My Partner In Cuisine and I do our best to avoid corporate food, but him being a burger expert (i.e. snob) I convinced him to give the place a go. I had been there on numerous occasions and enjoyed their variety of burgers and unlimited steak fries. Unfortunately, I suffered a rather embarrassing moment when we were told that the kitchen will not cook a burger rare. I know better than to ever suggest a corporate restaurant to the PIC again!
Despite this, we had some decent service and our burgers were pretty good. After much discussion, we determined that it's not really the burgers that makes Red Robin good, it's the toppings. Simply said, the meat can't stand alone. Without being slathered in cheese, jalapenos, barbecue sauce, or whatever, the burgers are nothing more than overcooked hockey pucks.
Would I eat there again? It's likely I would go with someone who has less discriminating taste buds. Would I take PIC? Hell no!