Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews — Restaurant in Evansville

My family and I ate dinner at Red Robin in Evansville IN last night and it was not a good experience. Our server spent more time in the kitchen talking than she did tending to her tables. I am honestly not certain how long we waited for our food since I did not time it but it was quite an extensive wait.

We did not see our server the entire time from placing our food order to receiving our food. You would think that she would come back and say something like the kitchens backed up. I'm sorry for your wait. It shouldn't be too much longer. However, nothing was ever said to us.

Finally our food arrived. My mother in law asked for mustard and the server said she would bring it right out. After we started eating I realized that we did not have any napkins. I went back to the kitchen and ran into the host and asked for napkins. Then when I arrived back to the table I realized that we also had no silverware. My husband went and asked the host (since our server was nowhere to be found) for forks and she brought them to the table. During this time we also noticed that my mother in law was never brought mustard so I also asked the host for mustard as well which she brought.

My husband had ordered the smoke and pepper burger in a lettuce wrap. He is not sure which burger he received but it was not the smoke and pepper burger and it also did not have the lettuce wrap. Our fries and zucchini fries were cold as well. And there was still no sign of our server.

My mother in law went to get the manager, Jordan, who came to our table. She was very nice, apologized, said she was going to comp our meals, and offered us free desert. She also brought out more fries and offered to have our food remade. We declined to have our food remade since it took so long to get our initial food.

Unfortunately speaking with the manager did not improve our service though. The server still barely came to the table. Offered my husband a drink refill but never brought it. Then after we were done eating we sat at the table for 10+ minutes waiting on the server to come back to order desert but she never came.

We attempted to use the tablet at the table to look at our check but no matter how many times we attempted to select the pay option it would not take us there. Finally we decided that when the manager said she was comping our meals she comped the entire ticket.

So with that we decided to leave. Of course as we stood up to leave the server showed up and asked if we were able to pay because the tablet was finicky. So we told her the tablet wouldn't allow us to go to the pay option. She went to the nearest computer to try to pull up our check. I guess it was non existent and she was incredibly confused. We then told her that the manager said she was comping the meals. The server seemed even more confused by this and asked why. My mother in law proceeded to explain all of the problems and lack of service. The server interrupted her and harshly stated that if our meals were comped then we didn't have to pay and stormed off.

It was very clear that the manager did not communicate with the server that she was comping our meals or that we were unhappy with the service at all.

At this point we have no intention of returning to Red Robin...

Let me start off by mentioning that my family's first experience serval years ago was amazing. We had never heard of Red Robin and found it on our vacation. So when we got one here in Evansville, it rocked and we had many great experiences there. However, in 2016 and 2017, we had problems when they couldn't find my dad in their system, so he couldn't get a free burger on his birthday. We didn't even try this year and just went elsewhere. Today is July 4th, 2018 and after about two years we decided to try it again. We walk in and the place is completely remodeled since we were last there and I had to agree with my father that the new look was not as "fun" as the old. The person who greeted and seated us wanted us to sit in a mini booth despite several full size booths being open just behind her. No specific weight needed, but neither my father nor I are a size S, if you catch my drift. We asked for a full sized booth and with a pause and a slightly annoyed expression on her face, the greeter said, "Of course!" From there, the new menus were rather ugly and didn't flow nicely at all (both my father and I are graphic designers so we notice these kinds of things better than most folks). The electronic devices at every table are virtually useless and to our dismay, the games on them to play as you wait cost your table $1.99!! We noticed immediately that the menu prices had been jacked up since our last visit but now this place wants to charge you for games? The purchase wasn't even obvious so we had no idea we had been charged until we got our bill. Moving on, both our menu items came with bottomless fries. They were quote "short staffed" so we didn't get a second serving of fries delivered to our table until were said, "Forget it. Let's pay and leave." How could you be short staffed on the 4th of July? The 3rd most popular holiday? I work at a small grocery store in town and we do everything to have as many peopled employed and shelves stocked from the weekend of up to the day of. And finally, despite getting the cheapest possible appetizer, being only two people, and I ordering one of the cheapest meals, our total was over $33. $3 per drink. Despite a friendly waitress, and good food, it's just not worth...

My family and I (20 people) went out to dinner here a few weeks ago for my husband's birthday and to celebrate family being here from Germany. They didn't bat an eye about us having such a large group and the service was prompt and everything came out perfectly.

Our son has life threatening food allergies -to eggs, garlic, and leeks- which are very hard to handle at restaurants, so we rarely go out. We had heard amazing things about how accommodating Red Robin was to food allergies and we were not disappointed. The manager came over to hand us their allergen menu which contains the information for the "Top Eight" and speak to us about what could be done for the garlic issues. The manager we worked with actually has food allergies herself, so she knows how hard it is to eat out and how important it is to do everything possible to avoid contamination. Our server was on top of making sure she got our order correctly and the manager personally made our food. The burger was done on the grill with aluminum foil down and clean utensils and the fries cooked in their "allergen fryer" which is reserved only for fries. They had no problem with us bringing in our own homemade pickles and ketchup. Our food was even brought out on a completely separate tray so that there was no risk of touching other food and accidentally cross-contaminating with his allergens.

Not only were they accommodating and providing great service, the food was also delicious. Our extended relatives from Germany got a great "American Experience" when it came to the food served. Next time we decide to venture out and eat at a restaurant, we will keep Red Robin in mind. Thank you to the management and servers who helped us have a...