Red Robin Puts Alcohol in the Dirty Soda Trend, Year-Round

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers has added Spiked Dirty Sodas to its menu permanently, becoming one of the first national restaurant chains to serve the viral dirty soda format with alcohol in it. The move puts a full-year beverage platform behind a trend that has mostly lived on social media, and it arrives alongside three limited-time holiday drinks.

The spiked lineup runs to seven customizable options. Four are spelled out by the chain:

• Coconut Cola — Coca-Cola, Malibu Rum and coconut, topped with cold foam and a lime wedge.
• Vanilla Dr Pepper — Dr Pepper, Jack Daniel's Whiskey and vanilla, topped with cold foam and a cherry.
• Fruity Fizz — Sprite and Tito's Handmade Vodka with a choice of candied orange, wild raspberry, desert pear or dragon fruit, finished with cold foam and a cherry.
• Island Breeze — Sprite, Malibu Rum, pineapple and coconut, topped with cold foam and a cherry.

Guests who skip the spirits aren't left out. Red Robin also offers a range of bottomless dirty sodas — free refills, in line with the chain's long-running bottomless beverages and sides positioning — which keeps the platform family-friendly across dayparts.

What does this change for the beverage menu?

The mechanics are straightforward menu engineering. Red Robin is pairing a familiar base — soda that guests already order — with premium spirits like Grey Goose, Tito's and Jack Daniel's, plus a cold-foam finish borrowed from coffee chains. That builds a drinkable, customizable cocktail without a full bar program's complexity, and customization (four fruit choices in Fruity Fizz alone) gives servers an upsell conversation at the table.

Executive Chef and VP of Culinary & Beverage Innovation Brian Sullivan framed it as an extension of the chain's core identity. "When people think of Red Robin, they think of our burgers," he said. "With our new Spiked Dirty Sodas and holiday beverage innovation, we're bringing that same creativity and passion for flavor to our beverage menu."

He added: "We're taking inspiration from emerging trends and flavors people already love and creating drinks that are both approachable and unexpected. Whether it's a creamy soda creation or a peppermint-inspired beverage, we want every sip to be just as exciting as what's on the plate."

The holiday layer

Three seasonal drinks round out the launch, all built the same way — a known flavor plus a spike option:

• Peppermint Espresso Martini — Grey Goose Vodka, peppermint and espresso, topped with cold foam and crushed peppermint.
• Santa's Little Helper Dirty Soda — Original or Sugarfree Red Bull with raspberry, vanilla and club soda, cold foam and a lime wedge; spikable with Grey Goose.
• OREO Candy Cane Milkshake — vanilla soft serve blended with peppermint and OREO cookies, whipped cream, crushed candy cane and cookie crumbs; spikable with Baileys.

The spike-it-yourself structure matters here. One milkshake recipe serves two audiences, and the Baileys add-on lifts check average on a dessert item.

Food-side, Red Robin is anchoring the value message with meals under $10 on its Big Yummm Deals menu, including the Red's Double Burger, Haystack Double Burger, Bacon Ranch Double Burger, Bleu Ribbon Burger and Burnin' Love Burger. Cheap food plus premium drinks is a classic margin pairing: the value menu drives traffic while the beverage program carries the check.

The seasonal drinks run through the holiday period, but the Spiked Dirty Sodas stay on the menu year-round — a signal Red Robin sees the format as durable traffic and margin driver, not a one-season stunt.