Shortly after the post that I did yesterday about the migration of Red Robin from one Tustin shopping center to another Tustin shopping center went live, I got an e-mail from one of its PR people. She told me that the chain was now also offering two new burgers using the ghost chili pepper, a.k.a. the Naga Bhut Jolokia, a.k.a. “the hottest pepper in the world.”
Now I don't normally respond to such e-mails, but because I actually eat at Red Robin and even have one of those loyalty cards that entitles me to a free burger on my birthday, I asked to see pictures (see them above and below). Even more interesting is its claim to be the first national burger chain to use the ghost pepper.
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Though I can't verify if it is, it does seem to prove that the ghost chili pepper, which knocked around the hipster foodie circles and used too often just as a gimmick, is now a, well, gimmick on the national stage. Care to place your bets on how long before Jack, Ronald, and The King follow suit?
Here's what Red Robin is offering, straight from their lips (these are their words, not mine) to yours.
• Fiery Ghost Style – Red Robin has cooked up a new recipe for burger success with this boundary-pushing style sure to have you grabbing the nearest milkshake to cool down. The style's star is a one of the world's hottest chile peppers – the ghost pepper, which teams up with both fresh-cut and fried jalapeños atop pepper jack cheese to round out this tour-de-fire.
• Cry Baby Style – Onion-lovers prepare to shed tears of happiness! The Cry Baby Style ups the onion ante by combining crispy onion straws tossed in a unique Sriracha dry seasoning with even more onions sautéed in Cholula Hot Sauce. The one-two punch of crispy and sautéed onions are complimented by pepper jack cheese and a ghost pepper ketchup, warming up taste buds with the unique flavor of the ghost pepper without overwhelming levels of spice.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.