Restaurant Review - Red Robins

As soon as I heard Red Robin restaurants are carrying Udi's gluten free hamburger buns, I was anxious to go and try it out. My son, Sammy, was as well since he never eats a hamburger on a bun in a restaurant. Upon entering Red Robin, I was a little disappointed not to see any signage announcing the new gluten free hamburger buns. It was also not listed on the menu. How is one supposed to know they have them? I ordered Sammy the children's meal with the gluten free bun. It was 99 cents extra for the special bun. This is not a problem for me; I was just happy to have the option. I also ordered sweet potato fries. I asked whether the fries contain gluten. The server said he didn't know but would check. He did later confirm that there was no wheat on the fries but failed to mention any cross contamination issues. I've read that they do not use a separate fryer for the fries so they could become contaminated with wheat. This is important for those who are very sensitive to gluten. This was a little disappointing. I think if Red Robin is going to carry gluten free food, the wait staff should be educated on these issues. I did notice that the food ticket had "allergy alert" printed on it.

Children's hamburger with the

Udi gluten free hamburger bun

The bun was good. Sammy ate half of it which I thought was pretty amazing. He's used to eating hamburger without the bun so I assumed he would immediately toss it away. This bun seemed a little more moist than the bun that I had at Ruby's Diner in Southern California. Maybe it was just fresher. The sweet potato fries were really tasty and were not over cooked which was a pleasant surprise. I like to eat sweet potato fries instead of regular fries when I'm out (if I'm going to eat fries at all, that is). Sweet potatoes are loaded with nutrition but be careful, deep fried sweet potatoes are also loaded with saturated fat.

Sweet Potato Fries

Sam enjoying his gluten free hamburger!

Overall we were happy with the meal, especially the new gluten free bun option but we did have to wait over 30 minutes for our food (at lunch time). I would love to see Red Robin promote the new buns. Otherwise, I'm afraid they won't sell and then we'll not have the option of gluten free buns at a local restaurant any more. Maybe they'll read my blog. :) Happy gluten free hamburger eating.