Red Robin and A Mexican Train, anyone?

First off, what a weekend! I feel so alive, these are the days I live for. This is what makes the daily grind so worth it all. We had a very eventful weekend indeed. But, I'm only going to post about Friday because it includes our trip to Red Robin!

So what kind of name is Red Robin exactly? It kinda implies that the early bird gets the worm, I guess but I still wonder how in the world the founder came up with the name. Did he say, well I like the color red and I really like robins, so how about Red Robin? I mean seriously, don't you ever wonder how stores, restaurants, etc.. get their names. As a child I used to wonder who decided that the sky would be the color blue and not green or why grass was called grass and how it got its name. Language has always intrigued me. Anyway, let me get back. Ya gotta watch me, I like to jump into a string of tangents whenever possible.

It appears, I'm not the only one interested in knowing the story behind the name and it also appears, I'm not too far off either!

"The Red Robin legacy began in the 1940’s with Sam’s Tavern, a small tavern perched on a Seattle hilltop near the University of Washington campus. The owner, Sam, sang in a barber shop quartet and could frequently be heard singing the song, “When the red robin goes bob’ bob’ bobbin’ along.” In fact, Sam loved the song so much that he eventually changed the name of his tavern to Sam’s Red Robin, and over the years it became known simply, as Red Robin." - Taken from Red Robin website.

A few months ago I had noticed that the Smokey Bones Restaurant near the mall had closed down and that a new one was entering its place. At the same time, I noticed a TON of commercials for a Red Robin. I was utterly confused why we were having commercials for a restaurant that was no where near us. When we went home, I mentioned (seriously I was perplexed) to Bryan's mom and asked her if she knew if they had any locations in NC. (We occasionally get local commercials for the Wilmington area, even though its in another state and over an hour away. Well, when we got back from Marion, low and behold if we didn't find out that those commercials were because a Red Robin was showing up at the old Smokey Bones location! I knew there had to be a reason!

Okay, fast forward a couple of weeks and Bryan lands passes for 4 to an opening trial run. As a veteran food industry employee in VA and elsewhere, I have to say Myrtle Beach is queen of the opening trial run, its practically standard and something I have never seen anywhere else...of course, I have mainly worked Mom and Pops places as opposed to corporate and this might be why there are so many here. But eh, with Bryan in the industry and the amount of free passes we get, I WILL NOT COMPLAIN! It's quite lovely actually.

Alright, so we went with Agnes and Bill, our wonderful neighbors, our family away from home. And our reaction was....pretty good, not great, but worth a try! My main complaints were the noise level in the restaurant, which I think were caused by a large amount of employees toppled with the restaurant's high ceilings and open floor plan because there wasn't a huge amount of folks dinning while we were there. My other complaint was the amount of mayo on my burger, it was overkill and ruined the flavor of the Pineapple on it and the burger was missing a tomato- as were all over our burgers actually. However, I think that was due to the salmonella scares.

Now on to what was awesome at this place! The spinach/artichoke dip was extremely good! Along with the endless freckled lemonade (strawberries are in the drink and it is very YUMMY!)
The fries are 'bottomless" too, meaning 2nds or 3rds, but let's hope not. My personal favorite, a Raspberry Milkshake, reasonably priced - something I will be back for since Raspberry is an ice cream flavor I have lots of trouble finding!! Bryan's favorite was The Royal Red Robin Burger he says it was killer- with fried egg and bacon to boot.

The menu is small but appetizing and offers a little of something for everyone. And get this, according to the June issue of Parents Magazine, the restaurant ranks in the 'Top 10 Best Family Restaurants' that are kid friendly and provide good eats for kids at the same time, say goodbye to fried macaroni and hello to a side of fruit! And I have to say the atmosphere was very Kid-vibe good and especially when the Red Robin mascot makes an appearance, even Garrett seemed intrigued!

Overall, I think we'll be back, especially as Garrett gets older. Red Robin gets an A from us!

Now, what was next you ask? To tell ya the truth we were pooped at this point, full and tired from a busy day running around and working. We headed home and were ready to call it an evening, when Agnes and Bill insisted we come back for drinks at their house. Bryan was ready to say goodnight, but I figured hey, why not its only 7:30!!! So with Garrett, the 3 of us headed across the street and found ourselves consumed for the next 3 hours in a game of Mexican Train!

I had never played the game before, neither had Bryan- but we found a great new game and really enjoyed ourselves. It reminded me of old times at my pawpaw's when everyone sat around and played Rook and I moved in and out between everyone checking out their hands. It was a lovely family tradition and this game made me want to give Garrett a memory similar to my own. Except, for those of you who don't know, Mexican Train is played with domino's and a special center piece for holding the 'trains'. The concept is to go out before your opponents by creating a train and there are 13 rounds. (We only made it 4 rounds before it was time to put Garrett to bed). For a better understanding of the game, check this out. I promise you won't regret giving this game a try.

Of course, maybe it's because I was winning every round....