15 Of The Unhealthiest Foods At Red Robin

Red Robin, the gourmet burger chain with a storied history, first came to be in Seattle in 1969. Now operating hundreds of casual dining spots throughout the United States and Canada, the restaurant's menu has grown and evolved to include just about every type of craveable American comfort food you could want, from mac and cheese to bottomless fries to saucy fried chicken. One typically doesn't plan a night out at Red Robin with healthy dining in mind, but just how unhealthy is its menu anyway? 

When taking a deep dive into the nutritional information that Red Robin helpfully provides online, a lot of menu items jump out above the rest as particularly questionable when it comes to healthy eating. The worst offenders are assembled here, along with reasons why you might want to avoid them, or at least enjoy them only in strict moderation. Taking into account calories, fats, sodium, cholesterol, carbohydrates, and sugar, here are the 16 dishes have the most alarming nutritional red flags at Red Robin.

Red Robin's Towering Onion Rings is a show-stopping appetizer, with a baker's dozen of the golden-brown hoops piled atop one another in a lofty tribute to crispy deep-fried goodness. By default, it comes with two dipping sauces: ranch as well as Red Robin's own Campfire Mayo, a sweet and smoky take on the classic condiment. Once you see one of these statuesque platters gracing someone's dining table, it's tough not to order one for yourself, but you might want to think twice.

One serving of Towering Onion Rings boasts 1,310 calories. Knowing that the average recommended number of calories an adult should consume is around 2,000 a day, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, then add in the fact that this is just an appetizer, and you can see the problem here. However, it's not just the calorie count that throws up red flags. As with most deep-fried foods, it's got a hefty dose of fat. The main culprit with these rings, though, is sodium — at a whopping 3,580 milligrams, one serving of these rings contains over 150% of the recommended amount in a day. An excess of sodium in the diet can cause hypertension, as well as a slew of serious health issues from heart failure to cancer. Even the O-Ring Shorty, which is about half the size, serves up 94% of your daily sodium. We love onion rings of all kinds, but these sure do tip the sodium scale.

We wouldn't blame you if you thought ordering Red Robin's sweet potato fries was a relatively healthy choice. Sure, they're deep-fried, but sweet potatoes are healthy for you, right? They are indeed nutrient-rich tubers, and are a good source of fiber and protein, as well as many vitamins and minerals. These benefits, however, are outweighed by the major drawback to this dish, which is its saturated fat content.

The total fat content of one serving of these fries is 23 grams, which may not seem like much, but 21 of those grams come in the form of saturated fat. This equates to just over 100% of the recommended daily value. Saturated fats should be limited in one's diet, as too much can cause high levels of bad cholesterol, which can lead to serious and potentially fatal issues like heart attacks and strokes. On top of that, these sweet potato fries are bottomless, meaning you may have a hard time keeping yourself to one serving.

One look at the nutrition facts for the Buzzer Beater Bacon Cheeseburger might have you wondering if your eyes need adjusting. This over-the-top Red Robin offering comes in two forms — the double-patty Two Pointer and three-patty Triple Pointer — and boasts beef, bacon, cheese, and special sauce. While the two patty option is the less problematic of the two, even that slightly more modest version is off the charts as far as its unhealthiness is concerned. For our purposes, we'll focus on the Triple Pointer, which has comically shocking nutritional numbers.

Let's start with the calories. At 1,830 per serving, it nearly meets or exceeds most people's daily limit. If it's the only thing you eat all day, maybe you can justify it, but take a look at some other stats. The most glaring figure seems like a small one — 7 grams — but that's how much trans fat is found in this burger. Trans fats are a specific category that offers absolutely nothing in the way of health, and should be avoided, as consumption of them can lead to cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization recommends a maximum of just over 2 grams per day for the average adult. This beefy bomb also contains 288% of the daily value of saturated fat and almost twice your daily sodium. It's also extremely high in protein, too much of which can cause issues like kidney stones or even colon cancer.

Red Robin's "Clucks" are breaded and fried chicken strips, and as an entree, they're served with the chain's steak fries and dipping sauce. You can opt to get the chicken plain, but where's the fun in that? In the Buzz Style version of this dish, the chicken pieces are tossed with Buzz sauce, a spicy vinegar and chili pepper concoction that basically makes these into boneless buffalo wings. Buffalo wings, bone-in or not, aren't exactly known to be healthy. Like most wings, these also come with carrot sticks, which is great, but the nutrition pretty much ends there.

This dish has the second-highest sodium content of anything on the Red Robin menu, and that number is a sky-high 4,870 milligrams. That's an astronomical 212% of the recommended daily level for an average adult, and even more if you're a young adult or someone with high blood pressure, or have any other health issues that call for a lower sodium diet. With well over a 100% of your recommended total fat and saturated fat, too, this dish should definitely be avoided if you're concerned about health.

It's hard to say no to a decadent dessert after a meal. It's especially hard when that dessert is a massive whipped cream-laden chocolate peak made with ice cream and cookies and topped with a shiny, red cherry. Before you place your order for a giant slice of Red Robin's Mountain High Mudd Pie, though, you might want to be aware of some of its nutritional realities.

One look at this extravagant slice and it should be no surprise that there's a hefty amount of sugar here — 127 grams, to be precise. Some of those may be naturally occurring (Red Robin's nutritional facts don't separate added sugars), but with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and liquid sugar all listed as ingredients, it's a safe bet that most are not. When it comes to added sugar, the American Heart Association recommends a daily limit of 36 grams for men and 25 for women, meaning one serving likely exceeds that handily. This Mudd Pie also contains almost twice the amount of daily recommended saturated fat.

If you're choosing to indulge in an alcoholic beverage at Red Robin, you may want to consider the nutritional facts before you decide on your libation. Most of the chain's house cocktails rank pretty high when it comes to sugar and carbohydrates, which goes with the territory when using sweet liqueurs and mixers. Your eye might be drawn to the colorful Ocean Blue Patron Margarita, a classic blend of tequila, Cointreau, lime, and agave with tropical additions of pineapple juice and coconut.

With the Ocean Blue Patron Margarita, you get especially high numbers in those departments — 51 grams of total carbs, and 44 grams of sugar (to put that into perspective, a can of Coca-Cola has 39 grams). A margarita's not a margarita without a salted rim, but be aware that it shoots the sodium level of this beverage into the stratosphere at 930 milligrams, which equates to 40% of your daily intake. You may not ingest all of the salt, or you may opt for no salt at all, which helps bring it back down, but there are still the calories, carbs, and sugars to contend with.

This dish may look deceptively light and healthy, with its thin flour tortilla, white meat chicken, and colorful veggies, but in fact, the Crispy Chicken Wrap is one Red Robin item you might want to avoid. Of all of the non-burger sandwiches and wraps on the menu, it's highest in calories, and also beats out the rest in almost every other category.

Chief among its unhealthy offenses is its high sodium level, coming just short of 2,000 milligrams, which is most people's recommended daily limit. It's not just the salt content that's worrisome, however. With 67 grams of total fat, it's hardly the lean dish you might think it is based on preconceptions. Within that number are 18 grams of saturated fat, which equates to nearly 90% of your daily limit, as well as half a gram of trans fat. While half a gram seems negligible, keep in mind that 0 is recommended, and just over 2 grams is considered the ceiling.

When it comes to the relative unhealthiness of the items on this list, the Everything Chicken Caesar Salad pales in comparison to many of Red Robin's more obviously unhealthy dishes. Of course, it's healthier to eat one of these salads than, say, a Monster Burger. However, since most people choose salads assuming they're far healthier options, it's worthwhile to examine what makes this Caesar questionable on that front.

It seems very unassuming at first glance, consisting of lettuce, croutons, cheese, dressing, and chicken. Despite its light, fresh appearance, a serving of this salad has 840 calories and an astonishing 1,560 milligrams of sodium, which is over ⅔ of your daily limit. In addition, the fat content is surprisingly high, with 60 grams total and 14 of saturated fat — three-quarters of the recommended amount of both. Most of the fat comes from the dressing, and it's responsible for about half the sodium, too, so getting it on the side and using less than a full serving can make a big difference.

Red Robin's Bone-In Wings can be tossed with a sauce of your choosing, or left plain. While the nutritional values vary pretty widely depending on which sauce you opt for, none of them are what you'd call a healthy option. Even if you de-sauce the saucy wings, the plain chicken and Yukon potato chip dish goes over the daily recommended amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol, and contains 2,000 milligrams of sodium.

Throw them in a sauce and you'll see these numbers jump to dizzying heights. With Buzz sauce, total sodium more than doubles to 4,480 milligrams and the fat content takes a leap of its own. While this option has the worst health stats, other sauces aren't much better and bring concerns of their own, like the 41 grams of sugar in a serving of Mike's Hot Honey wings, or 43 if they're tossed in whiskey BBQ sauce. The most stupefying statistic by far is the sodium level of the salt & pepper bone-in wings, which somehow contain a staggering 6,940 milligrams per serving. Think about it this way: On average, a slice of bacon contains 115 milligrams of sodium, so you'd have to eat 60 pieces of bacon to get to the level of this dish.

If you're the type of diner who prefers their dessert in a glass rather than on a plate, Red Robin has got you covered with a variety of delicious milkshakes and malts. There are the classic vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate varieties — not exactly healthy, but not too shocking on the nutrition spectrum. And then there's this creation: the Monster Chocolate Dipped Pretzel & Caramel Malt. Vanilla soft serve ice cream is the shake's base, which is topped with whipped cream, caramel and chocolate sauce, and studded with mini pretzels sheathed in more chocolate.

This salty-sweet concoction has more cholesterol, sugar, and sodium than the previously mentioned infamous Mountain High Mudd Pie, coming in at 140 milligrams, 155 milligrams, and 760 milligrams, respectively. It also contains more trans fat — 1½ grams per serving.  You can opt to add malt powder, too, which bumps the calories, sodium, and carbohydrate numbers even higher. The 155 grams of sugar alone in this shake eclipses all other Red Robin menu items by a long shot.

Despite its intimidating name, Red Robin's Monster Burger seems positively tame compared to some of the chain's burger inventions. It's your pretty standard double cheeseburger with toppings like shredded lettuce, slices of tomato and onion, pickles and relish, and mayonnaise on a brioche bun. It may not look particularly monstrous, but some its nutritional content might just scare you.

There are only two items on the Red Robin menu that contain more trans fat than the Monster Burger, which clocks in at 4½ grams. Remember, the recommended amount of trans fat in your diet is none, and just over 2 grams is the maximum anyone should be ingesting in a day. This burger also serves up 88 grams of total fat, 34 of which are the saturated variety — that's 172% of your daily total. One of these burgers also contains more than the recommended amounts of sodium and protein for the average daily diet, coming in at 2,690 milligrams (or 117%) of sodium and 65 grams (or 131%) of protein.

Taking the top spot in calorie content is Red Robin's Whiskey River BBQ Ribs entree. This is the only item on the menu that tops the average recommended daily caloric intake, with a mind-blowing 2,180 per serving. That's the total for a half-rack of pork ribs with sauce, fries, and coleslaw. Calories aren't the full story here, and certainly there are many people who can comfortably take in more than 2,000 a day. If you're one of those people, you may still want to hold off when you look at the rest of the facts though.

This dish's highest crimes are its excessive saturated fat and sodium levels. Both are over 200% of what's recommended. There's a jaw-dropping 4,640 mg of sodium and 47 grams of saturated fat here. Visualize eating 7 tablespoons, or almost an entire stick, of butter — that's about the equivalent amount of saturated fat you'll get with this dish. Add in the 49 grams of sugar, and this is one of the unhealthiest offenders on the entire menu.

Before the Buzzer Beater shot up the rankings to clinch the No. 1 seed, Red Robin's Gold Medal Burger had the dubious distinction of being the unhealthiest burger on the menu by a mile — the gold medal of bad-for-you burgers, appropriately. It takes the chain's Monster Burger and throws a third patty and more cheese into the mix, pushing an already excessively unhealthy item to even further extremes. If you thought the Monster Burger's numbers were frightening, the Gold Medal's stats are positively terrifying.

Saturated and trans fats are by far the worst figures, with 51 grams of the saturated kind and 7 grams of the hazardous trans variety. The cholesterol and sodium content in this burger both roll well over 100% of the recommended daily value, with 370 milligrams and 3,820 milligrams respectively. Too much of any one of these categories can cause serious health issues, but this burger serves them all up in one very risky package.

Red Robin's well-loved Tsunami Shrimp entree doesn't hold a candle to the stats of some of the more obviously unhealthy menu items. Because it has the appearance of a much healthier choice, however, it's worth diving into the numbers to see if it is that much more nutritious than some of the more decadent-looking dishes. At a glance, it looks like a fairly nourishing meal — sure, it's fried, but it's seafood, and check out those green vegetables.

The Garlic Parmesan Broccoli it's served with is, in fact, quite a healthy side. It has only 80 calories, a few grams of fat, and 6% of your total daily sodium. Once the shrimp and fries come into the picture, unfortunately, that's all out the window. One serving of the complete dish contains over the maximum amount of total fat and sodium, along with close to a 100% of your daily saturated fat and cholesterol. The Tsunami sauce is the main offender as far as the fat goes, but even without it the dish still contains 2,000 milligrams of sodium. It's also not light in the calorie department, with 1,630 per serving.

One thing you can say about the Cheesy Bacon Fondue Burger is this: One look at the name, and you know exactly what you're getting into. This is bread, beef, bacon (America's favorite burger topping), mayo, cheese, and a side of more cheese to dip everything in. Certainly no one who orders this item should be fooled into thinking it offers anything in the way of healthfulness. Just how unhealthy is it, though?

While we've already covered some other burgers with more alarming stats, this one is pretty rough in a few spots. With 37 grams of saturated fat and 3 grams of trans fat, it's in the upper echelon of potential artery-clogging, heart-risky options. Then there's the sodium, which clocks in at 2,810 milligrams, by far the highest level for a single-patty burger on the menu. The only burgers higher in salt are the two triple-patty burgers on this list. That's quite a lot of sodium wrapped up in a relatively little package, and something to be aware of when choosing which Red Robin burger to order.