Red Robin is treating one of its shuttered fast-casual units in Chicago as a laboratory of sorts, hoping to find success in the “virtual” restaurant format where others have failed. Red Robin Express is a challenging model, says Jason Rusk, the chain’s VP of business innovation. But the chain must find a way to keep up with changing consumer demand, and delivery (despite the “necessary evil” of third parties, as Rusk refers to them) is where it’s at, he says. There’s hope delivery-only will succeed where Red Robin’s fast-casual Burger Works concept failed, because it allows for a pared-down menu and a slimming of staff, he says. Here's how.