9-YEAR-OLD CROWNED CHAMPION OF NATIONAL KIDS' COOK-OFF; SPICY HONEY GLAZED BACON BURGER TO BE SOLD NATIONALLY TO BENEFIT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN

10-YEAR-OLD'S A DOUBLEDILLY OF A BURGER NAMED FIRST 'FAN FAVORITE' WITH MORE THAN 3,000 ONLINE VOTES

Get ready, burger lovers, there's a new gourmet burger champion! Bonney Lake, WA resident, 9-year-old Emma Potts has been named the grand-prize winner in the fourth annual Red Robin Kids' Cook-Off with her Spicy Honey Glazed Bacon Burger. The winning gourmet burger - made with honey, bacon, cayenne pepper, and havarti cheese- will be sold in Red Robin(R) restaurants in summer 2010 to benefit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(R) (NCMEC).

The inaugural "Fan Favorite" was Hillsboro, Ore. resident, 10-year-old Daphney Thomas' A DoubleDilly of a Burger made with provolone cheese, deep fried pickles, dill mayonnaise and served on an onion bun. The A DoubleDilly of a Burger received the most online votes at www.redrobin.com/thefinalists - more than 14,000 (Daphney received more than 3,000 of those votes) - from consumers nationwide.

The top 10 burgers judged during the Dec. 3 Championship were selected from more than 11,000 recipe entries received from kids ages six to 12 based on their combination of ingredients, fun flavors and compelling 100-word statements from the kid chefs that described why their burger deserved to win.

The top 10 finalists that competed were:

-Tanner Burns, Ashville, OH: "The Firey Clucker"; - Emma Downing, Chillicothe, OH: "Flamin' Crispy Chicken Burger"; - Daphney Thomas, Hillsboro, OR: "A DoubleDilly of a Burger" ; - Nicolas Pacific, Indio, CA: "Creamy Chicken Ceaser Salad Sandwich"; - Gabriel Byrne, Topeka, KS: "Seven Wonders Burger"; - Tyler Heppner, Mentor, OH: "Awesome Cordon Blue Burger"; - Mike Smyth Jr., New Lenox, IL: "Bacon Hot Popper Burger"; - Rhiannon Potter, Laceys Spring, AL: "Kickin' Cordon Bleu Chicken Sandwich"; - Randi Lenard, Rifle, CO: "Chili Lime Chicken Roll"; - Emma Potts, Bonney Lake, WA: "Spicy Honey Glazed Bacon Burger"

The grand-prize-winning burger sales from the third annual Kids' Cook-Off resulted in a donation of more than $65,000 to NCMEC to support child safety initiatives. Since the Cook-Off was created in 2006, Red Robin has donated more than $290,000 to NCMEC through the Cook-Off and other Red Robin(R) restaurant programs.

    SATELLITE FEEDS:
    Thursday, December 3rd, 2009       Friday, December 4th, 2009
    6:30 PM - 6:45 PM ET               1:00 PM - 1:15 PM ET
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NEWS: Robin Miller, Host of the Food Network's "Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller," Has Selected the New Burger Champ as the Celebrity Judge for the Red Robin Kids' Cook-Off

FORMAT: B-roll and Soundbites

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Video, contact information and more available at: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/broadcast/40825/press.html

    SOUNDBITES:
    * Emma Potts, the new kid burger champ
    * Daphney Thomas, the first-ever "Fan Favorite"
    * Robin Miller, Food Network host
    * Robbie Callaway, NCMEC co-founder
    * Susan Lintonsmith, Red Robin CMO

    B-ROLL INCLUDES:
    * 10 kid chefs preparing their gourmet burgers in an 'Iron Chef'-like
      competition for a panel of VIP judges, including the Food Network's
      Robin Miller

VIDEO PROVIDED BY: Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.

Contact: FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL: MultiVu Media Relations, 1-800-653-5313 EXT. 3

SOURCE Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.

Released December 3, 2009