7 Eye-Opening Facts About Red Robin

Chances are, you've eaten at Red Robin a time or two — or possibly even more. This chain — which is probably known best for its wide assortment of delicious burgers combined with those delicious bottomless steak fries — has more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada. A few loyal customers may even go as far as to say that it is one of the best gourmet burger chains across the United States. 

However, while most everyone knows about Red Robin, there are some interesting facts about the chain that are not such common knowledge. Even if you're one of the biggest fans of the chain, you might not know the unique origins of its name. Or, perhaps you didn't know that there are a few well-known celebrities who were once just regular teenagers looking to earn some spending money by busing tables at Red Robin. And, let's not forget the scandals. Like other famous chains, Red Robin has had its fair share of colorful controversies. Learn more about these and more eye opening facts about Red Robin in the sections that follow.

True Red Robin fans know that the first restaurant was not called Red Robin. Instead, it was called Sam's Tavern. Samuel Caston started the business, opening the first location during the 1940s in Seattle, Washington. While there was nothing wrong with the name Sam's Tavern, Caston had a change of heart. He decided to rename his restaurant Sam's Red Robin.

Why the name change? You might know that a drinking song inspired the Star-Spangled Banner. Sam's decision to rename his restaurant was also based on a song. Caston was a member of a barbershop quartet. According to recounts from the time, one of his favorite songs was "When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along). Written in 1926 by Harry M. Woods, the song was one that Caston's quartet performed regularly. He liked it so much that he worked it into the name for his restaurant. In 1969 when the restaurant was purchased by Gerry Kingen, a restaurant entrepreneur in Seattle, "Sam's" was dropped from the name. From then on, it was simply known as "Red Robin."

Most of us know Red Robin as a sit-down restaurant chain. You're seated by a host or hostess, and a server takes your order and brings you your food. However, the chain experimented with a few fast-casual locations a few years ago, calling the new concept "Red Robin Works." 

To ensure speedy service, the menu was more limited at these locations. But, it still included several fan-favorite burgers and the classic steak fries. Other offerings included chicken tenders, new wraps and salads, and milkshakes. However, after a brief experiment, the company decided to close all the Red Robin Works locations that had opened up. These new restaurants didn't bring in the revenue that the company had hoped. Red Robin decided to cut its losses and, instead, focused attention on capitalizing on the increasing consumer interest in delivery and takeout offerings.

Reviews on Yelp for one of these fast-casual locations in Chicago shed some light onto why the idea didn't last. Customers didn't seem all that impressed, with some sharing that it felt like any old fast food burger joint, not the Red Robin that they knew and loved. Other customers lamented that, unlike at the sit-down versions of the restaurant, these fast-casual ones didn't offer the signature bottomless fries.

The original Red Robin — first called Sam's Tavern, and later, Sam's Red Robin — remained operational for over six decades. In 1973, a few years after Gerry Kingen bought the restaurant in 1969, he remodeled the old building it was in, expanding it, adding a deck in the back, and making other upgrades to the interior. Kingen not only expanded that original Red Robin, he also started to expand the company, opening new restaurants. 

Just 10 years after he purchased the business, he sold the rights to open a Red Robin franchise in nearby Yakima, Washington to Michael and Steve Snyder. Kingen continued expanding over the years. By 1985, there were 175 locations, which is the same year that King sold a controlling interest in the company to Skylark Corporation of Japan. In the years that followed, the company continued to expand. By 2010, there were more than 400 locations (308 company-owned restaurants and 131 franchise locations).

However, in 2010, one of those key locations served its final customers. The burger chain declined to renew its lease for the original, historic building located near Seattle University. The cost of maintaining the old building was simply becoming too great.

Shortly after Red Robin vacated the old building, it was demolished. A few years later, in 2019, a new construction project in the area was completed. Called Robin's est, the new residential and retail complex has 61 apartments with a restaurant on its lower level. Though, you won't find burgers there anymore. The restaurant is called Johnny Mo's Pizzeria, and, as you can probably guess, it serves pizza (both New York and Chicago style pizza)

French fries always seem to taste better at a restaurant than at home. That seems especially true when you eat at Red Robin, where the steak fries are not only delicious. They're also bottomless — and this includes not only the classic steak fries, but also the garlic fries and sweet potatoes fries too. This may be common knowledge, but many people don't realize that Red Robin offers other bottomless menu options to help you replicate part of that luxury buffet dining experience for a fraction of the cost.

There are actually 30 bottomless items available on the Red Robin menu now. This includes several sides (like the house salads, Yukon chips, and garlic parmesan broccoli) and numerous drinks (including the famous Freckled lemonade, root beer floats, and candied orange cream sodas). While there don't seem to be any unwritten limits on these bottomless offerings from the chain, some customers have expressed dissatisfaction towards the service they received and how long they had to wait for their plate or glass to be refilled. When you're dining in the restaurant, you aren't there that long, so waiting five or more minutes for your server to show up can certainly put a damper on your big plans. Sounds like it may come down to the luck of the draw and the attentiveness of the server you get — consider putting in a request early on if you know you'll want a second — or third or fourth — helping of something.

If you watch "Property Brothers," it's probably hard to imagine Drew and Jonathan Scott having any job that isn't related to real estate and home improvement. However, despite their current success, they were once regular teenagers who needed to make some extra spending money. And, believe it or not, one of the jobs they both held was at Red Robin. Drew posted a TBT to Facebook, showing him and Jonathan in their Red Robin busboy outfits when the twins were only 16 years old. The pair were responsible for clearing empty plates after customers finished eating and wiping down tables to get them ready for the next dining party.

If Jonathan and Drew were teenagers today, they wouldn't be able to get hired for that same busboy job. In fact, you won't find any bussers at Red Robin anymore. The chain cut all bussers from its employment rosters in 2018. The company was trying to keep its costs lower during a time when wages were increasing. Instead of having a separate job to clear and clean tables, the responsibility was added to the already full plate of the servers.

While Red Robin has some die-hard, loyal customers, not all diners are as committed to the chain. The restaurant's annual revenue was steadily increasing between 2005 and 2017. However, after that, sales dipped down. Around the same time, there was also a decline in customer satisfaction. Prior to 2015, customers rated their experiences at Red Robin as better than the average for casual dining as a whole. After 2015, however, the chain's customer satisfaction ratings took a dip below the average casual dining average. While reviews on Yelp vary by location, many customers clearly haven't been that impressed with the chain, given the low average ratings held by many of its locations.

After analyzing these trends, Red Robin committed to improving the experiences of each guest. Some possible causes for the decrease in customer satisfaction that were identified include a decrease in the quality of food being served, reductions in labor (think about all those busboy positions that were cut), and not investing enough into the business. Red Robin has been working to address these potential causes, and it looks like its hard work has finally paid off. During the summer of 2024, the chain finally saw its guest satisfaction scores rise to the highest levels seen since 2016 — with a 29% reduction of negative guest complaints compared to the same time during the previous year.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a major restaurant chain or retailer that hasn't had its fair share of scandals and controversies. And, Red Robin is no exception to this rule. Some of these controversies relate to concerns that have been expressed by employees. For example, in 2022, Red Robin reached a settlement with many of its managers who claimed that the chain had been violating the Federal Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. The class of approximately 500 managers and assistant managers was awarded a 2.95 million settlement after their claims that Red Robin incorrectly exempted them from being paid overtime, despite performing tasks that should have qualified.

Other lawsuits are not as PG-rated. One of these suits was filed against the chain for allowing one of its cooks to sexually harass female employees in one Washington restaurant. Even though several of the victims had reported the harassment to different managers, there was no immediate or direct action taken by Red Robin to intervene. The company ultimately agreed to a $600,000 settlement to the four affected female employees.