Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews — Restaurant in Chesapeake

My husband and I asked my father to join for a family night out, which we do not get often.

This location was not busy at all. Service started off fine (being welcomed, seated, asked about drinks). My husband got a cream soda, which took awhile to get to the table due to it being made by the bar.

We ordered out food and waited maybe 15 minutes for it to come (wait time was fine for it). My issue is the service just dropped after that. Our server did not check in ONCE with us at all and by the time she did, we had finished our meals. This was a good 20 minutes after the food had come. My husband had asked for a refill for his cream soda when the food was dropped off and the lady didn't bring it until when she checked in on us, 20 minutes after the food came! He literally had to ask her about it, while I was just telling him he needed to go to the bar to check. Our other drinks were low/empty. We had no napkins the entire time, but she never stopped by to even check if we needed anything else.

When she finally checked in on us, my dad ordered a burger to go for my mom, and at the same time he ordered that, we asked for 2 sides of fries (bottomless). The server stated there should not be a wait as they were very slow. Yet she disappeared again for 15 minutes. We got the burger within 10 minutes, and never got our fries.

The server finally came back, and said she had been searching for our burger, but did not have our fries with her. She asked if we needed anything else and we just said no as we were all very annoyed by that point and we just wanted to leave.

I left a 10% tip to be generous, and this is coming from a family who tips very well when service is amazing (or at least we can see a server is trying their best). We could understand if the place was busy and the server had 20 tables, but the server herself said the place was slow. Should she have been helping out elsewhere delaying her times with us, she should have just let us know. My husband and I worked in a food place and have gone through being extremely short staffed so we understand, but to never check in on your table at least once is ridiculously poor service.

We normally LOVE this location and never had issues. We are sad to see that something has happened causing for poor service. Judging by other reviews, this is pretty common at that location now. We may go elsewhere when we want a burger night after this for awhile.

Side note: Bathrooms also...

Worst place I've dined in a decade. We called in advance and asked if they had outdoor seating. They said "yes". We then asked do you allow dogs in your outdoor seating they said "yes". So we drove there. Being veterans day we knew there would be a wait, we expected a wait. We took a seat in the CLOSED outdoor area and decided to go into the bar to order drinks while we wait. We had a waitress take out order and the bartender bought out a Roho Sangria. This was by far the best experience of the night. The drink had the perfect ratio of wine, bourbon, spices, and flavorings. Service was with acceptable time. We drank and waited for the phone message it was time to be seated. ( In the area that was closed). We were left there for 35 minutes without a single person other than employees coming out to smoke. No napkins, no silverware, no drink order. We looked at the menu and decided after some time to notify someone at the bar we hadn't been seen at all and would like to order. The same waitress that filled our order for the first drink took our order again. The first order had been cashed out because of shift change. The restaurant inside on veterans day we assumed would be brimming with patrons, but the dining area was 60% each time we looking in. Yet people were waiting up to an hour outside on the front on the benches. When we finally got our food, instead of the neatly wax paper wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Sanwich. I got a Sandwich that had fallen over on the plate and was unable to pick it up. I have eaten at Red Robin's in MI, FL, CO and several in VA. They all wrap the Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches same as they do their their burgers. This place made a nightmare of it. I paid extra for Sweet potato bottomless fries. The sweet potato fries were so overcooked they resembled sweet potato jeeky strips I get for my dog at the pet supply store. And forget the bottomless fries part. We couldn't even get silverware or napkins. Nor would I want them as they were inedible. Worst service I've had in 28 years, worst food I've had in a decade. Hopefully it's just this location. For all other locations...

I had an incredibly disappointing experience at Red Robin this evening. I brought a large party of 16 to celebrate my daughter's birthday, and while we understood there would be a wait, the treatment we received was completely unacceptable. Some of us sat at the bar to grab a drink, others waited in the lobby, and a few more took a table in the bar area to relax. However, the manager came over and told us we couldn’t be in the bar area due to a lack of waitstaff. I explained we were just waiting with drinks and snacks for the kids, but he insisted that we either put our names at the bottom of the list or return to the lobby. We complied, wanting to keep the mood light for the birthday celebration.

After some time, I asked the hostess, Christiana, if I could just grab a drink directly from the bar, and she outright refused, citing that it wasn’t “normal procedures.” When I asked for clarification about the policy, her response was unprofessional and dismissive. She said she didn’t even know the policy, then proceeded to tell me we were taking up too much space. I politely asked her to maintain professionalism, as I was only trying to understand their rules to be a better customer. Her response was, “I don’t care what you do,” followed by her admission that she didn’t know the policy herself.

This was the second negative encounter I’ve had at this location. The first, I chalked up to a bad night, but after this second experience, I won’t be returning. The management and staff were unprofessional and, frankly, rude. It's hard to imagine going back to a place that treats customers with such disregard, especially on a special occasion...