There used to be three Red Robin restaurants in Austin.
The one on 290 was seized by the landlord for non-payment of rent, stripped to the studs, and turned into a Longhorn Steakhouse.
The one on 183 near Anderson Mill closed for a while, re-opened, closed again, and is now stripped of all signage. Nothing’s gone in at that location yet.
The one on Parmer at I-35 (near the Wal-Mart) is “closed temporarily” according to the corporate website, and has a notice from the sheriff’s department (stating the fixtures have been seized) taped to the front door.
I know, they’re chain burger places. But when I first went to one, I thought it was actually a pretty decent chain place to get a burger (especially since Fuddrucker’s collapsed). The last few times I went to the Parmer Red Robin, though, it was…not good. Not in the “induced vomiting” sense, but in the “I paid good money for this?” sense.
I feel sorry for the staff who lost their jobs; most of them seemed like good people trying hard. But I don’t feel too sorry for the management, who managed to take a workable concept and run it into the ground.