Red Robin's new kid's menu - boo! PSA!

[Kestrel]

New kid's menu at Red Robin this week.

We commented on it being new to our server; she said yes, just this week. We said ok, glad DS's mac & cheese is still there. Ordered it.

Well, it came and the portion is smaller than before. Didn't think much of it. Well, guess what? It's no longer bottomless. Their portion with side of fruit, two glasses of water and a kid's shake we still not enough food for DS.

They changed the menu, making a section with larger kids' size portions, and mac & cheese isn't there. Just on the smaller size. (I didn't realize when looking at it that there were two sections.)

Their solution was for us to order ANOTHER kid's meal for him. Umm, no. He's six. I think a kid's meal should feed a six year old.

A PSA to other parents out there!

Am I out of line?

[jenstring95]

No - I hate it when kids' meals are not actually enough to feed them. I think in some cases this is their way of keeping the calorie/nutritional information in check (rather than changing recipes and making the food healthier while still serving a decent portion). My DS has this happen more and more, but he is 9, and I realize our days of ordering him kids' meals are seriously numbered. However, 7yo DD rarely finishes a kid's meal, so I know when she does that the portion is fairly small. We definitely have this problem in some restaurants more than others, and we haven't been to Red Robin recently. One suggestion for your next visit to Red Robin is to ask if they can make a big kid's meal with mac and cheese even though it isn't on the menu that way. It's not like it's a food they don't have. Also, you could try the small plate again and see if last time was a fluke and they really haven't changed the amount. Maybe you just got a stingy server? Finally, you could write a letter or email or go in and speak with a manager and express your displeasure. If they get enough complaints I would think they would change things back.

[lalasmama]

... Just one more reason for me to not like Red Robin.

My DD is allergic to red and yellow food dyes. At *most* restaurants, I can ask for an allergy binder, and easily see what she can have. At Red Robin? TWICE, at TWO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, they told me they can't let me see the ingredients in any of their meals, and if DD can't eat everything safely, maybe we should go elsewhere. Turns out their allergy pages only list the "common" ones (milk, nuts, and 1-2 others, I think).

[mom2binsd]

We go to Buffalo Wild Wings a lot, on Wednesday they have 1.49 kids meals, we order two for my kids (they love the boneless wings), so they get 8 wings lots of fries (there are other side options) and a drink.. They also have Mac and cheese in their kids menu... Red Robin just opened here and we haven't been yet... But I agree I hate when the kids meals are tiny..

[Mikey0709]

We just discovered Buffalo wild wings and loved it! Now i totally have to look into the 1.49 kids meals!

And VERY VERY disappointing to hear about Red Robin.... so thank you for the heads up. It was a go-to place, and one of mine ALWAYS ordered mac & cheese. I would NOT be ordering 2 kids meals there.

On the topic of kids meals.... just found out that our IKEA is ending the "kids eat free of tuesdays". IT was a great offer for us every once in awhile. We will still go there - because at $2.99 their kids meals are still a deal - but it is one place i WILL order 2 kids meals per kid because the cost is reasonable.

I have to say at some places - kids meals are VERY disappointing.... especially when they are still $5-8 and not even a drink is included..... and they hit you up for $2.99 for a drink! Nothing like paying $10-11 and amount of food is too little for a 7 year old!

OK - my rant is over. Thank you op for the update on Red Robin.

[AlbrightRC]

My son just turned 7 and very rarely is a kids meal enough food for him anymore..I told my husband a few months ago we need to just order off the adult menu and then at worst we will have leftovers

[Simon]

We ate off the new Red Robin kids menu and didn't have an issue with portion size. The kid sides and drink are still "bottomless" just the entree is single serving. I don't think that's a bad thing, although it sounds like your son would do better eating from the bigger portion side of the menu and you may have to request mac&cheese in a larger size. I'm guessing they will accommodate you.

RR has been one of our go-to restaurants for allergies because they always send a manager to us and they have always been prepared to fix safe foods, even when we had an incredible restrictive diet. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with them Mimi.