Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews — Restaurant in Town of Amherst

Not a good impression for our first time ever at a Red Robin. Our server was ok, but didn't offer any suggestions on anything to try, and didn't go beyond the most rudimentary effort to take care of us. I served in restaurants for almost 20 years, so it's not like I'm making arbitrary statements not grounded in realistic expectations. She was a mediocre server at best. Then the food, which to say nicely, was awful. It was the weekend, so we understand a longer than usual wait, but our food took quite awhile, and when it came out only one of the 3 plates was hot. I literally had 8, read 8 fries on my plate in a place that offers bottomless fries..The other 2 dishes were noticeably colder as if they left it in the window for 10 minutes while they waited for the last dish to be cooked. By that time everyone is starving and didn't feel like sending anything back. The food...ugh. That was the saddest black and blue burger I have ever seen. I wish I had taken a picture...the lettuce was wilted and brownish, the bun looked like someone had smashed it with their fist, and I'm not impressed with the meager burger patty on what came out to a $14 burger. You can of course add an extra patty for extra money, but I'm ordering from the gourmet portion of the burger menu and I didn't want to spend almost $16 on a burger, especially when this place was sold to me a reasonably affordable place to eat. My garlic fries tasted good when I ate them, not so much when I spent the rest of the night burping them up with terrible heartburn. My wife had the fried cod with fries, and was one of the lukewarm dishes that we received. The fish was very chewy, so she tried to just eat the breading but it was also chewy and flavorless. I know, ordering seafood in a burger joint is a gamble, but the plate was over $14, NOT WORTH IT! Glad my daughter ate the tepid mac and cheese she had or the whole dinner would have been a bust. I would have tried dessert, but at this point with no appetizers and a kids meal we were at a $50 plus tip, which was higher than it should have been given the level of service, but I empathize as a former server. Just a bad overall experience, to the point when she offered to sign us up for the free birthday burgers we graciously declined. I won't eat there ever again, not even for free. All 3 of us last night experienced terrible stomach pain that lasted until the next morning. So needless to say this was our first and last time going to any Red Robin. I'd rather go to 5 Guys honestly, at least I enjoy their overpriced burgers...

EDIT 9/27: The franchise commented on this post, telling me to get a hold of them through email so they could "make it right." I sent them a message, which they responded to asking for my check and the name of the server who took care of me. Asking me, essentially, to snitch on one of the workers (who didn't even really do anything wrong - don't shoot the messenger!). I explained to them that my issue was with the clarity of their promotion, the rising prices, and the confusion the phone call caused, and then they straight up ghosted me. Haven't heard back. Scummy company all around. Red Robin, in general, has been increasing their prices and shrinking their portions to an outrageous degree since 2019. $18 for a burger and fries is insane. Me and my partner noticed this trend last time we dined in, and vowed to never come back.

But, then we heard of a new $10 burger deal - that's cheaper than the burgers were pre-2019. We decided to give it a try, but not before we called to check the details of the deal. A kind receptionist answered our call, and we asked if the deal applied to all burgers or just a small selection. They explained that the $10 deal applied to every Gourmet burger on the menu until September 20 - just not the Tavern burgers. We thought "great!" and drove off to the location.

When we arrived, we were sat down and asked to get the $10 burger deal with the burgers we wanted. The waitress explained to is that the deal only applied to the plain Red Robin cheeseburger - a single item on the menu. Confused, we explained to the server that we called earlier and were told specifically that it was any of the Gourmet burger offerings.

No "Let me double check with our manager." No "Oh no, there must have been a mixup - let's see if we can make an exception for you guys just this once."

We got a "Yeah, sorry, no. It's just the regular cheeseburger. The rest of the burgers are normal price."

We felt duped. We both decided this will be the REAL last time we come to a Red Robin....

Went in for my son's birthday dinner.

First issue - Bills game was not on the TV and apparently directtv wasn't showing it, or it was blacked out. Yet all they needed to do was pay $10 for paramount and they could of shown the game. But whatever, not a huge deal, even though EVERY other restaurant in the area had the game on.

Next Issue - had to ask for silverware, refills, etc. As the server just stopped coming to the table for long periods of time. At no point did the server ask if we were there for a reason, was completely impersonal.

Next issue - asked for an item that is no longer on the menu. Last time I was in they told me that it's not on the menu but they could absolutely make it for me. Today? Nah. Server didn't even check to ask if they could make it for me. (Item in question: Burning Love Burger) At this point I would of left because I don't really care for any other burgers on the menu, but it was my son's birthday and this is what he wanted. Advised if they can't make the burger that I wouldn't be eating and just take their order. Server made no attempt to make it so that I could eat with my family. Just said ok after taking everyone else's order and left.

So I went hungry.