Biting Into Red Robin

Sometimes one finds oneself on the outskirts of town (say, shopping, um, at a mall) and one has the need to get dinner, like NOW. And also, one has a toddler so one can't just go anywhere. One needs a family friendly kind of restaurant. In this situation we usually head to Central Market, but we aren't anything if not totally sick of eating at Central Market. We don't care that they have a new menu, it's still bland and overpriced. P.S. Stay away from the Kung Pao Tofu.

So a couple of weeks ago when we were hungry and not wanting to go to Central Market we somehow ended up at Red Robin. Red Robin, as some of you may know, is a chain restaurant. YES, A CHAIN RESTUARANT, BITCHES. Like most good progressive Austinites, we try to avoid chain restaurants. We admit that sometimes we crave the breadsticks and salad at Olive Garden, but mostly we try to support local businesses.

As we enter, we're immediately greeted by someone wearing a red and yellow bird costume. This is "Red", the Red Robin mascot. The kid is smitten, and when the big red bird bends down and opens her (his?) arms for a hug, our kid walks right in to the embrace. This is what brand identification is all about. Red Robin is noisy and busy and full of cheerful waitstaff running amok, but it's perfect for hungry families in need of comfort food.

Austinist orders the the Garden Burger. Austinist's husband orders the Whisky River® BBQ burger after spending 5 minutes debating over the Peppercorn Burger and the Pot Roast burger ("I can never resist the barbeque sauce and mayo combo," he explains). The burgers arrive peeking out of white paper wrapping. Chunky fries come on the side. We take our bites and proclaim them delicious. Gourmet, for sure. We drink them down with a thick banana shake made of 100 percent tasty goodness. The family is fed and pleased. Tomorrow we will go to Hut's to make up for our sinning.

Red Robin has two Austin locations. We visited the one in Sunset Valley at 4809 Hwy 290 West. The other location is at I-35 and Parmer. The address is: 13000 North IH35 SBFR, Building 5.

"Red" image (c) http://www.typewritten.org/~bear/mascot/client/redrobin.html

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Alison Coffey in Food on January 4, 2006 11:01 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

ConcernedAZDad

I have to report that they also serve up food with plastic in it!

My daughter was served a mushroom burger with a hard plastic object in it. She took two bites and immediately had pain in her mouth.

The manager took the object and our name and number and that was it!
The company refuses to take responsibility for the incident.

The bottom line is don't eat at Red Robin. The food is not worth the price or your health!

ConcernedAZDad

I have to report that they also serve up food with plastic in it!

My daughter was served a mushroom burger with a hard plastic object in it. She took two bites and immediately had pain in her mouth.

The manager took the object and our name and number and that was it!
The company refuses to take responsibility for the incident.

The bottom line is don't eat at Red Robin. The food is not worth the price or your health!

Steve

The worst dining experience ever. I would not recommend Red Robin to anyone!

roger

Loved your article! Thanks you for the kind comments. We are very happy you enjoyed your visit. Just to let you know we are a locally owned and operated restaurant, all of our ownership team and management team live in Austin We are “Austin Proud” and happy that we could bring the Red Robin Brand to Central Texas

John

Red Robin sucks for hamburgers, their fries and decent beer selection are little salvation. Wallyburger up north on Mesa however, pure gold...

Aaron

We tried the one up north when we were stuck in the Parmer-I35 wasteland and were pleasantly surprised. We've been back several times since when the mood struck. I can't seem to stop getting the spicy chicken sandwich and it's great. You forgot to mention the bottomless fries, no not like that you sickos! But we could never get past the first refill. Their service was amazing from door to table, it must be a strong franchise point and compared to service in Austin sometimes I think that's great.

Match Striker

I could understand how if you had kids this may be a good place but it is by far the worst burger in Austin. Although if having a giant red bird come up to your table every 10 minutes is your thing then this might be your place and you might be a redneck, or rather, a red beak? What? Care.