Yeesh! All we need.... (Austin, Round Rock: house, live, restaurants)

[Jennibc]

A steak house run by the people that bring you the Olive Garden.

National chains bringing new dining options to Austin area

Dine local! Don't succumb to the chains! (unless an In and Out comes to town, then all bets are off...)

[Florinator]

All we need... is love... actually ;-)

[hoffdano]

I don't really care whether a restaurant is local or not. I want good food, good service, and a fair price. I don't see any reason to fault a restaurant because it became successful and expanded.

Lots of chain restaurants suck. So do many local ones. Two examples:

Gueros
Threadgillls

I have to say though that the idea of a non Texas based steak restaurant called Longhorn Steakhouse is awful.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

I don't really care whether a restaurant is local or not. I want good food, good service, and a fair price. I don't see any reason to fault a restaurant because it became successful and expanded.

Lots of chain restaurants suck. So do many local ones. Two examples:

Gueros
Threadgillls

I have to say though that the idea of a non Texas based steak restaurant called Longhorn Steakhouse is awful.

That was really my point. I don't hate chains just because they are chains, I mean, I do go to Starbucks on occasion, it's just chains of the Olive Garden variety that I despise. Bland, bland, bland.

While I agree with your take on Gueros, I've been to the Threadgills south location a couple of times and have really liked it. The food is decent and the prices reasonable. We went to the one up north once and didn't like it quite as much as the food was cold. So I don't know if that has to do with who is on the line at the time.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

A steak house run by the people that bring you the Olive Garden.

National chains bringing new dining options to Austin area

Dine local! Don't succumb to the chains! (unless an In and Out comes to town, then all bets are off...)

The media prefers these big chains because they are more likely to advertise than funky little local restaurants. Read articles like that one with that in mind.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

That was really my point. I don't hate chains just because they are chains, I mean, I do go to Starbucks on occasion, it's just chains of the Olive Garden variety that I despise. Bland, bland, bland.

While I agree with your take on Gueros, I've been to the Threadgills south location a couple of times and have really liked it. The food is decent and the prices reasonable. We went to the one up north once and didn't like it quite as much as the food was cold. So I don't know if that has to do with who is on the line at the time.

Threadgills is acceptable, but doesn't deserve the cult status it seems to have in Austin.

I have to admit - I ate at an Olive Garden just last week. Big group, mix of ages, and easy to please a bunch of people. In its category, it is OK for certain occasions.

[joedtx]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

A steak house run by the people that bring you the Olive Garden.

National chains bringing new dining options to Austin area

Dine local! Don't succumb to the chains! (unless an In and Out comes to town, then all bets are off...)

I hear what you are saying but dining local isn't always the best choice. With national chains they offer consistent dining standards, and procedures and protocols (if followed properly)to ensure health safety, along with broad menu offerings (low-cal, gluten free, seniors menu) as well as potentially more stable jobs for locals as opposed to new local restaurants that may run into difficulties within a short time frame for various reasons.

When we find ourselves traveling in a different city with the family it's comforting to know what to expect from a national chain, as opposed to taking a chance on a place that may have questionable standards. Not to knock local places because there definitely are some great places like Kerby Lane in North Austin, but then sometimes theres a miss too I've had my share of food poisoning from quite a few local places. But I digress there is room for both just serve consistent quality and everybody's happy.

[sinking]

Austin is full of mostly chains anyway. What's the difference of one more?

[MoNative34]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Dine local! Don't succumb to the chains! (unless an In and Out comes to town, then all bets are off...)

Originally Posted by Jennibc

That was really my point. I don't hate chains just because they are chains, I mean, I do go to Starbucks on occasion, it's just chains of the Olive Garden variety that I despise. Bland, bland, bland.

So don't succumb to chains unless they're ones you like?

[atxcio]

I'd say Gueros and Threadgills are about equal to a typical chain restaurant, no worse. True, there are many other local options which are MUCH better (especially some of the new ones)... but still. Gueros and Threadgills have a place.

Also, since Austin has so few chains, I don't seen how this will hurt. I mean, 1600 food trailers, an airport that will only allow local restaurants, plus SoCo and East Austin (which chains apparently don't want to touch)... we are not under any threat of becoming chain town USA yet. The burbs are, of course... that's why the Longhorn steakhouse is coming to Round Rock, Cedar Park, and Southpark meadows.