Red Robin is two years into its “North Star” turnaround plan. There are a lot of metrics CEO GJ Hart can use to explain how much progress has been made, but arguably the most compelling result is coming directly from customers.
The chain now has a spot on its website where it posts handwritten letters from guests. One consumer retold an “unforgettable dining experience” she had in Orchard Park, New York, specifically calling out one stellar server. Another said Red Robin has become a staple in her relationship and even invited the company to her future wedding.
The brand is receiving love in the digital sphere, too. TikTok influencers have filmed themselves in restaurants trying Red Robin’s new burgers and other menu items.
“We are doing something right, but you can always get better,” Hart says.
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Red Robin’s preliminary Q4 results show same-store sales increased 3.4 percent, excluding the impact of a change in deferred loyalty revenue. Including this impact, comps lifted 1.8 percent. The performance beat prior expectations as the chain saw momentum accelerate throughout the quarter and into the new year.
The biggest accomplishment in 2024, according to Hart, was becoming an operations-driven company thanks to a new managing partner program. The CEO says the initiative went better than Red Robin hoped for, especially considering these operators are not only being taught how to run restaurants but also how to be business literate.
Having a spot at the decision-making table has motivated local leaders to embrace the comeback strategy. That means more efficient locations, higher hospitality, and all-time high guest satisfaction scores. The operators are instructed to lead from the front, meaning when the dining room is open, they are visible. They’re touching tables, saying hello to guests, making sure shifts run properly, and ensuring customers are being seated.
The main message is that everyone is in it together—from the c-suite to the store leaders. Red Robin is open to operators trying things differently in restaurants or learning from them on what works.
“We have a lot of tenured people that buy into what we’re trying to do, line up with our mission, vision, and values, which sounds easy to say. It’s not always,” Hart says. “When you’re a 55-year-old company and you’re embracing a lot of long-term people, they don’t always buy into that, but they have here and they’ve been open to change.”
Building a marketing engine has also become a priority. During Red Robin’s high-growth era, the chain was the “poster child for real local store marketing,” Hart says, but the chain walked away from it. The company has brought that back and encouraged operators to genuinely be part of the community. One example could be fundraisers in which an operator is engaging with dozens of customers that have either lapsed or haven’t been to Red Robin at all.
At the start of the North Star plan, the company lowered its marketing budget so it could invest in other parts of the business. But now that restaurants are executing at a higher level, Red Robin is ready to re-introduce itself to the masses.
The revamped loyalty program, launched in spring 2024, has been a crucial part of reaching customers. Red Robin upgraded its offering based on a survey that found more than half of customers want to earn more rewards faster. Guests can now earn one point for every dollar spent on all qualifying purchases, not just entrées, and for every 100 points earned, members get a $10 reward. Additionally, the company can now communicate specific offers—to the point that guests feel like a part of the brand—versus a broad brush, which is more expensive. The program has proven to be more relevant to customers and driven additional awareness and frequency.
“Every metric, we’re blown away from what we expected,” Hart says.
Red Robin has spent a great deal of time growing awareness around its 30 bottomless items, not just fries and drinks. It’s an operational aspect the company measures each day. Was a customer offered bottomless options? Did the restaurant live up to the promise? Servers are tasked with making this happen, but they have financial motivation to do so because more products ordered likely means a higher tip.
The chain also began placing burgers in baskets instead of wax paper, introduced new hand-prepped ingredients, switched to flat top grills to create a 20 percent larger and juicier burger, and revealed a new lineup of 20-plus improved burgers in the fall.
This is the type of value Red Robin wants to put in front of customers. The chain also has price-pointed offers, but it’s different from the sweeping discounts the chain had before Hart arrived. There are daily deals, but they have a purpose. For instance, on Monday, customers can add a burger patty or slice of cheese to any gourmet burger for $2—not discounting the burger, but making it easier for guests to be more indulgent. On Tuesday, the brand offers $10 Cheeseburgers, which has helped drive traffic on a typically softer day, including those who haven’t been in a while.
“I’ve heard that people are saying, ‘Well this discounting is not doing what it used to do, and maybe we’re getting toward the end of it.’ I don’t know. For our purposes, it’s doing what it needs to do, and we’ll react appropriately,” Hart says. “We’ve worked too hard on this brand. It deserves more, and we’re not just going to give it up.”
Hart is optimistic about Red Robin’s direction, but he emphasizes that the job is far from finished.
He’s been part of these comebacks before. Not that Red Robin is the same as the others, but implementing a complete shift across roughly 500 restaurants takes time.
“A lot of people expect you to do turnarounds in 12 months. It just doesn’t work like that,” Hart says. “And so we got a lot of pressure because we had a great 23 and 24 was a challenging year for everybody. And so it’s like, ‘What happened?’ Nothing happened. We’re still doing the blocking and tackling, but now we’re starting to get a little bit of tailwind as an industry.”
