Do the national casual dining chains get an unfair bad reputation? (burgers, frozen)

[Carolina Knight]

There are chain restaurants I like to dine at: Applebee's, Pizza Hut, Red Lobster, Ruby Tuesday, Waffle House. Some locations are great and receive return business. Some locations are horrible they lose business.

Here are bad examples I have observed.

Pizza Hut: It should not take thirty minutes from the time order is placed for food to come out. Appetizers usually come out before entree, not at the same time.

Culver's: Dining in at Culver's is great. Drive thru at the Culver's location has been fail. When your food is not ready at the window, you park past the window for ten minutes, and your food comes out over-burnt, black, and inedible, there are issues with crew members slacking off and affecting food quality.

[Dogboa]

Originally Posted by dothetwist

I avoid them like the plague. Sometimes we get roped into them when "dining" with large family groups because these chains serve bland foods that old people and small kids can tolerate.

Please define old people.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

On a business trip, I kind-a like going to Uno’s once in a while for a Caesar salad, Chicago classic sausage deep dish pizza, and a couple of local microbrewery beers at the bar. I have no other access to deep dish pizza and it’s reliable.

That’s kind of it for sit down casual dining at chains other than breakfast. I’ll do Denny’s, IHOP, or Waffle House on a trip if the hotel has a bad breakfast and there are no obvious local places. I’ll eat dinner at a chain on a trip if there are no options but I don’t do business with them at home.

I ordered a pizza a week or so ago from a new local Chicago style pizzeria. The pizzas looked great. They had Italian beefs, Chicago dogs with Vienna beef franks, the works. I hadn't had any of this stuff since I left Indy.

I go to pick the pizza up and the lady at the counter gave the pizza away to another customer. I could handle getting someone else's pizza, but I came out with no pizza at all because I ordered it through an app the place promoted on its Facebook page. I ended up just having to dispute the CC charge.

I might do a Waffle House a few times a year now. I'm not into the whole greasy breakfast thing, but that's about the only option in the town I work in.

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

Culver's: Dining in at Culver's is great. Drive thru at the Culver's location has been fail. When your food is not ready at the window, you park past the window for ten minutes, and your food comes out over-burnt, black, and inedible, there are issues with crew members slacking off and affecting food quality.

Culver's is like the Chick-fil-A of fast food burgers. Most Culvers are very clean, fairly quiet, and the root beer is excellent. I would choose some local diners over Culver's for burgers, but the closest Culvers are in Knoxville and Asheville.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

I think that the first point is highly accurate.

I through a get together in Chicago. I purchased the same items from the local BBQ joint that they all seemed to like as their reviews were glowing. Personally, I despised the place as they screwed up two catering functions at the plant that I organized. And I brought in the same items from Famous Dave's. I disposed of all containers and used my own china. On two of the three items, Famous Dave's got the nod. After the meal was served under the pretext that I was looking for a new caterer and all the voted were tallied, i showed the reveal.

I eat at chains and I eat at local places. I have some great meals at both and some real disasters.

What I get tired of which is almost a constant among CERTAIN City-data posters is the, "I haven't eaten there in 30 years and the food there sucks." Or the "it is a chain and therefore, it sucks." At least the food critics on-line might actually visit the place before posting a review. However, some CD posters are psychic.

IMO, Famous Dave's is considerably above most chain quality. They do a wide variety of meats there. Around here, most local BBQ places just do pulled or sliced pork. You can get a platter or a sandwich. It tastes like real BBQ. I'll admit there have been times I passed up local BBQ joints to go to Famous Dave's.

Originally Posted by dothetwist

I avoid them like the plague. Sometimes we get roped into them when "dining" with large family groups because these chains serve bland foods that old people and small kids can tolerate.

My girlfriend is a lot like my family with regard to the lack of "adventurous" eating. We went to a chain called Cheddar's Saturday for Mother's Day. I had grilled shrimp and chicken tenders. The tenders were so heavily breaded that I felt very bloated after. Cheddar's has a couple of good dishes and the prices tend to be more reasonable than the other chains. Still, I can't remember the last time I ate at one of the big chains on my own, unless it is pretty late or there is simply nothing else available.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

Yep, that's really the only time I'll seek out a chain restaurant. They serve a purpose, and they're okay, but nothing special.

So many of them like to market themselves as friendly neighborhood pubs, but I'd rather go to an actual neighborhood place. And now, with apps like Yelp and Grubhub, you don't have to resort to Chili's on the road.

Exactly.

In this day and age, I can pull up everything around me on my iPhone. I used to live in Indiana and drove from Indiana to Tennessee and back a lot. I'd want lunch on my way back about Louisville. At the time, I had no idea that Louisville was a foodie city. I've probably gone to a couple dozen local restaurants in Louisville that way over the years.

[rrah]

Years ago we enjoyed Olive Garden. The quality is considerably lower than 10 years ago. We rarely go there anymore. I've never been an Applebee's or TGIFridays fan. We have an O'Charley's near us. It's okay. Husband likes it more than me. I try to order something relatively healthy, and there's not much there. No Outback nearby so I've never been to one. We have Texas Roadhouse which is good.

Absolute worst chain I've been to is Cheddar's. Husband had a gift card so we tried it. NEVER again. I'd say we had horrible service, but it was really like non-service. We sat for 15 minutes as servers just walked past us. Finally ordered when I stopped one. Food came out 40 minutes later, was cold and pretty gross.

Out of all of the similar chain's Chile's is the best in my opinion.

If we visit a chain, it's usually a pick-up order. If we're going to sit down we prefer the local places with much better food and drinks for the same price.

[Mathguy]

I agree with the poster mentioning elitism. Some people like to cast shade on pretty much any chain and then quickly note that they just found the cutest bistro that makes their own cheese and you sit on re-purposed airplane seats while being served by men wearing top hats. Because they're just that hip and cool.....they'd never be caught even walking near an olive garden. lol

[blueherons]

My husband used to be a VP with OSI (Outback) and they had scratch kitchens.

Not sure if that is still true.

We still like to eat there.

I love Cheesecake (scratch kitchen), PF Chang, Seasons 52.

There is a place in this world for Olive Garden, Fridays, Chilis, ect.

[hertfordshire]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

I agree with the poster mentioning elitism. Some people like to cast shade on pretty much any chain and then quickly note that they just found the cutest bistro that makes their own cheese and you sit on re-purposed airplane seats while being served by men wearing top hats. Because they're just that hip and cool.....they'd never be caught even walking near an olive garden. lol

It's not elitism for me. I just don't want to spend money on mediocre or low quality food. I'm not anti-chain. I'm anti-bad chain.
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[ClaraC]

I like to eat at adventurous places, Indian, Asian, and most currently "farm to table" places where they have bowls of food and you go through the line and pick your ingredients. You start with either pasta or rice, and add on fresh ingredients that are all healthy. Delicious.

But Chilis and Cheddars and Fridays and Applebees certainly have a valuable place.

Here's what you're going to get. Adequate friendly service, predictable menus, adequate experience, and a variety. So if in your party you have children, elderly people, and someone who is gluten free, you're good. And beer and wine.

If you're out of town, you're in a hotel, and there on hotel row are all 4 of those restaurants, you're good. Just pick one. Everyone in your party can be made happy.