Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

This place has never disappointed me. I’m a huge fan of the grilled chicken salad, bbq wrap, bruchetta chicken sandwhich, and sweet potato fries. The shakes are yummy too! It’s such a shame that this place will be closing because the highlands is trying to attract an older, richer audience.
Forever a favorite.

Laurie our server, is excellent. Kept our drinks full and gave us what we wanted.
Good burger and fries…

I have always enjoyed Red Robin and am always excited when I find myself in an area with one around (I live in Oceanside and have to drive at least 15 mins to get to one)
So I’ve always been happy with the service and food from here but this last time was exceptional! Our server Katrina made it the best experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant. She signed us up for the rewards club which gave us a free appetizer and there was no delay for the bottomless speckled lemonade and french fries.
I wish there was bonus stars I could give for this visit. Thanks Red Robin and Katrina!

Cousin was in town between semesters so we met up for dinner before she had to make the trek back to school. The parking lot last Friday evening was crazy packed, so the typical disregard for courtesy was in full effect as folks were circling like vultures for the rare parking spot.
After a long week of staying on the wagon, I rewarded myself with a Captain (Morgan rum) & diet. Regular cola seems to be too sweet for me nowadays. This drink is just right. No weak pour from the bar. Ahhhhhhhhhyeeeeaaahhhhh… Captain, take me awayyyyyy.
I can’t remember the exact name, but I tried a Royal-​something burger with bacon and a fried egg. Not the most crafty burger, and I just prefer my farmhouse with the yolk over easy-​medium. The burger is a mouthful, but if you’re starving, then load up on those endless steak fries. It’s hit and miss on a crispy vs soggy batch, depending on how the kitchen is doing, and tonight’s dinner rush was frantic.
We usually don’t mind coming here even with the crowds because it’s loud enough to cancel out the squeaks and shrieks from our bebe. Judging by the number of families being served, everything seems to work out well with the noise level. Kinda bummed that they didn’t have the Robin mascot making the rounds, but bebe still got a balloon to be amazed about. I love her expressions from seeing new things for the first time.
Our waitress did a great job, despite the hustle and bustle of working all the tables in her area. She was friendly, visited our table several times to check on us, and even when the extra mile to get us some drinking water to fill the bebe’s formula bottle. Lemme use a Goldilock’s analogy: Icy water from the soda fountain is too cold for bebe, and hot water from the coffee maker is… you follow?
Good times. We got to visit with cousin, bebe enjoyed the just-​right-​temperature bottle of formula, had some snacks, and I enjoyed my one drinky for the week. If you’re strong enough to handle the noise and chaos during peak hours here, then kudos to you. If not, then RR isn’t your cup of tea. Make a gentle exit, Ms Prissy, and find a nice quiet place to write a Zagat review.

I’ve never eaten at Red Robin before and was actually kinda excited. I eagerly reached for the oversized whimsical plastic «R» door handle and thought to myself… I wonder how many germs call this handle home?
We came in from the cold evening and I immediately entered culinary fast food served slow Hell. How can I explain this… kids were every where screaming and running around. The restaurant itself looked like a very tacky TGI Friday’s…is that even shit-​damn possible? The hostess asked us where we like to sit so, blocking out the screaming for a moment, I scanned our surroundings.
Every section seemed to trigger a headache…
I suddenly had this «cattle being served dinner» feeling and just felt depressed about being in this place.
I didn’t care where we sat and told my GF I was hitting the restroom to wash my hands… just wanted to collect myself… collect myself under the florescent bathroom lighting… with pee all over the floor around the urinal…
This place is so gross.
Leaving the bathroom my GF was smiling and waived from the bar… thank goodness they have a bar here. So, after sitting for a few moments I began to understand how this place was decorated; they gave a male teenager a credit card with strict instructions which included:
1. Buy anything sold in a New York City gift shop… in bulk
2. See what reproduction posters of old movies TCM has and buy!
3. To round out the theme purchase anything neon related
4. Put red all over the place to bring it all together
OK, time to eat one of these famous Red Robin burgers! I ordered the bacon avocado burger and my GF got a grilled chicken sandwich (we both got bottomless steak fried with dinner). After a relativity long wait based on the crowd and our order it was finally dinner time!
My medium burger was medium rare. It was a thin patty (a little larger than a McDonald’s burger). Totally frozen and reheated with ZERO flavor. The bacon just brought heavy salt to this sad, cold, poor excuse for a dinner. You don’t even get a good helping of avocado… just a thin smear of it on the bun. This was total fail… I could only finish 3 bites and was over it.
The steak fries are good. They were piping hot (yes at least something here is warm when served) and the RR seasoning on the table made the fries extra special. A tad too salty but still very tasty!
My GF’s grilled chicken was just as lame. What’s funny is the present it like the chicken is something special? The top bun was off exposing the small reheated chicken breast… I felt bad for the sad looking chicken.
If I looked that bad I’d appreciate the kitchen covering me up with pickles, lettuce, tomato… anything! Maybe they could smear a little avocado on that poor bastard.
I could tell the chicken was totally embarrassed at the table… we all were.
What’s my overall feeling here… TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT. This location makes money by serving
1. Deep freeze portioned cafeteria food
2. Beverages small glasses
3. They sell the idea of «value»
The nice part is they serve it all up in a extremely tacky environment that’s in desperate need of a long shower of Clorox bleach!
It’s after nights like these I really consider becoming a vegetarian.
I give this Robin 2 «frozen fail burgers» out of 10

Sam Adams — Yes.
Zombie — Yes.
Seafood Scatter — Oh! Yes.
Mac ’ n Cheese
& Chicken Fingers for kids… Yup and Yup.
“““‘ Thank you, Ashley!

Don’t knock it until you try it…
Yes, I knocked Red Robin’s Happy Hour. I had this novel idea that this place was just for kids… Well not during Happy Hour!!!
Happy Hour is from 3−6p, then 8p-​close. Weird I know, but when our group came here, it was 8:05p and we were down for some cheap eats and drinks.
We pretty much had the place to ourselves. I ended up ordering a 2-​combo appy for $ 5 (mozz sticks and onion rings), which were delish by the way. It was fried and I was hungry — bad combo, but it worked.
They offered an array of appys for $ 3, $ 5 and $ 7, and HH drinks were less then $ 5.
We customized our endless fries for garlic/​parm fries, and even though they were the steak fries, we requested it well done and they accommodated.
Brad was our server and he was friendly and personable. The only issue I had was the amount of time it took to get my water that I had ordered right when we came in. I had went to the bathroom after ordering and then took a phone call. I came back 10 minutes later and I still hadn’t gotten my water. Other than that minor snag, service was great.
Red Robin is located in the Del Mar Highlands shopping center with ample parking. Bar area available as well as indoor restaurant seating.

Ahhh… having lunch watching «the beautiful people» do their thang. Almost felt like I was in Orange County with the botox lips goin’ on. :-)
Had the house salad with browned lettuce (I don’t think that was intentional) and the potato soup. Good soup and there was some green lettuce in the salad. Mmm…

Ok so I admit it I eat here hehehe ~ Seriously the burgers are top notch when you go to a good location. Unfortunately this is NOT a good location. I’ve given them so many chances and they seem to ALWAYS mess up the order. I don’t know if its the lazy teenagers they hire or if they’re just all stoners but either way they fail.
Four times now I’ve called in an order because honestly I can do without the screaming kids and families in this place. Four times they’ve gotten the order wrong. This last order they charred my burger, when is that ever acceptable?
Do yourself a favor the UTC location isn’t that much farther and they are loads better when it comes to getting an order right and having prompt friendly customer service.
Pull it together RR, its not that hard.

Came here late Saturday night and got seated right away. Wasn’t too many people here which was kind of weird. I’ve been here before and it’s usually crowded with a lot of families and kids so it can get noisy sometimes.
Had really good service this time. Kept my raspberry iced tea glass refilled (4 times). I was floating! Got the mushroom swiss burger and it was a little dry this time. Had to get a side of mayo. Flavor was good with a hint of garlic. I got it with a side of mac and cheese instead of the fries which are very good. The mac and cheese was very cheesey and gooey and good!

«Bottomless» refers to strippers, mimosa, but most importantly FRIES.
I am so in love with the steak fries at Red Robin. To boot Red Robin also carries my favorite rendition of honey mustard sauce in the world! Try it next time with the fries and BE READY TO BE AMAZED.

Been to many Red Robin restaurants before. Even been to this particular location multiple times. But, this is the first time that I’ve been back since opening up a Unilocal account. So, let the story telling begin.
This restaurant is located in the affluent neighborhood of Del Mar Heights and close to the estates of Rancho Santa Fe. North Torrey Pines High School as well as a slew of other middle and intermediate schools are located nearby. Consequently, you’ll frequently find families and groups of kids eating here. It’s affordable, relatively fast, centrally located, and can accommodate large parties if necessary.
Enter through two sets of double doors (sometimes, there will be someone to greet you as you come in) and head to the front desk. If there are tables available, you’ll be seated immediately (all indoor seating). If not, step aside to the padded benches to the left and wait for the feast to begin. When you’re finally directed to your table, grab the menu and let the mouth-​watering begin.
Environment: There were lots of kids. What happens when you have a lot of kids? Lots of noise. In fact, upon first entering the restaurant, the first thing I noticed were 8 kids to my right, near the restroom, rubbing helium-​filled balloons on their head trying to use static electricity to make their hair stand up. When one succeeded, the others would shout with glee. 8 kids = 8 shouts. One of them may have just started shouting for fun because more than 8 shouts occurred. Anyways, as we walked to our table, I couldn’t help but notice how spacious the dining area was. The only complain regarding the environment was the lighting for our table. The lamp seemed to focus the light on 1 square foot on the table, and only the table. Weird.
Waiter/​Waitresses: Our waiter was very friendly, offering to help us navigate the new Red Robin Membership club known as the Royalty club (it’s not exclusive at all). Additionally, he helped us modify our dishes to suit our tastes (more on that in the «food» section). The only problem was that he failed to mention the cost difference between a large and small salad. You get about 60% of the food for 85% of the price! What the heck. I should have just ordered the large and boxed the leftovers for another meal. Oh well. Lesson learned.
Food: Appetizer: Quesadilla. A generous helping of monterey and cheddar cheese melted with diced grilled chicken and folded into a flour tortilla that was slightly toasted. This was served with a mildly spicy salsa, sour cream, and guacamole which were portioned into fried tortilla bowls. Finally, a small bowl of black pinto beans were included with the dish. Entrée: Burnin’ love burger prepared with crispy-​fried jalapeño rings, tangy salsa, and spicy Pepper-​Jack cheese layered on top of a cayenne-​seasoned beef burger. It’s topped with shredded lettuce and tomato to cool things off and served on a jalapeño-​cornmeal Kaiser roll with Chipotle mayo. Absolutely delicious. Why? It’s spicy, juicy, flavorful, and messy. How spicy? I think it has more kick than my original favorite, the five alarm burger.
Drinks: Only water. Sorry.
Recommendation: EAT!

I usually quite enjoy my experiences at Red Robin. Good service, not the best. Yummy burgers aaaaaaaaaand bottom less fries!
We came with quite an appetite and were ready to devour the fries first thing. I’m sad they took off 5 Alarm b/​c I remember that being quite good. The whiskey BBQ is also pretty good. I ended up getting A1 Peppercorn. That one had no lettuce in it, but had onion strings. Not sure if mine had been sitting out for awhile, but it was a bit dry and didn’t seem right off the grill. I was a bit disappointed about it. My friend got the Burning Love and it seemed better.
So we asked to start off with some fries while we waited. There’s 4 of us, and they hardly filled up a basket. Needless to say, it was gone within a couple of minutes. We asked for more, and my friends asked for refills on their freckled lemonade. Both took awhile. Their service was not the best.
I’ve been here before when we came with a big crowd and obviously ate a lot of fries, but not everyone had ordered entrees that came with fries, or some people were sharing. They ended up cutting us off which I understand, but at the end on the bill, they charged us for «ketchup» since I guess they didn’t want to charge for the bottomless fries. But I mean, this was awhile ago and we did have a huge party.
But in general, you have to be pretty persistent to get your refills in my experience. Food is usually pretty good. Service is just okay.

I love Red Robin. This location is quite spacious. No narrow spaces to maneuver around like some locations. Didn’t really like the shopping center. It’s extremely big so a lot of cars trying to drive around.
I started to chat with my cousin who met up with me for lunch then I realized I decided to give up red meat for lent. I couldn’t get my usual burger so I needed to find something different. I tend to order my usual at restaurants I always go to so something different is always good for me to do.
I ended up ordering the salmon sandwich. It was okay. Nothing special. I should’ve ordered it without the bun. I think it would’ve been better as a wrap. I started to just eat the salmon halfway through the sandwich.
Freckled lemonade = delicious. I always get a refill or 2 whenever I go.
Service was good. Refilled my drink right when I finished the first one and the food came out fast.
Overall, good experience at this location.

I came here this past weekend since Katie had a free birfday burger. Hostess wasn’t the most accommodating (looked like she didn’t want to be working that night), but our server more than made up for it.
She had a soup and sandwich, and I had her birfday burger. Since she was sick, she only had less than half of a half of her sandwich and some of the soup. Soup was ok, and sandwich ehh. I had the Burnin’ Love Burger, and it was good. I love jalapenos on everything, so this was the burger for me. Just ask for the mayo on the side, or else it’ll be drowning in it. The fries were really good. I can’t say that their steak fries with their seasoning salt are the best health wise, but they are freaking tasty.
I figured I’ll work it out later. There used to be one in Encinitas, but this is the closest one to Carlsbad besides the Escondido location. I’ll stay away from the sandwiches and stick to the burgers. Good spot when the mood calls for a burger.

First the bad — there’s always a really bad smell outside. It must be near a sewer or something, and the bathrooms are almost always just awful.
On the good side… Great super high calorie versions of the hamburger, but you can save some without sacrificing much in the way of taste if you skip the mayos that don’t really add much in the flavor department and opt for grilled chicken instead of the burger or fried chicken patties.
Lots of great and creative choices and there’s usually a fun surprise from all the specialty burgers that different kids submit and get onto the menu.
Favorites for me include the Blue Ribbon Burger with A1 steak sauce and blue cheese crumbles, the 5 alarm burger (no longer on the menu but still available) for spicy, and the whiskey river BBQ burger.
Interestingly enough if you’re a chili fan Red Robin has pretty darned good chili. If you want something full of flavor but lighter in the calories department true the Ensenada Chicken Platter. You get a lot of tasty food and not many calories.

This is by far one of THE WORST Red Robin’s I have ever been to. The service was HORRIBLE. They kept forgetting our request, they were slow in getting our order, they were just extremely slow for no reason. It wasn’t like the place was extremely busy or anything. It was just a regular week night.
Oh and I was extremely surprised that this joint had TONS of kids! I felt like I was at Chuck E Cheese and not a Red Robin. Like every table literally had at least 1 kid. Eh horrible service and crappy kids ambiance… makes this place a 1 star!

For those of us who, by circumstance, frequent «kid friendly» restaurants on occasion, RR usually does a pretty good job.
I was a little disappointed in my visit to this particular location. The burger was on the smallish side, somewhat overdone, and not well seasoned. The server was uninterested. The steak fries were excellent, although few in number.
RR is still a good spot when you have to do the family dining experience but this location needs to step it up a notch.

A co-​workers last day at work called for some place awesome. That awesomeness just happens to be Red Robin [YUMMM].
For a Friday afternoon and a group of roughly 10 people, the wait to get seated was not long at all [about 10 min]. I’m not sure if this is usual for all Red Robin chains, but this is the 2^nd Red Robin in San Diego that had the arcade game, Gravity Hill [
. This is a simple game where you roll a ball uphill until it gets into the end goal. Something with the design allows it to «defy» gravity. Anyhow, it defeated me last time. This time, I managed to get the «small prize». Yay me!
So after we were seated and ordered our food, we waited for ages before they finally served it [roughly 25 minutes]. Luckily, we were drinking the good stuff the pass the time — and a lot of it. I splurged on the Ultimate Margarita, served in a pretty glass. It could probably use a bit more salt along the rims. [
I decided to go with the Guacamole Bacon Burger — I had a craving for guacamole. It did not taste that «special» but it was decent enough for me to finish. Fries are always great, especially with seasoning and honey mustard sauce. [
Overall Summary:
*Wait Time: ⁵⁄₅ [Seated within minutes]
*Service:
Drinks: ⁵⁄₅ [drinks were always refilled w/​o asking]
Food: ²⁄₅ [took about 20 – 30 minutes]
*Quality:
Drinks: ⁴⁄₅ [for the Ultimate Margarita]
Food: ³⁄₅ [decent, but nothing special]

My kid LOVES this place. Go figure. I think it directly appeals to the 7-​year-​old contingent. Wacky wall décor, video game room just off the main entrance, balloons, kids coloring books and crayons, lots of choices on the kids menu. What to do when the kids meals are under $ 5 (entrée, side — including many healthy choices like fruit and veggies, and a drink). Not bad at all. And I love those thick steak fries. The only thing is you mainly come here if you want burgers — nothing else on the menu looked remotely appealing. And kind of pricey if you don’t take full advantage of bottomless stuff — which — if you don’t want to gain lots and lots of poundage, you should really stay away from.
Bottom line — if you want a kid-​friendly place and a relatively good burger and you’ve brought your appetite. Red Robin’s is your place.