Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Local with one exception: Longhorn Steakhouse (http://www.longhornsteakhouse.com/splash.asp - broken link). This place has GREAT steaks. Atmosphere.... eh.... we have 3 hell-raising kids that fit right in here. But the steaks are as good as what I get at much dressier places.
Support your LOCAL businesses. Chain stores take the money home, which is NOT where you live. Keep your money in the local community. That is how communities become rich as a community - they all support each other. I would VETO big time stores like Walmart coming into my city or town. If you already have a Walmart, I would suggest you talk with City Council and run them out of town.
Location: Moved to town. Miss 'my' woods and critters.
25,464 posts, read 13,570,117 times
Reputation: 31765
Pre good ol mom 'n' pop type places. My husband and I used to take our oldest son when he was a toddler and go for Sunday 'drives', back when gas prices were much lower...Would try the off the beaten path places and most of the time have a really great meal. Was interesting to see how even the same dish could be prepared in so many different ways but still be good.
However, will go to chains when wanting to 'sample' their specialties.
Location: My heart is in Wyoming, my body is soon to follow.....
745 posts, read 4,064,789 times
Reputation: 333
Quote:
Support your LOCAL businesses. Chain stores take the money home, which is NOT where you live. Keep your money in the local community. That is how communities become rich as a community - they all support each other. I would VETO big time stores like Walmart coming into my city or town. If you already have a Walmart, I would suggest you talk with City Council and run them out of town.
Where I live if we didn't have Walmart I wouldn't have anywhere to get the things I need. Yeah I know, the little stores would have stayed around, right? Then I'd get to pay twice as much for the things I needed, not to mention the fact that I'd spend twice as long picking up the things I needed from 10 different little stores. No thanks, I don't have that kind of time. Thank goodness Walmart now has a grocery store in it too, I can do all my shopping at one time.
Where I live if we didn't have Walmart I wouldn't have anywhere to get the things I need. Yeah I know, the little stores would have stayed around, right? Then I'd get to pay twice as much for the things I needed, not to mention the fact that I'd spend twice as long picking up the things I needed from 10 different little stores. No thanks, I don't have that kind of time. Thank goodness Walmart now has a grocery store in it too, I can do all my shopping at one time.
Yeah, support a company that spies on it's employees, and locks it's illegal alien employees in at night - and don't ask me to give references, it was all over Yahoo a few months back. Run a search.
When traveling along the Interstate, I will head into a Wendy's or Burger King before I will chance Joe's Diner or Betty Jo's Cafe.
I know that the chains usually have a certain standard while the locally owned in those circumstances can be horrible.
But when it's time to enjoy myself, I'll do local everytime.
lol, actually, some of the chains in certain locales can be just as bad or even worse than that. For example, and granted its not a great example, but nonetheless there is a Taco Bell in Terre Haute, IN - it is by far the worst of the worst of these... have not had decent service or food in there in years.
Method to my madness is to research via 'net and/or papers [many towns have those weekly free versions, where people vote on such], do a drive by [see how the building looks and/or how many cars in the lot], and/or ask locals - of course, interesting the wide variety of opinions that may receive... esp. from couples.
In my old neighborhood in Denver, gentrification set in, and it was heartbreaking to watch the chains take over. Places that had been there for a generation had to close up, because they could no longer pay the high rent.
Out went the mom and pop places.
In came Macaroni Grill, Chilis, Piatti's etc etc etc.
I'll take local over chains every day of the week--and twice on Sunday.
Local with one exception: Longhorn Steakhouse (http://www.longhornsteakhouse.com/splash.asp - broken link). This place has GREAT steaks. Atmosphere.... eh.... we have 3 hell-raising kids that fit right in here. But the steaks are as good as what I get at much dressier places.
the one and only time I had Longhorn it was barely edible, especially after eating at a "real" non chain steakhouses (smith and wollensky, peter luger's, etc)...i'm a steak snob . it was truly awful, maybe I just got a bad steak because I can normally choke down outback, etc....
I generally prefer local places, but also visit the chains pretty regularly, mostly because that's what my kids prefer. If they have a choice, they would rather go to a chain, because that's what they know, rather than try something new.
While I was out traveling earlier this month, I came across a place in Kansas that was in a very small town, and it had a lunch buffet that was excellent. I had no idea when I arrived there that it would be anything I'd write home about, so to speak, though I thought it might be pretty good when I saw a lot of cars in the lot. After the meal I made certain to let the folks there know that I thought the meal was outstanding, and that I would return there if I ever was back in the area. In case anyone is wondering, it was Scotty's Cafe, in Lakin, KS.
While in Golden, CO a few days later, I tried a "local chain" restaurant, called El Senor Sol, if I recall correctly. This was an excellent Mexican restaurant that served delicious food for reasonable prices. It was on par with some of the best Mexican food I've had in California. Technically, they are a chain, because they have five or six locations, but they are all local to the area. I imagine that this is how all the chains started way back when.
The major chains probably started in much the same way, with a very successful location, then adding another, and so on until they became widely recognized, and started to grow simply on name recognition. They all had to start somewhere, before becoming the chains they are now.
One of the chain restaurants that I go to whenever I have the chance is Cracker Barrel. There aren't any in California, so it is a place that is a treat to visit when I'm out on the road. I really like the food there, especially their breakfasts, but only go there when I'm very hungry, due to the large portions they serve.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
