Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews — Restaurant in Redding

The place was clean and the service was wonderful. That's three stars. The prices were not equal to the quality of the food. In fact, I can, and have had better $3 cheeseburgers at several fastfood establishments. I ordered the Banzai Burger, a teriyaki glazed patty with grilled pineapple, and the usual fixin's. Much to my dismay, it was awful. Let's begin on the outside and head inward, in a step-by-step dissection of this "burger". The bun was cool and stale, so stale that it absorbed every drop of saliva I had in the first bite, it had a small blob of mayo, which the bun had also engulfed somehow, even with it's thick gelatinous consistency, it just absorbed it. The seeds were not hard but that strange chewy texture, like tiny bits of fiberous vegetable you just can't seem to chew through so you end up swallowing it as is. The lettuce was rusty and wilted, yet ice cold to the touch, I'd assume it got chopped a day or so earlier and pushed too far back in the cooler, freezing and wilting it. The tomatoes were somehow dry but ice cold and moist, not wet or damp like a tomato is, but if you touched it it felt like it would be wet, but your fingers were still dry. The pineapple had perfect grill marks yet it was just as translucent yellow and firm as it just came out of the can, not a single indication it had ever encountered any form of heat, it wasn't a degree passed room temp. Next we have the patty. Most confusing of all. The top was perfectly cooked, the cheese was melted, not burned, the patty was brown and cooked thoroughly, but the bottom was charred black and bitter from burned char, which overpowered all the other flavors sadly, since the rest of it looked and smelled delicious. The bottom bun was a stale puck that you couldn't squish or tear, when I folded it, it cracked apart from being dry, even soaked in grease, it wasn't pliable...

We also had onion rings which were fried to perfection, the fries were outstanding, the service was wonderful, the atmosphere was nice and the restaurant was clean. This affords the location 3 stars. A fourth star would have been earned from the food. A fifth from an outstanding experience.

This was my very first experience to a Red Robin, after all the commercials and suggestions from friends and family, I finally tried it, and I am so disappointed in the burgers, the one thing this restaurant chain is most famous for, is the weakest point at this particular location.

My partners burger had little difference, she had a different kind of burger, but the same issues, with one more (which I was severely upset about). The plank pickles on her burger were diced nubs of plank pickles. I will be posting the picture of this with my review, as I find it that heinously disturbing. I LOVE pickles, I don't like them, I LOVE them, she does not, Everytime she gets something with pickles, I look forward to her sending them my way, when I saw these, AFTER reading "our house made plank dill pickles..." I nearly shed a tear. This is absolutely unacceptable. (You might be laughing, I am too, but I'm serious, it's not ok, it's...

First off I’d like to say My family loves Red Robin, and I chose Red Robin over other restaurants for dinner because I “THOUGHT” we could expect quality out them, being that they are an established chain and carry deep similarities throughout their locations.

My first impression of the restaurant was “Man, they have lots of entertainment for kids here.” They have personal chalk boards and a big chalkboard on the wall for them to draw on while you wait to be seated.

We arrived at 7:15 and was seated by 7:22 (not a long wait, which was nice).

The hostess was friendly and he brought us to our table. It went downhill from there.

7:35 hits and we finally meet our server who brought some silver wear.. , then our server mumbles... “would you like something to drink” we said just water.. and she said okay. Brought us water... and we were so ready to order after waiting 15min before even being acknowledged.

It then took about 35 minutes to get our food.. keep in mind we have a 4 year old toddler who can’t sit still that long! Normally a good server at Red Robin would notice this and say, “I’ll bring some French Fries right out for her”.

....We didn’t even get offered any fries ourselves...

After speaking with the manager he kinda stumbled on his words, then said well... “We don’t bring them out before your food unless you ask... we arnt really following that bread before dinner approach” which in my find is so totally poor service. I have noticed the last couple times we’ve visited any Red Robin they have not brought them out unless we stated we wanted them in advance, and when they do bring them out there’s only like 8 fries lol. Then your food comes out with a few... and when your all finished.. they ask if you want more! “Okay sure you say”.. then they bring out more than you have received with the two servings prior... don’t you think it should be the opposite? More first and less later? Seems like better service to me...

So anyway, it didn’t end with the service being slow. The first impression of our server was not great. She had a resting “b*h face, and frowned as soon as she thought you weren’t looking. Didn’t have a great energy or vibe. To top things off I customized my burger adding onion straws and grilled pineapple. The onion straws showed up on the burger, but not the pineapple... the manager was nice and comped is $10 for the wait and burger goof. I am very appreciative of that. Shortly after I spoke with the manager, I learned our server was new, which is fine, but I’d recommend she drink a Red Bull or soda on her next shift.

Lastly, this Red Robin appears to be very busy with groups. I’m not sure they have the staffing to keep up with all their tasks... the floors were disgusting... there was a piece of broccoli on the floor next to me the...

Food was good and service was great, but I got ripped off. I got the ribs and my wife got the wrap. The menu clearly stated that we had a choice of one side each and coleslaw with the ribs included in the price. We paid our bill and left the restaurant, but I should have checked the bill closer. Turns out we were both charged for the side. That was an extra 6 bucks we were over billed. By that point, it wasn't worth turning around and going back. So check your bill closely or they will rip you off.

Follow up - After posting this, Red Robin customer service reached out to me and apologized that I was overbilled. After providing some follow up information, they assured me that my overcharge would be refunded within 48 hours. Direct contact information for a service rep was provided and they seem to be eager to make the mistake right. We'll see. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that this was just an honest mistake. But with today's prices, one has to wonder.

OK, so update to my follow up - Actually got a call from the manager of the Redding store. Very nice lady who told me she was going to credit my card $20. I told her that the extra was unnecessary, but she insisted she wanted to do right by us. Very much appreciated. But here's the kicker. It turns out I actually wasn't overbilled. There really is an upcharge of $3 for the garlic fries. No where in the menu is this mentioned nor did the server bring it up. My wife and I were just asked by the server what we wanted for our side (rattling off a list of options) and garlic fries were one of the choices with no mention they would be more expensive. So, lesson learned. When eating at RR, make sure you know what you are really ordering or your bill will be more than expected. Tough economy, I know, but this was deceptive from the menu to the server and just felt like a way to milk a little more money from us. That said, I very much appreciated all the attentive customer service I received to rectify the matter. I'll give them a bump to 2 stars and...