8-Year-Old's Award-Winning Gourmet Burger Sales Support Child Safety As Part of Red Robin's Third Annual Kids' Cook-Off

Red Robin Restaurants Sell 'Holy-Peno Burger' to Support National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's Child Safety Initiatives

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Starting today, burger enthusiasts nationwide will have the opportunity to taste America's newest gourmet burger recipe while also supporting an important cause. From Tuesday, July 28 to Sunday, Sept. 13, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (Red Robin) will feature Idaho resident, 8-year-old Charlie Beckett's Holy-Peno Burger in all U.S. Red Robin(R) restaurants. Fifty cents of each Holy-Peno Burger sold will be donated to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(R) (NCMEC) to support its child safety initiatives. Since 2006, the company has donated more than $160,000 to NCMEC through its Kids' Cook-Off program.

"Charlie's Holy-Peno Burger was a hit with the Kids' Cook-Off judges and we're certain our guests will enjoy its unique combination of flavors while also supporting a very important organization," said Susan Lintonsmith, Red Robin chief marketing officer. "We are excited to celebrate the creativity of young and aspiring chefs while we support the National Center's child safety programs for the third year in a row."

Red Robin, the gourmet burger expert for the past 40 years, selected Beckett's Holy-Peno Burger recipe - a blackened burger topped with jalapenos, pepper-jack cheese and caramelized onions served on a ciabatta bun - as the winning creation to be sold in each of its U.S. restaurants during the third annual Kids' Cook-Off Championship in December 2008. More than 14,000 kid-invented gourmet burger recipes were received for the third annual event, and the top 50 recipes - including Beckett's Holy-Peno Burger - are now featured in a cookbook, along with back-to-school child safety tips from NCMEC, that is available for free download at www.redrobin.com.

Calling all kid chefs!

Currently, Red Robin is accepting entries for its fourth annual Kids' Cook-Off. During a time when at-home activities with families are on the rise compared to six months ago, and 74 percent of families say they spend more time cooking together^*, the Kids' Cook-Off encourages kids to experiment in the kitchen for the chance to have their burger recipe selected as America's next gourmet burger. Kids, ages six to 12, can submit a gourmet burger recipe and 100-word statement about why they deserve to win from Tuesday, July 28 to Sunday, Sept. 13, at their local Red Robin(R) restaurant or online at www.redrobin.com.

Fifty kid-invented gourmet burger recipes submitted to the Kids' Cook-Off will be chosen for inclusion in a cookbook available online in summer 2010 at www.redrobin.com. Like Beckett's Holy-Peno Burger, this year's grand-prize-winning burger will be sold at all participating U.S. Red Robin(R) restaurants in 2010 to benefit NCMEC's child safety initiatives.

To select the fourth annual Kids' Cook-Off grand-prize-winning burger recipe, 10 semi-finalists will be invited to Denver, Colo., in December 2009 to compete in the Kids' Cook-Off Championship. At the event, the finalists will make their burger for a panel of judges, including well-known chefs, Colorado-based food experts and Red Robin representatives. During the competition, three runners-up and a grand-prize winner will be selected.

All 10 semi-finalists will receive a trip to Colorado for the Championship with an accompanying parent or guardian, a $100 Red Robin gift card, a $150 VISA gift card, and an iPod nano as prizes^**. In addition to the grand-prize winner's gourmet burger being featured in every participating U.S. Red Robin(R) restaurant to support NCMEC's child safety initiatives and included in a kids' cookbook in summer 2010, the grand-prize winner will also receive a family vacation to Universal Orlando(R) Resort and a 12-month membership to the Kids Cooking Club(R).

For more information on the Kids' Cook-Off, or to find the nearest restaurant location where you can try the Holy-Peno Burger to support NCMEC's child safety initiatives, visit www.redrobin.com.

About Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB)

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (www.redrobin.com), a casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1969 that operates through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Red Robin International, Inc., has been serving up wholesome, fun, feel-good experiences in a kid- and family-friendly environment for the past 40 years. Red Robin, which was named one of Parents magazine's Ten Best Family Restaurants, is famous for serving more than two dozen insanely delicious(TM), high-quality gourmet burgers in a variety of recipes with Bottomless Steak Fries^(R), as well as salads, soups, appetizers, entrees, desserts, and signature Mad Mixology^(R) Beverages. There are more than 430 Red Robin^(R) restaurants located across the United States and Canada, including corporate-owned locations and those operated by franchisees.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(R) (NCMEC)

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since it was established by Congress in 1984, the organization has operated the toll-free 24-hour national missing children's hotline which has handled more than 2.3 million calls. It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 132,314 children. The organization's CyberTipline has handled more than 648,700 reports of child sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 19,518,370 child pornography images and videos. The organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.

*According to a recent research report from Starcom and Nickelodeon.

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    Source: Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

Released July 28, 2009