Red Robin is another one of those American chains that has yet to make its move into our little corner of the Canadian north. When we saw that a new location had opened in Orlando earlier this year, we were eager to give it a try….their TV commercials (which we saw regularly on the multitude of US stations that we get through our cable provider) had easily lured us in. Steve and I visited on our couples trip in May, but for those who have read that trip report you will remember that our first experience was a bit of a bust. Service was painfully slow (enough that we may have just starved to death before our entrees arrived had we not had the foresight to order an appetizer to share) and “Chris”, the young fellow who was assigned to our table, completely misinformed me on the spiciness of a specific sauce (even when I specifically inquired and clearly stated that I am spice averse) which resulted in us sending back my meal and me leaving hungry.
Not a good first impression
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That said, I am well aware that some very wonderful places still have bad days from time to time. Steve really enjoyed his burger that day, so we didn’t write off this restaurant as a “never again” type of place (honestly, I think the only restaurant in Orlando that has been awarded that dubious distinction by our family is Pinocchio Village Haus at MK….awful, just awful!
). When Jake said he wanted to give it a whirl, I had no problems returning…..though if “Chris” happened to be our server again on this day, I was asking to move tables
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When we arrived, the restaurant was only half-full so we were seated immediately in a spacious booth and greeted warmly by a very bubbly young female server named Ali. Considering the heat and humidity of the day (and the fact that we had polluted our bodies for an entire week with soft drinks and milkshakes), we all requested waters with lots of ice for beverages. We also ordered an appetizer to share, which Ali put in for us right away while allowing us a few extra moments to decide on our entrees.
I would not be ordering anything with Buzz sauce on it this time, that was for sure!!
Ali returned a few minutes later to take our meal choices, and not long afterward she emerged from the kitchen with a towering display of fried oniony goodness.
When it was just the two of us in May, we opted for a half sized order of this item, and after seeing the size of the full sized portion it was a wise decision indeed! This thing was MASSIVE!
Easily shareable between the three of us, and certainly splittable even between a table of 4. They were hot, crispy, and super flavourful, and we all gave the rings a big thumbs up
. The guys loved the two dipping sauces, too.
The seemingly endless delay between the last bite of appetizer and the arrival of our entrees which we experienced in May was not the case on this visit, and very soon after the onion ring tower was cleared from the table, Ali reappeared (still as perky and happy as she was when we arrived) with our meals in tow. Jake had chosen the BBQ Chicken burger with herbed garlic fries:
After much deep consideration…..so many burgers, so little time!
....Steve opted for the “Big Pig Out Tavern Burger” (hey, I guess if you can’t pig out on your last day of vacation, when can you?
), also with the herbed garlic fries:
I played it safe this time: a basket of Clucks, barbecue sauce on the side, with herbed garlic fries:
Every single item….delicious!
Hot, fresh, big portions, and oh-so-tasty. As a general rule, I’m not a huge fan of steak fries (they’re usually a little potato-y for my liking) but these were cooked really, really nicely….and the garlic and herb seasoning was super good. Another thing about Red Robin that’s rather interesting….the fries are bottomless. For anyone whom the Big Pig Out isn’t quite enough on its own, they will keep the fries comin’ until your tummy is completely full.
None of us wanted dessert right then, so Ali danced back to our table with our bill in hand: $46.27, including taxes, excluding tip. She gave us some really great service, so we rewarded her well. This time, I could honestly say I would not only
return to Red Robin, but I could also
recommend it to others. Sometimes its very much worth giving a business a second chance
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We still had a few hours to burn before we began our sombre commute to the airport, so we decided to make our way to Kissimmee to check out the other Fun Spot location with our all-day wristbands….but not before checking out a couple of the new gift shops adjacent to Red Robin. We picked up some finally souvenirs for friends back home (Jake decided he wanted to take Sunshine’s parents and siblings back a couple of small items) then next stop was Fun Spot #2!
That was so nice of a fellow DIS-er to give you guys a behind the scenes tour! 
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to you....both to my report, and to the Disboards themselves! So glad to have you reading and posting with us!
Gosh, I miss those fun days sometimes 
I love happy surprises 
So we stopped. And we stared 
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. Steve happily wheeled the SUV around and we were parked in the Krispy Kreme lot within a scant few minutes. We kept our self-control about us this time, only ordering 4 donuts (the boys had the original glazed, while I indulged in my last Chocolate Kreme until April…total cost $3.92 with tax) and just as I suspected, we came up with an alternate plan as the last fingers were being licked clean:
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