washing dishes, one lady says she will be right with us.

20 minutes later she is still washing dishes, hanging up glasses and no assistance. I look around us...this is what I see.

There are 5 booths behind us bussed and ready for customers. These are 2 person booths. There are 5, 6+ person tables empty that need to be bussed and 4, 4 person tables empty and waiting to be bussed.

10 mins later....still no assistance for us and all 14 tables still open and 9 tables still need to be bussed.

Another couple comes and sits by us. A guy bartender comes over and instantly takes their order....doesn't say word one to us.

After 40 mins of sitting there we finally decide to get up and leave. The guy bartender is standing at the beer tap and I say, "Thank-you for serving us"....he just keeps what he is doing. Not a peep.

We get to the front door, I was just going to walk out. Sheila asked to speak with the manager. He comes out of his office, could care less about the pile of people at the front door and all the open tables. Says he is sorry and he will get us a table instantly.

We said, "no thank you", we have been waiting...but there are people who have been sitting in the waiting area longer than we have and have no table. We wanted him to be aware that that he has 14 open tables, 5 ready for customers, 9 that haven't been bussed in over 20 mins and 32 people (well, now 30) waiting to be seated. I asked how do you make money keeping 14 tables open and 32 people waiting to be seated? You only make money if they actually get to eat...he could care less.

The lobby is full and not one hostess is directing anyone to the bar. I said you have an empty bar, 14 open tables and a lobby full of people. No one is directing anyone to bar to wait and order drinks while they wait. No one is bussing tables to get the lobby cleared and no one cares people are seeing all this.

We love Red Robins' food...awesome burgers, awesome onion rings and malts. You can have the best food on the planet....if you have no one willing to serve it...what good is it?

They have lost...

Be aware of this location and make sure to call ahead before visiting. Me and my family have always enjoyed eating at Red Robin’s restaurants before and have frequented this location previously before the pandemic however lately it seems this store has many issues with proper staffing and extended wait times. We have tried at least 4 different times in the past 3 months to dine at the Cedar Rapids location and each time either being turned away or being told there would be a horrendous wait times due to understaffing even though it appears all tables in the restaurant are open including in the bar area.Mind you we know that times are very tough right now and the demand for workers is high in many areas as we all know but me and my family have visited other area restaurants including some other major chains such as chili’s, granite city and Carlos o Kelly’s and haven’t had any of the same issues with seating even though they are short staffed as well. Our last experience at the Red Robin in CR found us going elsewhere too as they decided to close early again due to staffing problems and bad weather in the area. We were able to dine at another Cedar Rapids restaurant with no problems. We have no problem waiting patiently when the restaurant is busy with people and there’s large parties going on but it seems the CR Red Robin isn’t interested in keeping customers or else needs better...

The food is very good at Red Robin. I like to stop in there once in a while as they have terrific burgers and the onion rings are usually among the best in town. I think over the course of three or four years I've tried just about all the burgers they have and have enjoyed them all.

I can't give it above three stars as after the food there really isn't much I like about the place, which is why I don't go more than two or three times a year. The atmosphere and decor are odd. It seems as if they can't decide if they are a kitschy family restaurant (with all the knick-knacks), a kiddie hang-out (free balloons and lots of bright primary colors) or a sports bar (TVs all over, very dim lighting). I think it's the low lighting and bright colors that bother me the most. Just a very odd mix that doesn't really work.

The service is sometimes good, but sometimes not. The beverages are listed as "bottomless" on the menu, but last night I could not get a refill of my watered down lemonade (usually it's good, but last night it was like drinking water with a little lemon in it). I finished my glass halfway through my meal and asked for a second. It didn't come. I set my glass several feet from me on the edge of the table in hopes that the server would notice. He didn't. He didn't come around again anyway until he brought the bill and by that point I was finished eating and wanting to just get...