Robin’s roost for new Lakewood lunch spot

Lunch is a busy time for most restaurants, but when you’re a new Red Robin finally open for service on the west side of town, expect to be extra busy.

“It’s been busier here than I thought it would be,” said Sarah Nugent, manager of the restaurant, which opened at 14183 W. Colfax Ave. in the Denver West shopping area. “We opened Thanksgiving week, and haven’t really slowed down since.”

The Red Robin is different from most of the chains other locations in its design –; it uses a smaller, more streamlined style and open floor plan that manages to make the atmosphere both airy and cozy.

The bar area is slightly smaller than normal, Nugent added, but has still been extremely popular with guests. And that’s easy to see during lunch, where the observant diner has a buffet of people-watching to peruse. Everyone from friends and co-workers getting out of the office for an hour, families stopping by for a bite while they’re out and about for the day, and even a soldier who stops in to pick up an order to go.

The staff is constantly busy, rushing around and dodging each other like a school of fish.

“We have a great team here,” Nugent said approvingly as she watched her employees in action. “We’ve done a lot of work here to build a family.”

The food presentation is a little more upscale, but fans of the restaurants bottomless fries, monster shakes and burgers have no need to fret –; that’s all the same.

What the restaurant really does is prove true the old business adage –; location, location, location.

“People are really excited we’re here,” Nugent said. “We didn’t have restaurant close to this at all, so a lot of people are choosing to come here.”