Red Robin

The burgers are amazing. The price is not. Soda's are 3 dollars, if I had known that earlier I would have made the most of it. Please learn from my mistake. I guess this is sort of bias because I am a poor college student.

Everyone needs a couple shots to prove their mettle, right? Well, you got yours Red Robin.

For all the claims of being a gourmet burger and the Zagat sticker proclaiming your #1 status plainly stuck on the front window, your burgers are a fail in my book. Personally, I believe that someone should take a paint scraper to that sticker as I believe the last time Red Robin received that notoriety, it was in 2009. And three years later, you are far from the top.

Here's the quick rundown, after my youngest son's latest music lesson, the boys were hungry for "American" fare and it doesn't get much more American than burgers. As Red Robin is on the route home, I decided, why not?

I should've known better, as I'd been here once before, and that experience, while with more than outstanding company, was one of the few merely middling food adventures we had taken. It even spawned a very minor meme. (Is it a meme if only 2 people are aware of it?)

Anyway, back to the present, the boys ordered off the Kid's Menu, chicken fingers for the youngest and a pizza for the oldest (this is the one that wanted American food?) I ordered the Tavern Double, Pub Crawl Style. In due time, the food made it to the table and while the kids' food was fine for what it was, my burger, was just not that good. The burger was overcooked and dry, the sesame seed bun had become a little stale while it likely sat up too long before the sandwich was brought out, and the steak fries, bottomless though they were, were just nothing special.

And I expected far, far more. Mainly because there is far, far better out there. You simply can't claim to be THE gourmet burger when other chains are kicking your @$$ in this area on a daily basis. Five Guys, Smashburger, Home Run, hell, even Wendy's, while not throwing all the unusual toppings on the menu, just make a better burger at a better price, and I won't even make the claim that they're the best in Louisville. There's even better among the independent burger makers.

But on the other hand, the service was just fine.

Meh.

- 30 -

Yum!