Red Robin Review

DH and Bud went to Utah for a soccer game this weekend, so I took Ant (almost 8), Cutie (2 years), and my sister Heidi to Red Robin Friday night. Red Robin is on the list of places that consistently mess up DH's special orders, so I haven't been there for at least five years, but when the cat's away...you know.

The hostess told us the wait to be seated would be about 15 minutes, but we waited at least 30 minutes. I would rather be told a wait time that is over-estimated. The hostesses need estimation training. The weather outside was sunny and warm, so we sat out there and had a pleasant wait.

When we were seated, our waitress was right there, asking if we wanted anything to start. Ant, Cutie, and I had strawberry lemonades that were made with sliced strawberries. I liked it, but Cutie freaked out when something squishy and slimy was coming out of the straw into her mouth.

We ordered the kids' pizza for Ant, crispy chicken strips for Cutie, a crispy chicken sandwich (without lettuce) for Heidi, and their famous cheeseburger (no pink) for me. Heidi asked for the fries with ranch dressing for dipping to come before the meal, they are "bottomless fries", after all. The fries came fast, but we waited a while for the rest of it. I think they were short one cook because during our wait, the big red robin came out to visit all the kids.

Well, Cutie panicked when she saw the bird and hid her face in my lap. She looked up every once in a while to see where he was and screamed, "Put him in a cage!" When the red robin came closer to our table, his escort saw the fear in Cutie and saw me with wide eyes shaking my head no, so she led him past the table. Phew! We were safe.

Heidi enjoyed her crispy chicken burger and I ate all my cheeseburger after removing the pound of sliced onions it had on it (does anyone eat all those onions?). Ant ate all the pepperoni from the pizza, but he didn't like the sauce or crust which is unusual for him. I guess I shouldn't expect food on the kid's menu to taste good, especially if it isn't the restaurant's specialty. Cutie hardly touched the chicken strips and I would have asked for a box to take them home if I had seen the waitress after she gave me my credit card slip to sign. Those kids' meals were too pricey to be wasted like that. I should have just shared my cheeseburger and fries with Cutie, and encouraged Ant to choose a burger.

Overall the experience was...fine. We didn't have to send any food back, so it is an improvement from five years ago. Maybe it will take only three years to want to go back again.