Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews — Restaurant in East Peoria

My husband and I took our 2, 7 year old grandsons to Red Robin on a Saturday night at about 7:00p.m. I expected to have to wait for a table for 4 but fortunately the only thing we had to wait for was for one of the many tables that were dirty but empty to be cleaned up. That's really my only issue with this restaurant, the table bussing situation could use tightening up. I'm not saying this based on just this experience, it seems to be the trend in this restaurant. Just about everytime we come there, there's empty dirty tables in the dining room, people waiting to be seated and no one appearing to cleaning them up. Just cleaning by need, not because they need cleaned up. Also no one seems to pick up the bigger chunks of debris off the floor during service. They maybe need one of those little brooms and long handled dust pans to go along the floor sweeping debris into the dust bin. Just cleaning in general. This restaurant just doesn't seem to have a good system in place nor consider it a high priority which is why I give it 4 stars instead of 5. The service is excellent always! Servers are very friendly, knowledgeable and usually efficient. The food is exceptional! I either get the Southern Charm or the Whiskey River Gourmet burger medium well and they're always cooked to perfection! No pink yet very juicy, tender! I love that they dress the burgers just so that you have everything you want but you can fit it in your mouth, lol.... Maybe some people have a problem paying $10-$12 for a burger but I feel like if you get a burger cooked as well as they can cook them and make them, it's well worth it! Also love the bottomless sides! Not just the fries are bottomless but any sides you order. My husband has dietary restrictions so he had a side salad and broccoli instead of fries. The server asked if he would like more when he was finished. He did get more salad! That's pretty sweet! If you haven't been to Red Robin in East Peoria on the levee district, do go, you...

I'm torn with this because my experience here on a Thursday evening a few months ago was pretty good. The staff seemed short handed but the assistant manager who actually served us was very supportive of her staff and was very encouraging, and made sure our meal was good.

Tonight? I think the waitress certainly tried, but the whole place was grossly understaffed, they had a 14 top come in right behind us and seated them before more staff was on duty but the worst part was the screaming toddler right behind me, whose parents refused to do ANYTHING which triggered a slightly older sibling, then they let the toddler start running around.

Beyond the horrible parenting happening behind me, the food tonight was bland and yet managed to give me heartburn. That could've also been the effect of having to eat my burger lukewarm because they sent it out with the wrong bun, and I know it's not a big deal for some but I hate sesame seed buns and I know the server made the note, but didn't catch it was wrong when bringing it out. The haystack onions on the burger, the one thing that makes Red Robin remotely different, were soggy like they'd been cooked a day in advance and were sitting in a tub in the fridge. My family had issues too; one was promised fresh coffee that took over 15-20 minutes to come and 5-10 after our dinner arrived, and the other had large leaves attached to one strawberry chunk and a blackened bottom on another in her freckled lemonade.

All in all, you're better off going to Wahlburgers in Peoria for a good burger and haystack onions, with less likelihood of a screaming baby, and Sonic for the strawberry lemonade. I can't fault the staff for the horrid other group and the large group, and heaven help them the 12-18 top that was waiting to be seated, but they need to have staff for bussing tables so servers can focus on whether an order hits the window correctly and generally stay on top of their...

I am not one to leave reviews of restaurants but I felt like I needed to post something since the manager did not seem to care in the slightest on the phone when I called. To start, We ordered an appetizer of chips and queso but unfortunately it never came. Then they brought out our drinks and my daughters kid size drink had a piece of old dried food stuck on the inside because it wasn’t washed properly. My fiancé also had a little fly floating in his water when it arrived. The place was busy so it took a very long time as expected but when our food came we told them to just cancel the appetizer since we didn’t get it. The waitress did apologize and offered to bring it to us at the end of the meal to go free of charge. We thanked her and thought all was well. Until we got to the car and opened up our chips and queso they gave us… it was less than 1/4 full and there were tons of soggy chips floating in it…it literally looks like someone’s left overs. I called the manager before leaving a review and the host answered and said the queso should not have chips in it when it’s to go…then the manager jumped on and after I explained everything, he was not apologetic at all and he just said “they are supposed to be like that”. He said they are normally served on the side of a ceramic bowl so instead they threw them into the cup…however when you look online and on the menu, there’s no chips on the side of the bowl… idk, either way, we either got someone’s left overs for our inconvenience or we got a very tiny splash of quest with soggy chips in it…I would not recommend just due to sanitary concerns at this point. Peep the photo of my soggy chips and...