Red Robin Opens 8th New Restaurant of the Year; Continues Expansion in Arizona.

Business Editors

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 2002

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Spirits(R), (NASDAQ:RRGB) a casual dining chain based in Greenwood Village, Colo., opened its newest location today in Prescott, Arizona, by the Prescott Gateway Mall.

To celebrate the grand opening, Red Robin will donate 50 cents from each of its gourmet burger sales during grand opening week to the Prescott Gateway Music & Art Fund, a fund within the Yava Pai County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Arizona Community Foundation. In addition, Red Robin will be giving away a Red 2002 Volkswagen Beetle as part of its "Burger Love" promotion during the month of September. Arizona residents are eligible to enter the contest at any Arizona Red Robin. The winner will be selected in a random drawing from all eligible entries in October.

Mike Snyder, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Chairman, President and CEO stated, "This marks our eighth new company-owned restaurant opening of the year and keeps us on track for our planned total of ten new openings by year-end. Our expansion in the Southwest, particularly in Arizona has been tremendous this year. This opening marks our second of three new Red Robin locations that we plan to open in Arizona in this month alone."

Red Robin has three additional company owned locations in Arizona including Scottsdale, Mesa and Peoria, and plans to open another location in Chandler later this month. Red Robin franchisees operate restaurants in Tempe, Tucson, and Lake Havasu. With the addition of the Prescott and Chandler locations, Red Robin will have eight corporate and franchise locations in Arizona.

The company has been expanding in the Southwest, Midwest and East Coast and now has restaurants in 24 states as well as Canada's Alberta and British Columbia provinces.

The Red Robin menu focuses on its signature product, the gourmet burger, which is defined as "anything that can go in, on or between two buns." Guests can choose from beef, chicken, veggie, fish, pot roast or turkey burgers, with a wide variety of toppings, such as grilled pineapple, guacamole, green chilies, honey mustard sauce, barbecue sauce, fried onion straws, sauteed mushrooms, and the list goes on. The 6,351 square foot Prescott location seats 237 guests with an exterior patio and employs 120 team members.

About Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

Red Robin (www.redrobin.com) founded in 1969, is a casual dining restaurant chain focused on serving an imaginative selection of high quality gourmet burgers in a family-friendly atmosphere. Red Robin serves gourmet burgers in a variety of recipes with bottomless fries, as well many other items including salads, soups, appetizers, entrees, desserts, and its signature Mad Mixology(R) specialty beverages. Red Robin owns and operates 94 restaurants in 12 states, and has 99 additional restaurants operating under franchise or license agreements in 18 states and Canada.

About Prescott Gateway Music & Art Fund

The Prescott Gateway Music & Art Fund was created to provide music and art education to children in Yavapai County schools and communities. Through grants and special events, the Prescott Gateway Music & Art Fund will help strengthen programs that are in need of financial assistance. The Prescott Gateway Music & Art Fund exists under the Yavapai County Community Foundation (YCCF), an affiliate of the Arizona Community Foundation, a tax-exempt public charity. YCCF is a permanent philanthropic endowment for the enduring benefit of the community. It secures, manages and allocates donors' gifts for charitable purposes in Yavapai County.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this press release includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical facts. These statements may be identified, without limitation, by the use of forward looking terminology such as "may", "will", "anticipates", "expects", "believes", "intends", "should" or comparable terms or the negative thereof. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. Such statements speak only as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update such forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: our ability to achieve and manage our planned expansion; our ability to raise capital in the future; the ability of our franchisees to open and manage new restaurants; our franchisees' adherence to our practices, policies and procedures; changes in the availability and costs of food; potential fluctuation in our quarterly operating results due to seasonality and other factors; the continued service of key management personnel; the concentration of our restaurants in the Western United States; our ability to protect our name and logo and other proprietary information; changes in consumer preferences or consumer discretionary spending; health concerns about our food products; our ability to attract, motivate and retain qualified team members; the impact of federal, state or local government regulations relating to our team members or the sale of food or alcoholic beverages; the impact of litigation; the effect of competition in the restaurant industry; and other risk factors described from time to time in SEC reports filed by Red Robin.