PROPOSAL 1:
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

HOW OUR DIRECTORS ARE SELECTED, QUALIFIED, AND ELECTED

              Because Company board meetings are rarely conducted in public, it is sometimes difficult for stockholders to assess the strength of a board's decision-making and actions. But that is not the case for Red Robin's directors; their leadership has been made apparent via many actions, including:

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effective management of a CEO succession process—one of the most important and difficult tasks any board faces

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design and oversight of compensation plans that have excellent internal and external pay parity and that align our executives' interests with stockholders

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creation and maintenance of good governance principles and practices, including an independent board chair, that get high scores from leading ESG third parties

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steady refreshment of their own membership—also a difficult practice for many boards

              As of the date of this proxy statement, our board of directors consists of eleven directors, all of whom are independent except our CEO. Therefore, currently, 91% of our board is independent. Following the annual meeting, if all director nominees are elected, all ten continuing directors will be independent, except our CEO.

              On February 6, 2020, we increased the size of our board of directors to ten members and appointed Allison Page to fill the resulting vacancy and on March 26, 2020, we increased the size of our board of directors to eleven members and appointed Anthony S. Ackil to fill the resulting vacancy. As previously announced, Director Stuart I. Oran has decided not to stand for re-election at the 2020 annual meeting. Following Mr. Oran's retirement from the board as of the date of the 2020 annual meeting of stockholders, we expect that the board size will be reduced to ten members. The board may decide at a later time to add one or more directors who possess skills and experience that may be beneficial to our board and the Company. All of our directors are elected on an annual basis for a one-year term.

              The directors elected at this annual meeting will serve in office until our 2021 annual meeting of stockholders or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each of our nominees has consented to serve if elected and we expect each of them will be able to serve if elected. If any of our nominees should become unavailable to serve as a director, our board of directors can name a substitute nominee, and the persons named as proxies in the proxy card, or their nominees or substitutes, will vote your shares for such substitute nominee unless an instruction to the contrary is written on your proxy card.

              The board recommends that you vote FOR all of the board's nominees to serve as directors of the Company.

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Selecting Nominees for Director

              Our board has delegated to the nominating and governance committee the responsibility for reviewing and recommending nominees for director. The board determines which candidates to nominate or appoint, as appropriate, after considering the recommendation of the committee.

              In evaluating a director candidate, the nominating and governance committee considers the candidate's independence, character, corporate governance skills and abilities, business experience, industry specific experience, training and education, commitment to performing the duties of a director, and other skills, abilities, or attributes that fill specific needs of the board or its committees. While there is no policy for consideration of diversity in identifying director nominees, our board is committed to diversity and the nominating and governance committee considers diversity in business experience, professional expertise, gender, and ethnic background, along with various other factors when evaluating director nominees. The nominating and governance committee will use the same criteria in evaluating candidates suggested by stockholders.

              The nominating and governance committee is authorized under its charter to retain, at our expense, outside search firms and any other professional advisors it deems appropriate to assist in identifying or evaluating potential nominees for director.

Directors and Nominees

              Below, you can find the principal occupation and other information about each of our director nominees standing for election at the annual meeting. Information related to each of our director nominee's key attributes, experience, and skills, as well as their recent public company board service is included with each director's biographical information. Our board is comprised of a highly diverse array of leaders with relevant experience and leadership in each of the key areas of greatest importance to our financial and more general sustainability. Our board has a shorter average tenure and a younger average age than the mean. Our board is also steadily refreshed, has an independent board chair, and has three women among its ten director nominees. In a steadily evolving sector such as ours, these are attributes that are core to our ability to be nimble and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

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Vote Required

              Proposal No. 1 requires the approval of a majority of the votes cast for each director. Abstentions and broker non-votes are not considered votes cast and therefore will have no effect on the outcome of the vote.

Board Recommendation

              OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS THAT YOU VOTE "FOR" ALL OF THE DIRECTOR NOMINEES.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND BOARD MATTERS

GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLES

              The board of directors has created and oversees corporate governance guidelines which can be viewed on our website at www.redrobin.com. These guidelines include:

Executive Development and Management Succession

              Under the Company's corporate governance guidelines, the board maintains a policy and plan for the development and succession of the CEO and senior management that includes:

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criteria that reflect the Company's ongoing business strategies;

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identification and development of potential internal candidates;

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formal assessment processes to evaluate such potential internal candidates and their development; and

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an emergency succession component to address the unforeseen loss of the CEO or other key executives.

              The nominating and governance committee:

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works closely with the board and management to ensure development and succession are anticipated, planned for, and addressed in a timely manner;

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works closely with our CEO and each of the other executive officers conduct annual succession planning activities;



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this process includes annual performance reviews, evaluations, and development plans of the CEO and executive officers, who also conduct evaluations and development of their direct reports; and



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at least annually, and when otherwise necessary, reviews, makes recommendations for, and reports to the board on programs that have been implemented by management for executive and leadership team development and succession planning.

              Mr. Murphy regularly meets with the full board on his performance, and the CEO's annual performance evaluation is conducted under the oversight of the compensation committee. Our CEO conducts annual and interim performance and development evaluations of the other senior executives and reviews these evaluations with the compensation committee or full board.

Stockholder Communication with our Board

              The board and management believe the Company's relationships with our stockholders and other stakeholders are an important part of our corporate governance responsibility and recognize the value of continuing communications. In 2019, we reached out to engage with all of our top 20 stockholders, representing over 90% of our outstanding shares.

              This approach has resulted in our receiving important input and perspectives that have informed our decision making and resulted in the addition of new independent directors. Throughout the year, we proactively engage with our stockholders directly, through individual meetings, attendance at investor conferences, issuance of press releases, and quarterly conference calls, as well as other stockholder communications. We discuss topics of importance to both our Company and stockholders, including value creation, strategy and performance, board refreshment and leadership changes, capital structure and allocation, and governance matters.

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              The board values stockholder communication and provides many means for it to occur, including attending the annual meeting, voting, engaging, and writing, by sending a letter to the director, the board of directors, or the committee addressed to: Board of Directors, 6312 South Fiddler's Green Circle, Suite 200N, Greenwood Village, CO 80111, or by sending an e-mail to the board's dedicated email address: Board@redrobin.com. Our finance committee and full board is involved in overseeing stockholder engagement.

              With respect to issues arising under the Company's Code of Ethics, you may also communicate directly with the chair of the audit committee, director of internal audit, or the compliance officer in the manner provided in the Company's Problem Resolution and Whistleblower Policy and Reporting Procedures. Both the Code of Ethics and the Problem Resolution and Whistleblower Policy and Reporting Procedures may be found on the corporate governance section of the investor relations tab of our website at: www.redrobin.com.

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Red Robin follows the Investor Stewardship Group's (ISG)
Corporate Governance Framework for U.S. Listed Companies

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Board Leadership Structure

              The board recognizes one of its key responsibilities is to evaluate and determine the optimal leadership structure to provide independent oversight of management. Accordingly, at this time, we believe it is appropriate for our board to maintain the separation of the roles of board chair and chief executive officer. David Pace currently serves as chair of the board because of his significant leadership experience, especially in the food and beverage retail industry, among other reasons.

              The separation of the roles of board chair and chief executive officer allows our chief executive officer to focus on managing the Company's business and operations, and allows Mr. Pace to focus on board matters, which we believe is especially important in light of the high level of regulation and scrutiny of public company boards. Further, we believe the separation of these roles ensures the independence of the board in its oversight role of evaluating and assessing the chief executive officer and management generally.

              In 2019, our prior board chair, Ms. Moore, was appointed as our interim president and chief executive officer. She temporarily served in that position until the board appointed Mr. Murphy as president and chief executive officer. Mr. Pace succeeded Ms. Moore as chair of the board in November 2019. Ms. Moore retired from the board in December 2019.

Board Role in Risk Oversight

              Our executive officers have the primary responsibility for enterprise risk management within our Company. Our board actively oversees the Company's risk management and regularly engages in discussions of the most significant risks the Company faces and how these risks are being managed. The board receives regular reports on enterprise risk areas from senior officers of the Company, including the areas of food safety and data security. The board delegates certain risk oversight functions to the audit committee. Under its charter, the audit committee is responsible for oversight of the enterprise risk assessment and management process framework and ensures the board or a designated committee is monitoring the identification, assessment, and mitigation of all significant enterprise risks. The audit committee oversees policies and guidelines that govern the process by which major financial and accounting risk assessment and management may be undertaken by the Company. The audit committee also oversees our corporate compliance programs and the internal audit function. In addition, the other board committees receive reports and evaluate risks related to their areas of focus. The committees regularly report to the full board on the assessment and management of these risks. The board believes the work undertaken by the audit committee, together with the work of the other committees, the full board, and the senior officers of the Company, enables the board to effectively oversee the Company's risk management.

Selection of Nominees for the Board

              A key role of the board is to ensure that it has the skills, expertise, and attributes needed in light of the Company's strategy, challenges, and opportunities. The board believes that there are skill sets, qualities, and attributes that should be represented on the board as a whole but do not necessarily need to be possessed by each director. The nominating and governance committee thus considers the qualifications and attributes of incumbent directors and director candidates both individually and in the aggregate in light of the current and future needs of the Company. The nominating and governance committee assists the board in identifying and evaluating persons for nomination or renomination for board service or to fill a vacancy on the board. The nominating and governance committee's evaluation process does not vary based on whether a candidate is recommended by a stockholder, a board member, a member of management, or self-nomination. Once a person is identified as a potential director candidate, the committee may review publicly available information to assess whether the

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candidate should be further considered. If so, a nominating and governance committee member or designated representative for the nominating and governance committee will contact the person. If the person is willing to be considered for nomination, the person is asked to provide additional information regarding his or her background; his or her specific skills, experience and qualifications for board service; and any direct or indirect relationships with the Company. In addition, one or more interviews may be conducted with nominating and governance committee and board members, and nominating and governance committee members may contact one or more references provided by the candidate or others who would have first-hand knowledge of the candidate's qualifications and attributes.

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In evaluating the qualifications and attributes of each potential candidate (including incumbent directors) for nomination or re-nomination or appointment to fill a vacancy, the committee considers:



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the candidate's qualifications, consisting of his/her knowledge (including relevant industry knowledge), understanding of the Company's businesses and the environment within which the Company operates, experience, skills, substantive areas of expertise, financial literacy, innovative thinking, business judgment, achievements, and other factors required to be considered under applicable laws, rules, or regulations;

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the candidate's attributes, comprising independence, personal and professional integrity, character, reputation, ability to represent the interests of all stockholders, time availability in light of other commitments, dedication, absence of conflicts of interest, diversity, appreciation of multiple cultures, commitment to deal responsibly with environmental and social issues and stakeholder concerns, and other factors that the committee considers appropriate in the context of the needs of the board;

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familiarity with and respect for corporate governance requirements and practices;

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with respect to incumbent directors, the evaluation of the individual director, his or her current qualifications, and his or her contributions to the board;

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the current composition of the board and its committees; and

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intangible qualities of the candidate, including the ability to ask difficult questions and, simultaneously, to work constructively with members of the board, as well as to work effectively with management.

              The board considers the recommendations of the nominating and governance committee and then makes the final decision whether to renominate incumbent directors and whether to approve and extend an invitation to a candidate to join the board upon appointment or election, subject to any approvals required by law, rule or regulation.

The Board's Role in Management Succession Planning

              The board, led by its nominating and governance committee, is actively engaged in succession planning and talent development, with a focus on the CEO and senior management of the Company. The board and the nominating and governance committee consider talent development programs and succession candidates through the lens of Company strategy and anticipated future opportunities and challenges. At its meetings throughout the year, the nominating and governance committee reviews progress of talent development and succession programs and discusses internal and external succession candidates, including their capabilities, accomplishments, goals, and development plans. The full board also reviews and discusses talent strategy and evaluations of potential succession candidates. In addition, potential leaders are given frequent exposure to the board, which enables the board to select successors for the senior executive positions when appropriate.

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Board Membership and Director Independence

              Our board of directors has determined that each of our directors, except our CEO, Mr. Murphy, qualifies as an independent director under the rules promulgated by the SEC and The Nasdaq Stock Market® ("Nasdaq") listing standards. Therefore, 91% of our current directors are independent. Pursuant to these rules and standards, only independent directors may serve on the board's audit committee, compensation committee, and nominating and governance committee. All members of all board committees are independent in accordance with SEC rules and Nasdaq listing standards. There are no family relationships among any of our executive officers, directors, or nominees for directors.

              Our board is committed to diversity and includes three women and directors with a diverse set of backgrounds, experience, and skills, including.

Director Attendance

              The board of directors held eighteen meetings in 2019, including four in-person meetings. Each of our current directors who served in 2019 attended at least 75% of the aggregate total of meetings of the board of directors and committees during their period of service in 2019. The non-management directors of the Company meet at least quarterly throughout the year and as necessary or appropriate in executive sessions at which members of management are not present.

              The board of directors strongly encourages each of the directors to attend the annual meeting of stockholders. All of our directors serving at the time attended our 2019 annual meeting.

Committees of the Board

              Our board of directors currently has four standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee, a finance committee, and a nominating and governance committee. We added the finance committee in 2019 to provide guidance on long-range planning, budget and capital allocation, and extraordinary stockholder engagement, among other matters. Each standing committee generally meets at least once each quarter. In addition, other regular and special meetings are scheduled as necessary and appropriate depending on the responsibilities of the particular committee. Each committee regularly meets in executive session without management present. Each board committee operates pursuant to a written charter. The charter for each committee is available on the corporate governance section of the investor relations tab of our website at www.redrobin.com. Committee charters are reviewed at least annually by the respective committee to revise and update its duties and responsibilities as necessary.

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		Name of Committee and Principal Functions		​		Current Members and Number of Meetings in 2019		​
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		Audit Committee				Committee Members:
		• Oversees our financial reporting activities, including our annual report and the accounting standards and principles followed. • Reviews earnings releases and annual and quarterly reports, including use of any non-GAAP disclosures. • Oversees the disclosure process, including understanding and monitoring of the Company's disclosure committee. • Selects and retains the independent auditor. • Participates in the process to rotate and select the lead audit partner at least every five years. • Reviews scope and results of audit to be conducted by the independent auditor. • Evaluates performance and monitors independence, commitment to objectivity, and skepticism of selected independent auditor. • Approves the budget for fees to be paid to the independent auditor for audit services and non-audit services; evaluates fees for reasonableness and fairness based on benchmarking. • Oversees the Company's internal audit function, scope and plan, and the Company's disclosure and internal controls. • Oversees the Company's ethical and regulatory compliance. • Provides oversight of the Company's enterprise risk management. • Regularly meets with independent auditor in executive session. • Participates in the evaluation of independent auditor and lead audit partner.				Steven K. Lumpkin Thomas G. Conforti Stuart I. Oran Chairperson Determined by the board to be an audit committee financial expert as defined under SEC rules Number of Meetings in 2019: The audit committee held eight meetings in 2019, of which two were in-person meetings.
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​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
		Name of Committee and Principal Functions		​		Current Members and Number of Meetings in 2019		​
​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
		Compensation Committee				Committee Members:
		• Develops and performs an annual performance evaluation of our chief executive officer. • Approves salary, short-term, and long-term incentive compensation programs for the CEO and all executive officers. • Reviews and adopts employee benefit plans. • Reviews and approves compensation for directors. • May engage, at our expense, compensation consulting firms or other professional advisors to assist in discharging its responsibilities, as necessary.				Kalen F. Holmes Cambria W. Dunaway G.J. Hart David A. Pace Chairperson Number of Meetings in 2019: The compensation committee held six meetings in 2019, of which two were in-person meetings.
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		Nominating and Governance Committee				Committee Members:
		• Identifies, evaluates, and recommends to the board of directors, candidates for appointment or election to the board and their independence. • Determines whether to recommend to the board to include the nomination of incumbent directors in the proxy statement. • Considers candidates to fill any vacancies that may occur. • At least once a year, considers whether the number of directors and skill sets is appropriate for the Company's needs and recommends to the board any changes in the composition of the board. • Evaluates and recommends to the board committee structure and membership. • Develops and oversees the Company's corporate governance policies. • Oversees the Company's litigation and insurance coverage. • Oversees the process to assess the performance of the board and its committees.				Cambria W. Dunaway Kalen F. Holmes Glenn B. Kaufman Stuart I. Oran Allison Page Chairperson Number of Meetings in 2019: The nominating and governance committee held six meetings in 2019, of which three were in-person meetings.
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​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
		Name of Committee and Principal Functions		​		Current Members and Number of Meetings in 2019		​
​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
		Finance Committee				Committee Members:
		• Participates in and provides guidance to the board of directors and management on: o material acquisitions and dispositions; o long range planning; o annual budget; o capital allocation (including share repurchase programs and 10b5-1 plan); o adjustments to capital structure; and o extraordinary stockholder engagement.				Thomas G. Conforti G.J. Hart Glenn B. Kaufman Steven K. Lumpkin Chairperson Number of Meetings in 2019: The finance committee held five meetings in 2019, of which one was an in-person meeting.
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Limits on Outside Board Service

              As provided in our corporate governance guidelines, without specific approval from our board, no director of the Company may serve on more than four public company boards (including the Company's board) and no member of the audit committee may serve on more than three public company audit committees (including the Company's audit committee). Any audit committee member's service on more than three public company audit committees will be subject to the board's determination that the member is able to effectively serve on the Company's audit committee.

Stockholder Submission of Director Nominees

              A stockholder may submit the name of a director candidate for consideration by the nominating and governance committee by writing to: Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board of Directors, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc., 6312 South Fiddler's Green Circle, Suite 200N, Greenwood Village, CO 80111.

              The stockholder must submit the following information in support of the candidate: (a) all information relating to such person as would be required to be disclosed in solicitations of proxies for the election of such nominees as directors pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and such person's written consent to serve as a director if elected; and (b) as to the stockholder giving the notice and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination or proposal is made (i) the name and address of such stockholder, as they appear on the Company's books, and of such beneficial owner, (ii) the class and number of shares of the Company that are owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and such beneficial owner, (iii) a description of any agreement, arrangement, or understanding (including any derivative or short positions, profit interests, options, warrants, convertible securities, stock appreciation or similar rights, hedging transactions, and borrowed or loaned shares) that has been entered into as of the date of such stockholder's notice by, or on behalf of, such stockholder and such beneficial owner, whether or not such instrument or right shall be subject to settlement in underlying shares of capital stock of the Company, the effect or intent of which is to mitigate loss to, manage risk of share price changes for, or increase or decrease the voting power of, such stockholder or such beneficial owner, with respect to shares of stock of the Company, and (iv) whether either such stockholder or beneficial owner intends to deliver a proxy statement and form of proxy to holders of, in the case of a proposal, at least the

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percentage of the Company's voting shares required under applicable law to carry the proposal or, in the case of a nomination or nominations, a sufficient number of holders of the Company's voting shares to elect such nominee or nominees.