To put it in a time frame context I first went after I had moved to Washington state in the late 80's. They (the ones I have gone to) had a decent burger. Not the best but it was better than fast food and reliably good. Through the 90's and 00's my kids would always want to eat there and it was still fairly good food with decent service.
Now that the kids are on their own my wife and I don't go to RR very often. Because of this it was fairly obvious to us that something had changed and not for the better.
It could be the fact that most every place around here has a "Now Hiring" sign in the door or on the receipt making good help hard to come by and keep. It could be boneheaded corporate decisions made by executives who don't know when to leave things alone.
I don't mind paying for good food and service, I do mind paying too much for questionable food and service. We have plenty of burger choices.