Red Robin Items You Should Never Order

Brett_hondow/Getty Images

Even if you're a diehard Red Robin fan like I am, you know good and well that there are items on the menu that nobody should order, no matter what their hangry brain tells them. You may stumble through the doors with your stomach grumbling and your heart dead set on the biggest, most highly-ranked burgers available with a side of bottomless fries to go with it. But if your plummeting blood sugar has clouded your judgment and you've lost touch with the plates and platters this chain excels at, you could make a grave misstep — one that might change your opinion of the entire establishment in one poorly-calculated bite.

I'm a proud RR diner who's tried the best and worst burgers at Red Robin – everything from the overindulgent Whiskey River BBQ burgers and wraps to the far more sensible quinoa and ancient grain patties — and I very rarely stray from the beaten eating path that I know and love. Anyone who isn't as familiar with the offerings at a Red Robin shouldn't have to undergo a potentially miserable dining experience just to find out which menu items they should never order under any circumstances. I did some digging on the Internet to learn what other fans of this long-lived dining outlet consider the worst possible picks and tossed in a little life experience of my own to conjure this handy guide to steering clear of Red Robin's red-flag creations. 

Red Robin

The Red Robin reputation is built on the backs of the restaurant's beautiful burgers, but even big-leaguers bat less than 1,000 sometimes when they step up to the plate. And so it is with the Banzai Burger, a plate that customers may be better off stepping away from. How could you possibly go wrong with a pile-up that includes a teriyaki-glazed patty, grilled pineapple, melty cheddar, and the classic lettuce-mayo-tomato trio? It sounds like a certified island sensation in print, doesn't it?

Well, in the 3D world of oversized burgers, the Banzai fails to hit the mark with more than just a few customers. A Reddit thread entitled "Booo. Banzai." summed it up succinctly, allowing the Redditor to explain how gelatinous the teriyaki glaze was and pointed out the unripe tomatoes under the bun. More telling, in a Mashed poll covering the worst burger at Red Robin, more than 24% of respondents called out the Banzai as the one to skip. You don't have to take their word for it, but if you favor spending your dining money on things your taste buds like, you can find burgers with more personality that guarantee a better time.

Red Robin

The idea of bottomless fries is an undeniable enticement that surely has led many curious customers into a Red Robin booth. The visual pun of these tempting taters served in a hammered steel cuff that has no bottom (picture Wonder Woman's bullet-deflecting bracelet and you're in the right neighborhood) is just the kind of whimsical promotion fast casual fans eat up. The tricky part is making sure the fries that keep on coming are worth the caloric consumption, and that they indeed do keep coming to uphold their bottomless promise.

It's strange to find out how many patrons aren't tickled by the steak fries here; I happen to like them, but maybe I'm not as picky as I should be. TripAdvisor reviewers call them out as being suspiciously similar to heated-up McCain's fries from the freezer and declare them to be tasteless; an odd feature for a restaurant that advertises unending supplies. It surely depends on your palate and your prior experience with fries, so if you anticipate a no-fault encounter with Red Robin's bottomless steak fries, you should adjust your expectations accordingly.

Stepping away from heavier burgers and more decadent dinner plates, diners eyeing the grilled chicken sandwich for its lighter and healthier profile should be wary of the possible pitfalls surrounding the poultry at the heart of the matter. The issue seems to be largely with the grilled chicken breasts rather than the fried versions; maybe the breading forgives much of the errors found when the chicken is presented in a more au naturel form. Whatever the cause, it doesn't seem to be a one-time deal for patrons looking for lighter fare.

During a Red Robin visit with my family, my eldest ordered a grilled chicken sandwich that arrived having taken on the texture of rubber. She took one bite, felt the "boingy" consistency that she couldn't chew threw, and quickly chose something else instead. Similarly, a Redditor noticed how small and dry the patty in their Simply Chicken sandwich was, a drastic change compared to prior visits. Another patron pointed out on Facebook that the chicken in her salad was also tough, a sign that maybe helped Red Robin to switch from frozen to fresh chicken (in addition to financial savings, of course). Either way, there's been no chicken sandwich in my kid's return visits to Red Robin, and it sounds like there shouldn't be any in yours, either.

The whole concept of an Impossible burger is to give plant eaters a burger eating experience that matches real beef bite-for-bite. Red Robin apparently takes the description of an Impossible burger in a different direction, by providing a burger that's impossible to enjoy. Vegans who were hyped up for a plant-based Red Robin burger soon discovered the add-ons are still dairy- and egg-based (the name Impossible Cheeseburger kind of gives it away). It's an issue that could be remedied by altering your order ... but should you have to, especially for a non-animal option? Additionally, the burger itself was blah.

But customers have noticed the formula does not extend to every version of a veggie burger at Red Robin, but there are a few things to be aware of when choosing which alternative burger to go for. Some customers have ordered a veggie burger only to find out it was just a plain old black bean burger under the too-big bun, and with prices like Red Robin has, that's bound to be a huge disappointment. Sticking with the quinoa and ancient grain burger is the best work-around for non-meat eaters here; it's my go-to as a stripped-down creation that only needs a little ketchup to be perfect.

Maybe it depends on the type of chicken wings you order, but Red Robin customers have taken notice of the reduction in size of these bar bites. It sounds somewhat ridiculous, since chicken wings are already pretty bite-size to begin with, but one Tik Tok user shared a clip expressing their disappointment in the shrinkage they found during multiple visits for wings. She holds up the wings to give a sense of the comparative size, her fingertips dwarfing the drumstick-shaped piece.

Another Tik Tok reviewer fired up his camera to share his deflation at trying the Scorpion Boneless Chicken Bites, a dish that comes sheathed in a hot sauce with a finish that's sweet and fruity, according to the menu. But they didn't live up to the sizzling adjectives, and he ultimately gave them a 6 out of 10. Skimping on both size and flavor in the array of wings available could be some of the reasons Red Robin is so cheap, especially when it comes to pleasing their wing-loving visitors. With prices rising everywhere, you should spend your money at a restaurant that knows how to size up an order of wings and pile on the flavor.

The cinnamon sugar donuts that make reference to Homer Simpson's beloved exclamation turns out to be not as sweet a situation as the name suggests. The playfully-named Cinnamon Sugar Doh! Rings presents Red Robin's version of Hostess Donette Gems, only served with chocolate and caramel sauce. A towering vertical version threads eight of the circular offenders onto a metal spire, similar to the onion ring tower. But discerning customers hoping for a sinfully sweet treat have discovered that this pile of deep-fried deliciousness doesn't quite stack up as expected.

Tasting Table ranked Red Robin's desserts and found these rings to be circling the drain, stuck at the bottom of the list. Likewise, when Mashed polled diners to find out what they thought of as the worst dessert on the Red Robin menu, Cinnamon Sugar Doh! Rings were the undisputable winner ... or should that be, loser. And food bloggers call them out as unsweet, oily-tasting cronut imposters, surfing for fast-casual clout without living up to the standard set by the original croissant-donut mash-up. They may look fun on the dessert menu, but you should save your sugar and carb dining points for something that deserves your indulgence.

Static Media owns and operates Mashed and Tasting Table.

You may read the name Smoke and Pepper burger and launch into a reverie about the flame broiled home grilled goodness this flavorful combination might hold. That's the marketing talking, of course, always threading the needle with evocative verbiage to draw you in. But once you get behind the picture on the page and sink your teeth into the burger on the plate, the flavor you were hoping for slips away from smoke and pepper and slides squarely into smoke and mirrors territory.

Mashed gave the Red Robin Smoke and Pepper burger the ol' college try back in 2023 to see what Red Robin had come up with this time. According to writer Michelle Welsch, there were simply too many elements stuck under the bun for the smoky heat or black pepper spice to be detected — a walloping disappointment considering that's the whole aim of the burger. Other reviewers were underwhelmed by the lack of innovation, expecting something more creative but wondering if a little barbecue sauce couldn't liven up the situation. When customers have a better idea of how Red Robin's specialty burgers should be made than the restaurant does, you know you've hit a table-top stumbling block.

Who doesn't start drooling at the notion of pairing a thick and juicy burger with a tart and tangy margarita from the bar? Finding out just how dodgy it is to depend on the formula to be satisfactory every time you order piles on the disappointment, especially for anyone who's become accustomed to enjoying this zesty beverage with their favorite orders. But at Red Robin, your anticipation isn't guaranteed to be rewarded with the finest version of this festive Mexican drink, and you may end up paying dearly for the gamble, in both money and disappointment.

Depending on how strong you like your drinks, you may want to steer clear of the familiar favorite and give something else a shot instead. A customer from Las Vegas noted in a TripAdvisor review that her margarita tasted like nothing but lemon juice, which sounds like a mouth-puckering nightmare of a drink usually made from lime juice, not lemon. And in a Facebook group sharing reviews of restaurants in Abilene, Texas, a Red Robin patron paid $17.00 for a margarita with an extra shot tossed in — and she still couldn't taste the tequila. Jimmy Buffet would hang his flip-flops in shame if he only knew.

Ordinarily, a blackened dish refers to the heavy spice rub applied to give an authentic Cajun flavor profile, not to the food being cooked to the point of charcoal. But that doesn't seem to stop Red Robin cooks from sometimes leaving grilled blackened salmon in the heat for too long. The resulting plate ends up being drier than fish should be, even if that fish is out of water. Add a dry spice to the dried out fish beneath and you end up paying for jerky rather than a freshly-cooked fillet. You'd be better off hitting up a QT for a bite like that rather than spending Red Robin prices for a fish dish that doesn't live up to its promise.

The photo on the menu is pretty enough to convince you there's something worth eating here, but ask those who've actually tried it and you'll hear differently. You'll find New Jersey Instagram reviewer King Schratz's stunned reaction at how dry the salmon looks and feels when he tries his take-out version, advising the restaurant to remove the dish from the menu. A New York TripAdvisor reviewer calls out how bland and unseasoned the salmon was. And demonstrating that this ill-advised order crosses both time and geography, a 2019 California TripAdvisor reviewer described the salmon as being so flavorless, it may not have even contained salt and pepper. Toss this one back ASAP — or better yet, cut it loose before you reel it in.

The name Ensenada chicken platter sounds like a party ready morsel that brings fun Mexican flavor to the halls of Red Robin, like something you might order on a cruise or at a festive resort by the sea. But none of that is what patrons report is happening with this supposedly luscious Latin creation. In fact, if you're hoping for a blast of happiness on a Red Robin plate, you're likely to find pretty much Ense-nada here.

To start with, the presentation is sometimes a little deceptive, as one Fort Lauderdale reviewer called out. Instead of two whole breasts, they were presented with a single breast sliced in half to look like two, with a generic salad on the side instead of a more authentic Mexican-style salad like the menu promised. A TripAdvisor reviewer in Las Vegas echoed the poor presentation sentiment, upping the ante with notes on the dryness of the chicken. Add to that a Washington customer who suspected the chicken on their plate might have been a frozen chicken breast from the grocery store and labeled the order a "total rip-off." Message received: Keep away from the Ensenada Chicken.

Though it was discontinued several years ago, the A.1. Peppercorn burger deserves a space on the list due to the overwhelming dislike it inspired in customers who gave it a whirl. The name might strike you as a posh way to enjoy a Red Robin burger, but that was nothing more than clever advertising; a way to associate the burger itself with a steak-level vittle flavored with pepper. The burger itself turned out to be less of an upscale selection and more of a downturn for the burger collection.

Word on the Web is that the peppercorn essence wasn't all that impressive, with more than one customer dialing in their opinions about this presumed-classy offering. From lacking in A.1. flavor to simply being called "bad" to being labeled by Time Magazine as the unhealthiest chain restaurant meal of 2014, review after review put the screws to the A.1. Peppercorn burger. Mashed called it a discontinued burger you'll sadly never see again, but that sadness may have been due to the promise the burger held rather than the result. Paying customers may have even celebrated when they found out about its demise. Just remember if it ever makes a comeback that you're better off leaving it in the past — unless they make some significant changes to the flavor profile.

refrina/Shutterstock

To compile this list of Red Robin no-go items, I started by reviewing my personal experience with my family and came up with a few easily identified moments where our orders did not live up to their basic potential. Chief among these was the grilled chicken sandwich my eldest child ordered, took a bite of, and found she could not chew through the chicken breast inside the bun. It put her off Red Robin entirely (I was able to forgive them). We've also had some negative run-ins with the bottomless fries being either too soggy or too crisp, and sometimes not even being bottomless, but being a single order instead. Again, the name and the actual order failed to match in potential and enjoyment (I was able to forgive them for this, too).

Then, I consulted the oracle known as the Internet to find out what other Red Robin customers had run into and discovered that most items have more favorable than unfavorable commentary available. I knew that couldn't be the whole truth so I did a deeper dive until I uncovered the items that made the list, which ended up being a pretty diverse collection overall. It turns out there are plenty of dishes you can sidestep when ordering at Red Robin; the ones remaining on the menu are more likely to bring you dining happiness.