Red Robin Resturants & Guns?

[PatriotPride]

I OC in the Valparaiso Red Robin on a regular basis and I never have a problem. They are fine with OC as far as I know, and I have sat across from the Valpo Chief of Police without so much as a peep.

 

[JetGirl]

Firstly, "no sign"...? You're not breaking any policy as relates to patrons if it's not posted.
Secondly, I'm definitely not a grammar Nazi or a basher...but if you're going to send correspondence to a corporate headquarters office and represent an entire group of people (i.e. gun owners), please hit Spell Check.

 

[jedi]

Well here is the reply from corporate.
Hello xxxxxxxxx,
Thank you for your e-mail. We appreciate your comments and feedback. Red Robin company policy prohibits our Team Members, Guests and Vendors from possessing weapons on Red Robin premises regardless of whether or not the person is licensed to carry the weapon.
The only exception to this policy is those individuals employed in local, state and federal law enforcement that are required to carry a weapon as part of their duty to protect and serve the public.
Thanks again for your comments.
Red Robin Guest Relations
---

 

[eldirector]

That's what you get for asking.

If this is their official corp. policy, they need to post it. How else am I supposed to know to visit a competitor instead?

I hope you take your meet-n-greet to another location, and let both the corp. and the local franchise know why they lost your business.

 

[PatriotPride]

Well here is the reply from corporate.
Hello xxxxxxxxx,
Thank you for your e-mail. We appreciate your comments and feedback. Red Robin company policy prohibits our Team Members, Guests and Vendors from possessing weapons on Red Robin premises regardless of whether or not the person is licensed to carry the weapon.
The only exception to this policy is those individuals employed in local, state and federal law enforcement that are required to carry a weapon as part of their duty to protect and serve the public.
Thanks again for your comments.
Red Robin Guest Relations
---

Yep. Once the chain went corporate it went downhill. I've got a few friends that work there, and Corporate is full of idiots. I've never been approached when OC there, but I also have yet to see anyone else OC.

 

[jedi]

Well now I'm torn. I do like RR burgers so I'm not sure if I (personally not with the group event) would go back and give them my biz knowing what their stance is.

I'll wait to hear from our NWI INGO POC who talked to the local manager and see what s/he gets from the local people before we decide what to do in terms of where to hold the event. Suspect that we will have to go elsewhere. If that is the case then I'll write back to HQ and the local restaurant and let them know that they lost our biz.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

If that is the case then I'll write back to HQ and the local restaurant and let them know that they lost our biz.

Make sure to include copies of receipts from where ever you DO go and let them know this was likely to be a recurring and growing group

On a side note, I have found their prices to be a bit on the ridiculous side and their food to be AVERAGE at best. They are just hamburgers after all.

 

[Jubbie]

5 Guys place just opened up down the street from the Schererville Red Robin. Haven't been in there, but I'm guessing it's on the small side. Good alternative for getting a burger though.

 

[Roadie]

it is alot easier if you can find a venue with side rooms, we have gun clubs come in my restaurant a couple times a year, we just bring all the long guns through the side doors. I also had a ar-15 buld party scheduled that unfortunately fell through due to the FFL. Anyway, the side rooms keep the "nosy ones" quiet and everyone is happy. just my .02

Sorry for the threadjack, but...

You own a restaurant, or you work in one? Just curious.

 

[Deadly Z Driver]

YUUMMMMMMM!

Beat me to it!

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

this wont stop me from going back for my Guacamole Burger Monster.



Or having my CCW on me

 

[melensdad]

+1 for PRO.

-1 for Red Robin.

And for that matter I can't believe you guys got a decent burger there? I've been to the US41/Schererville location 3 times, food sucked each time.

For burgers why not go to SCHOOPS, local chain with about a dozen different locations? Or the new FIVE GUYS in Schererville on US41 just 1 block north of US 30?

I'd much prefer to go to a locally owned place than some big chain with microwaved food, pre-formed patties, and frozen then deep fried appetizers.

 

[fireball168]

I'd much prefer to go to a locally owned place than some big chain .....

While definately a chain, that store was locally owned until a year or two ago, and may still be.

If it is still a franchise location, corporate policy doesn't mean much.

 

[MilitaryArms]

I dislike the idea of "just do it", why create a scene in front of a restaurant full of people creating a bad image just to prove a point that is wrong? We want people to see us as responsible citizens, not as an armed mob demanding service. Chances are you may turn a place that wasn't worried about concealed carry into a place with a no firearms sticker on the door. Do you walk into a stranger house and light a cigar? Same principle...it is the proper and courteous thing to ask first.

The last time I checked carrying a firearm in Indiana is legal. Just as driving a car is legal, being able to speak your mind is legal, wearing a red shirt is legal, etc.

Do you call ahead to ask if they serve black people when you show up with a large group? Do you call ahead to make sure they allow people wearing American flags on their shirts? What else do you call ahead for?

If I were doing something unique or perhaps questionable, I might understand the perspective of getting permission. But I'll be damned if in this day and age I'll call ahead and ask permission from someone to exercise my Constitutional rights.

Do as you wish, get permission to do whatever you want. But don't expect the rest of us to be lemmings or subservient to the "man" just because you lack a the intestinal fortitude others have. We aren't harming your rights, it's those of us who stand up for our rights that are protecting yours while you cower behind us.

If they have a policy against firearms when I get there, they can approach me and ask me to take my firearm to the car per state law. At that point I'll thank them, walk out and never return.

 

[MilitaryArms]

+1 for PRO.

-1 for Red Robin.

And for that matter I can't believe you guys got a decent burger there? I've been to the US41/Schererville location 3 times, food sucked each time.

For burgers why not go to SCHOOPS, local chain with about a dozen different locations? Or the new FIVE GUYS in Schererville on US41 just 1 block north of US 30?

I'd much prefer to go to a locally owned place than some big chain with microwaved food, pre-formed patties, and frozen then deep fried appetizers.

I'm with you, the food is marginal at best.

I've gotten one grossly under cooked turkey burger once... and one that was 100% raw. I'll tell you, there's nothing more gross than biting into raw turkey meat... and I'm lucky I didn't get food poisoning.

I've been back since, but I have to double check to make sure the incompetent fools in the kitchen actually bothered to do their jobs.

As for the quality of their burgers, they run them through an automatic grill much like Burger King does. You can't order a burger cooked a certain way, which kind of flies in the face of their "gourmet burger" marketing. It's just another fast food joint serving marginal food.

 

[jedi]

I may get blasted for this but so be it. Thanks all for your "colorful" replies on how I started this all wrong by asking for permission, on how some of you would just "do it", how dare I ask permission, etc... BTW today I went to the RR in schererville on US41 and went in semi-OC. (I was wearing a black undershirt and an unbutton Hawaiian shirt. This is the first time I ever do that and felt like everyone was looking at me.) My daughter wanted to go to RR not me.

In any case back to the topic. The sole reason I stirred the cup on this issue with RR is because as the event coordinator for the NWI INGO MEET & EAT I feel it's my responsibility and duty to ensure that the MEET & EAT occurs "uneventful". Meaning that the members that come get to enjoy some food and the company of each other.

Some of our members have a very limited schedule while others drive nearly 1+ hours to these events so they don't need all the "drama" that may or may not happen if we just show up to a place and then have to figure out where else to go since we "don't serve there kind in here" occurs.

The group, unlike me personally, is NOT "politically active or trying to make a statement about OC". I recall that the original goal of these was to help members who had never OCed OC among a group to feel "comfortable" with it. That is still a reason along with just getting together.

So based on those parameters that is why I along with the NWI INGO MEET & EAT POC bend over backwards to find locations that can accommodate 15 to 20 people and will be OK with some of us OCs.

It's hard to restrain myself and play the middle of the road with my 2A right (which I feel very strongly about) and to also ensure that eat of these events are successful.

 

[88GT]

Well here is the reply from corporate.
Hello xxxxxxxxx,
Thank you for your e-mail. We appreciate your comments and feedback. Red Robin company policy prohibits our Team Members, Guests and Vendors from possessing weapons on Red Robin premises regardless of whether or not the person is licensed to carry the weapon.
The only exception to this policy is those individuals employed in local, state and federal law enforcement that are required to carry a weapon as part of their duty to protect and serve the public.
Thanks again for your comments.
Red Robin Guest Relations
---

What a crock. The knives and forks they lay out with their plates are weapons.

And I'm betting they don't bat an eye at the scores of people who walk through their doors with 3" folders clipped in plain view in a pocket or on a belt.

 

[88GT]

The last time I checked carrying a firearm in Indiana is legal. Just as driving a car is legal, being able to speak your mind is legal, wearing a red shirt is legal, etc.

Do you call ahead to ask if they serve black people when you show up with a large group? Do you call ahead to make sure they allow people wearing American flags on their shirts? What else do you call ahead for?

If I were doing something unique or perhaps questionable, I might understand the perspective of getting permission. But I'll be damned if in this day and age I'll call ahead and ask permission from someone to exercise my Constitutional rights.

Do as you wish, get permission to do whatever you want. But don't expect the rest of us to be lemmings or subservient to the "man" just because you lack a the intestinal fortitude others have. We aren't harming your rights, it's those of us who stand up for our rights that are protecting yours while you cower behind us.

If they have a policy against firearms when I get there, they can approach me and ask me to take my firearm to the car per state law. At that point I'll thank them, walk out and never return.

Since when is determining the "acceptability" of carrying on private property harming anybody's rights?

Did it ever occur to you that someone might want to ask to avoid patronizing an establishment that didn't respect such a fundamental right? That perhaps they don't want the hassle of having the conversation about not being welcome (and drawing attention to themselves that they may not want), that they don't want to waste their time finding a new place to eat because they didn't know beforehand? Just because someone handles it differently doesn't make them the enemy or contradictory to a cause.

FWIW, I operate the same way you do: I carry when, where, and how I see fit and put the onus on the property owner to let me know what is and is not acceptable. The only difference between our way and the other is when the individual decides to take his business elsewhere. How is our way superior?

As an aside, an argument could be made that those who don't waste their time or money by sking first might come out ahead. One could also make the argument that is it hypocritical to patronize an establishment that has a corporate policy prohibiting carry simply because the management of the local joint doesn't enforce it. After all, a real patriot and supporter of RKBA would know those things up front to avoid giving ANY money to the fiendishly evil corporation that wants to enslave us all.

 

[MilitaryArms]

FWIW, I operate the same way you do: I carry when, where, and how I see fit and put the onus on the property owner to let me know what is and is not acceptable. The only difference between our way and the other is when the individual decides to take his business elsewhere. How is our way superior?

From the posts in this thread, it seems several people have carried openly in the local RR's without issue. Now we have a manager that's apparently contacted corporate because of the actions of a single person that may well result in signs being posted in our local stores that otherwise wouldn't give a hoot.

I know the store in Valpo doesn't say anything about open carry from first hand experience. If I forced the issue by requesting a ruling from the local manager, one that previously ignored the practice, and that manager contacted corporate, given what we know now a place where I previously carried without issue is now off limits thanks to my actions.

See the difference?

 

[2cool9031]

Jedi....I won't say you were wrong in the way you handled it. I understand the goal was a nice get together without any problems, but what answer did you expect from RR corporate? When the question was asked there was no money at stake. In these type of situations, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Just do it and let the chips fall where they may. Oh....by the way, I wouldn't want to have the job of finding a place to meet and eat, if everyone is asked to leave you will be responsible for picking the wrong place.