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Thursday, November 14, 2024
<p>Red Robin will open its 12th Florida location at The Oaks Mall in spring 2013. The restaurant will be between Ruby Tuesday and Coldwater Creek.</p>

Red Robin will open its 12th Florida location at The Oaks Mall in spring 2013. The restaurant will be between Ruby Tuesday and Coldwater Creek.

When a Red Robin Gourmet Burgers commercial comes on TV, Rebecca Kingston gets upset.

“It’s such a tease,” the 20-year-old sociology junior said.

Since she moved to UF, she hasn’t been able to go to the burger restaurant because there were none in town. But that’s about to change.

Red Robin will open its first Gainesville location in The Oaks Mall in spring, said Angie McCann, general manager of The Oaks Mall.

The chain has locations throughout Florida from Miami to Tampa.

The restaurant’s first location opened in Seattle in 1969. There are about 470 restaurants across the U.S. and Canada.

Red Robin’s burgers range from about $8 to $11. Other meals such as bowls of soup and sandwiches range from about $5 to $14.

Kingston said she used to eat her favorite burger, the Bleu Ribbon, with macaroni and cheese on the side at Red Robin’s location in Fort Myers once every two weeks.

“I’m excited for the new location, since I won’t have to drive four hours to get my fix,” Kingston said.

The new Red Robin location will have an outside entrance between Ruby Tuesday and Coldwater Creek on the north side of The Oaks Mall.

McCann said the leasing company the mall works with scopes out restaurants and stores they think will do well there, and then they begin negotiations to bring them to The Oaks Mall.

Jamie Winter, communications manager for Red Robin, said in an email interview that the restaurant has a great relationship with the owner of The Oaks Mall, General Growth Properties.

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When there was an opening at the mall, she said, Red Robin was sought out as a good fit.

Nora Jones, a 19-year-old anthropology sophomore, said she has only been to The Oaks Mall a couple of times in the year she’s lived in Gainesville, but she’s interested in going there to try Red Robin in the spring.

“I’ve heard they have good food,” she said. “My brother went to one in Tennessee, and he has been talking about going back ever since.”

Winter said employees are usually hired about five weeks before opening.

“We are very excited about coming into Gainesville, and we think it will be a perfect fit for our family-friendly restaurant,” she said. “And who doesn’t love a burger and fries?”

Red Robin will open its 12th Florida location at The Oaks Mall in spring 2013. The restaurant will be between Ruby Tuesday and Coldwater Creek.

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