Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews — Restaurant in Delaware

I used to enjoy Red Robin when I lived in Delaware years ago, I recently moved back into the area and wow, this place has gone to the dogs.. actually that may be an insult to dogs.

So we were shopping in Brandywine tonight (10/28/19) and decided to stop in the old haunt at around 9:20pm. We were a table of four, with only three menus my son had to find one at another table. I was surprised the the place was empty, but hey it was a Monday night.

We ordered our drinks when the server came by a couple of minutes after being seated. My son had never been there so we had to walk him through the menu and we ordered at just after 9:30pm or so.

Food arrived at 9:55pm, we didn't really notice the time go by as we were all chatting and listening to the music they had on. When the food arrived we weren't thrilled as none of the burgers were cooked to order, they were all cooked well done. Why ask us how we want the burger if you are just going to cook it well done regardless? The bottomless fries were very salty. We didn't complain just figured they were having an off night and munched on our tasteless burgers and salt filled fries.

Then within 5 minutes of us getting the food at 10pm they shut off the music and went into closing mode.. we looked at each other like "really??". I gave it a few minutes and after listening to the people in the kitchen cursing up a storm I decided I'd play music on my phone at the table (hint hint) I started with "Sound of Silence". While we got some strange looks by the staff, they didn't get it, if they did, they didn't care.

Listen, my wife has worked in the restaurant industry for 25+ years. I get it, you want to go home, but you don't do things like that to paying customers within 5 minutes of giving them their food. You shouldn't do things like that at all, but I'd at least understand if we were there chatting away an hour after we got our food. Trust me we had no great desire to be there any longer than we had to. I'm not paying you half the check price, so we shouldn't get half the service/experience.

Last note, how does the manager on duty not pick up on this? How does the manager on duty not check in with us when we are the only customers? Was there a manager on duty?? Who knows... maybe it was their idea to bum rush us out and hide in the back somewhere? Maybe it was them with such a foul mouth that my wife, mother and son were subjected to coming from the kitchen. Who knows... who cares? We know they don't.

I gave them 2 stars just because the beer was cold and a mouse didn't walk up onto our table or die in our burger (we hope) oh and the server was... pleasant, not great,...

TL;DR: Ordered food for pickup, paid online, but restaurant claimed they couldn't fulfill it because they closed their "drawer." Felt intentionally ignored, wasted time, had to chase a refund, and received no compensation for the inconvenience. Restaurant's response was unhelpful. If you place an order here don't place it anywhere after 8 pm.

Had a terrible experience here this week. Ill say this place is fine as I had a disappointing experience at this restaurant this week.

I placed an order for pick up on the website around 8:40pm and was charged for my order. According to the website, the order would be ready at 8:50pm. However, when I arrived to retrieve the food, I was informed that the order was not made and they had already "closed the drawers". It appeared that the order had popped up in their system because another employee was about to touch the touch screen, but the woman quickly stopped them, saying "No! don't touch it, we can't accept it.” (Which tells me they intentionally ignored the order) She then explained that there was nothing she could do because they closed their drawer for the night. When I mentioned that I had already been charged, she told me to call "them". Frustrated and angry, I left.

I am extremely upset about this experience for the following reasons:

My time was wasted, which is especially frustrating because, I too work my 8 hours a day just like anyone else and those hours after work are few and valuable. I now had to reach out to “them” to figure out how to get my money refunded, further wasting my time. I’m confident my order was intentionally ignored simply because they wanted to close and go home. I fail to understand how the cash "drawer" has anything to do with an online order.

And look I get it, I know what its like wanting to get off of work exactly when a store closes, I’ve been there, but I also know it doesn’t always pan out that way either, it’s the reality of the job. I would have been fine if I had been contacted and informed that my order could not be accepted due to the late timing. However, I was not given that courtesy.

I wrote and email to their headquarters and they just sent an email back directing me back to this restaurant, I called 4 times (Its like they ignore everything after 8pm?) and they processed a refund but nothing additional was given for wasting my time with this...

People need to know how great the people who work at this restaurant are. I was on a bus trip with a group of 6 residents and 2 of us who work at a nursing community. I have to say my first impression was with Leah, who jumped at the chance to assist us on our way into the restaurant. She was attentive to letting our Server Ian know the setup we needed. She later went beyond even the excellent customer service she had already provided. But you have an absolute keeper and treasure also in Ian. He is one of the absolute best I've ever encountered. He was patient taking our orders, ensuring he had all the correct information. And it could have been a bit confusing to take it all in. Then when those in our group expressed how cold they were, Ian didn't even blink. He jumped right into moving all of us to another table, and attended to every single request. You could easily see he loved everything he was doing and how much he enjoyed serving others. He had numerous requests from our group, including when one of us accidentally dropped ribs on the floor, and he immediately remedied the situation. He was personable, thought of things we didn't even think of, took his time, didn't pressure or rush us, thanked us (in which you could hear his sincerity), and left the best overall impression you can think of. I relayed this to his manager and co-worker as well. Ian is a rare person in a self-centered society, and during a time even good (not great) people are so hard to come by. Leah and he derserve to be recognized for their excellent and attentive customer service. If given more time of service, I know I'd have more to say about how great Leah is as well.

That's not even takig into account how good the food...