With its over 560 locations between the U.S. and Canada, Red Robin is a pretty recognizable
establishment, but no matter how many times you've been there, there are plenty of things
you probably don't know.
Red Robin's specialty wasn't always delicious burgers, and they weren't always called Red
Robin.
The chain was originally named Sam's Tavern, after its owner, Sam, whose last name has
seemingly been lost to time, when it opened in the 1940s.
According to Red Robin's history, Sam sang in a barbershop quartet.
He had a particular love for the song "When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin'
Along)."
That song eventually led him to change the name of the tavern to Sam's Red Robin.
The original location sat close to the University of Washington campus in Seattle, and it was
mostly a college hangout until it was transformed into the burger-slingin' restaurant we all
know today.
A man named Gerry Kingen bought the tavern in 1969 and a few years later, slowly started
adding food to the menu.
He completed a remodel and reopened with a bang.
Thanks to all that change, you can't actually visit the original location now.
It was closed in 2010 after the building was deemed too much of an investment to get the
old structure up to par with other restaurants.
In 1979, business was going well for Kingen and his burger joint as it grew in popularity
among University of Washington students.
The spot proved to be a popular hangout for many, including the two customers who launched
the company's first franchise.
Red Robin regulars, brothers Mike and Steve Snyder, loved the restaurant so much they
opened the first franchise in Yakima, Washington.
The following year, the up-and-coming chain expanded into Portland, Oregon to open its
second location.
It just continued to grow from there.
In 2000, the Snyder Group merged with Red Robin, and together they opened the chain's
150th restaurant, continuing their nationwide expansion.
Red Robin continued to grow, opening another 100 locations in the next four years.
"Red Robin!"
"YUM!"
There's still an operational Red Robin in Yakima, but not in its original building.
The original franchised location was remodeled into a shopping plaza, and a new Red Robin
building was constructed in 2014 not far from the original.
After the full-service burger joint continued on its winning growth spree, the management
decided to kick it up a notch.
Red Robin announced its "fast-casual" model, introducing the new brand Burger Works in
2011.
The model seemed like a great fast food idea.
It offered a Build Your Own Burger menu, with the option of beef or chicken, along with
13 free topping options and 10 "fancy" options that came at an extra cost.
The chain also served fries, as well as beer and wine.
Plus, menu items were offered at a lower price point than those at big brother Red Robin.
The first location opened in Denver, Colorado, but it didn't last long.
After opening a total of 12 Burger Works locations, Red Robin decided to call it quits in 2016,
closing nine of those locations and re-branding the remaining three as Red Robin Express.
With the focus of gourmet burgers on the menu, Red Robin has constantly introduced new combos
to impress their burger-loving guests.
Thanks to frequent additions of something new and craveable, there are more than two
dozen burgers on the menu today.
Over the years, Red Robin has taken inspiration from a number of places, including the minds
of young cooks.
Red Robin hosted their Kids Cook-Off contest annually for a few years, with the first competition
held in 2006.
In 2007, 11-year-old Joey Yarwick won the prize with his "Au Brie Burger," featuring
melted brie cheese and au gratin potatoes on a toasted croissant.
The burger was put on the menu the following summer for Red Robin guests to try.
The following year, Charlie Beckett, a 7-year-old from Idaho, made up the "Holy-Peno Burger,"
featuring Pepper Jack cheese and jalapenos.
That burger isn't on the menu, but Red Robin still features a Burnin' Love Burger with
Pepper Jack and fried jalapeno coins.
The last mention of the contest in Red Robin's history listing the winners was in 2010 when
12-year-old Donovan Duggins won the grand prize with his "Mt. Vesuvius Burger."
Since then, it appears the Red Robin test kitchen has taken recipe development into
their own hands.
The registration website for the contest is now defunct.
If you pay close attention to Red Robin's history, you may have noticed that the chain
launched a "secret menu" in 2011.
And while a secret menu for chains like In-N-Out means a whole bunch of cult favorites, for
Red Robin it really just means ultimate customization.
With the launch of the Red Robin iPhone app, as well as online ordering, guests were given
the opportunity to customize pretty much any burger to their liking.
Choosing a bacon cheeseburger through the menu system, for example, would give you the
option to choose from seven different types of cheese.
The options go even further than just cheese variations, though.
A variety of ingredients can be added on as well, including an extra patty, avocado, sautéed
onions, an egg, and much more.
While their app is no secret, Red Robin did try to launch one menu item based on word-of-mouth
alone on New Year's Day in 2015.
The "Cure Burger," named because it was billed as a hangover cure, was topped with a sunny-side
up egg, bacon, and chili.
The burger was only mentioned through media coverage, social media, or word of mouth.
Even if you missed out on the Cure Burger back then, though, you can still make your
own version today through the app.
One of Red Robin's most popular claims to fame is its bottomless fries.
And while some may think it was a recent gimmick to attract more customers, it's actually been
going strong for decades.
In 1994 the chain introduced their bottomless steak fries concept, allowing guests to eat
as many fries as they possibly could with their burger.
Some guests take it even further and request an appetizer of fries to come out first before
their main meal.
"That's the joy of bottomless steak fries at Red Robin."
But bottomless steak fries aren't the only thing you can consume absurd amounts of.
You can also order bottomless garlic fries or sweet potato fries for a slightly higher
price.
Or, if you're watching your waistline, bottomless broccoli is an option as well.
Burgers aren't exactly known for their healthy qualities, but one Red Robin meal turns out
to be particularly bad for you.
In 2014, a Red Robin dish took the title of the unhealthiest meal combination in America.
The meal essentially combines the most unhealthy options on the Red Robin menu, including the
"Monster" double burger, paired with bottomless fries and a milkshake.
It all adds up to a whopping 3,540 calories.
The daily recommended amount of calories is, on average, 2,000 for women and 2,500 for
men.
Luckily, there are lighter fare options at Red Robin, as well as bottomless broccoli
as a side.
Because if you're not careful, a meal at Red Robin could easily set you back almost two
days' worth of calories.
That's probably true of most burger joints, though, if you're trying hard enough.
There's something special that makes the Red Robin bottomless fries so crave-worthy, and
it's not just that they're unlimited.
The secret is actually in Red Robin's signature seasoning.
Red Robin makes their own signature fry seasoning, featuring a variety of ingredients.
The seasoning combines salt, dried cane syrup, sea salt, dried garlic, onion and tomato,
paprika, yeast extract, and natural smoke flavor.
The ingredients list also mentions "spices" in the mix, but we'll never know what that
means.
It is, after all, a special proprietary blend only used in Red Robin locations or sold online.
And while we don't know the exact proportions of the seasoning's ingredients, we do know
there's a whole lot of salt in the mix.
So, be careful as you're chowing down.
Basket after basket of those fries can really add up with that seasoning.
Despite the failure of their Burger Works fast-casual experiment, Red Robin has had
success in introducing to-go options and catering menus.
They didn't introduce their online ordering and catering until 2017, but it has continued
to grow in popularity ever since.
The catering menu features a variety of platters with wraps and sandwiches, along with salads
and sides such as mac and cheese and boneless wings.
But the real winner in the catering category is the Red Robin Burger Bar, which allows
you to pick up a catering package complete with ten or more burgers.
Each burger is made-to-order in terms of the cheese and the bun, but the Burger Bar package
also allows for ultimate party customization.
Red Robin packs up all of the toppings for you, including the typical lettuce, tomato,
pickles and onions.
But to make sure that you can truly create the Red Robin experience at your party, the
package also includes toppings like bacon and crispy onion straws.
There's also a selection of sauces, including Chipotle Aioli or Bourbon BBQ sauces, thrown
into the mix.
Over the years, minimum wage spikes have not been easy on Red Robin.
To fight the increased costs, the chain launched a slew of rash policy decisions that didn't
always work out.
A lawsuit in 2015 eventually ended in a Red Robin franchise paying out $1.3 million.
The franchise named in the suit had allegedly been requiring servers to share their table
tips with employees in the kitchen who assisted in food prep or expediting of orders.
According to reports, the suit claimed Red Robin paid servers between $2.83 and $3.33
per hour.
The company then tried to claim tips would make up the difference and bring the minimum
wage up to $7.25.
The kitchen workers were included in this scheme through the shared tips.
The suit was on behalf of the servers, who were trying to recover their lost tip money
from the franchise.
But that wasn't the only policy put in place to combat the effects of minimum wage hikes.
The chain eliminated the busser position from all of its restaurants in 2018.
At the time, it was predicted the change could potentially save the company $8 million in
2018 alone.
Unfortunately, the change resulted in longer wait times for customers, ultimately dragging
down customer satisfaction and numbers of return customers.
It's no shock that Red Robin embraces the burger-loving culture.
After all, that is what they were built on and they continued to run with it.
But as more and more people are turning toward plant-based eating, Red Robin took a stab
at vegetarians in one of their commercials that definitely backfired.
"They even have a garden burger just in case your teenage daughter's going through a phase.”
People were outraged.
Representatives from the company noted that Red Robin has had the Gardenburger and the
BOCA Vegan burger for years.
That didn't seem to matter once the commercial launched, though.
After it aired, vegetarians everywhere felt like their lifestyle was being mocked by the
company.
Vegetarians everywhere flooded Red Robin social media in protest.
Despite Red Robin's many clever advertising efforts, sales and guest counts were down
after the first quarter of 2019.
With both restaurant income and total guest count going down, it was time for the company
to make a tough change.
According to a news release, Red Robin decided to close 10 restaurants in May, 2019, as part
of an urgent move to cut losses.
The news of restaurant closures came after the company had already stopped new restaurant
growth in 2019.
That means plans for growth in the future are a little murkier, as Red Robin tries to
reassess its locations.
The company is still working to get back on track in terms of both guest experience and
revenue.
Time will tell if it works, or if more closings will follow.
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