Red Robin’s Burger Works flew the Auraria Campus coop

Red Robin has been getting schooled on how tough it can be to create a spin-off of a successful concept. The Red Robin’s Burger Works that opened in September 2012 on the Auraria Campus — then the sole restaurant option in the new, $45 million Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center, which it promised to reward with $50,000 in donations over three years — has closed. See also: Red Robin’s Burger Works — the rise of the machine

The Red Robin spinoff concept — a smaller, less-dramatic-and-more-metallic version of the original, meant for smaller urban spaces — made its debut at the Shops at Northfield Stapleton two years ago. That location is still open, as are spots in Boulder and on Denver’s 16th Street Mall. And stores at Colorado State University and Ohio State University have held on, too.

But on the Auraria Campus, the grill is gone…

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