WASHINGTON — Many Red Robin fans who tried to snag a limited-edition pass for bottomless burgers on Thursday were met with error messages.
The company confirmed in a statement that its website had crashed under the overwhelming influx of traffic as the promotional passes went on sale around 11 a.m. Eastern.
While Red Robin’s home page was initially updated to note that passes were still available as they worked to get the issues resolved, shortly after noon Eastern the website broke the news that all burger passes had been sold.
In an updated statement Thursday afternoon, the company apologized to their guests.
“We did everything we could to anticipate interest in the Bottomless Burger Pass, including working with our web and gift card partners to prepare for the influx of traffic, but due to overwhelming excitement in the pass, our website and supporting systems crashed,” Red Robin said in a statement. “We’re sorry that this happened to our loyal guests. All passes have been sold. We are still gathering information on total traffic to the site.”
For $20, the passes allow customers to get a Red Robin burger and side every day of the month of May. If the pass is used every day in May, it would have a value of up to $682.
The company did not say how many passes were available or how quick they were sold, despite multiple requests for comment on that.
Many took to social media to express frustration over the issues they faced.
“Red Robin’s site crashing over too many people flooding to try and get the $20 for a whole month of burgers is peak 2025,” one user on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, remarked.
Red Robin isn’t the first company to face customer criticism after selling a limited-edition pass. Last year, Applebee’s sold a yearlong subscription for weekly date nights that sold out within minutes. The restaurant chain’s website appeared to crash in that case too when the coveted $200 passes went on sale.
Earlier this year, Red Robin announces plans to close dozens of underperforming restaurants over the next several years, including 10 to 15 locations throughout 2025.
