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Chili's hands down! Me and the missus go for the 2 for$22. We get fajitas and the chips with guacamole. YUM!!! Applebee's is pretty bad and Red Robins has decent burgers but haven't had one since our's disappeared 10 or so years ago.
You know which chain restaurant I miss so much it hurts? Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant! Oh! My! Days! They had the very, very best homemade, bottomless, free chips and salsa, all made in-house! Their food was pretty good but I'm telling ya... I can't tell you how many times I went there with friends and just ordered an appetizer so I could munch on their chips and salsa (and a strawberry margarita) all night!
You know which chain restaurant I miss so much it hurts? Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant! Oh! My! Days! They had the very, very best homemade, bottomless, free chips and salsa, all made in-house! Their food was pretty good but I'm telling ya... I can't tell you how many times I went there with friends and just ordered an appetizer so I could munch on their chips and salsa (and a strawberry margarita) all night!
YES! Chi-Chi's! I remember the salsa being delicious. The food I can't really remember. In fact the Red Robin I referred to above was originally and El-Torrito's, then a Chi-Chi's and then the Red Robin. Now it a TGIF's YUCK!
Chi-Chi's still markets the salsa but you can't compare a jar to the restaurant version.
I'd probably put Chilis a half step above Applebees, and Red Robin maybe a quarter step above Chili's. But yeah, they're all in the same general class. If I'm going to a chain, I'd rather go to one of the higher end chains like Maggiano's.
I like the food at Maggiano's. You can do an expense report dinner there that won't get the bean counters wildly upset when you submit your expense report if you go easy on the alcohol. There aren't many chains like that. The chains discussed here are places I've gone for lunch with co-workers but don't eat dinner there.
Of the ones on the list I've only been to Red Robin. A friend wanted to go. I ordered a scotch & soda thinking it would be some well scotch. The waitress came back and said she was sorry but the only scotch they had was Glenfiddich and asked if that OK. I said yes but I'd like it neat. She brought me a full rocks glass and charged $6! She had no idea what she was doing but she got a very nice tip.
The food was ok.
I haven't been to Chilis, Applebees, nor chain restaurants in ages, as I no longer live near them!
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I did go to a Red Robin one time instead of In & Out Burger. The burger was decent, but for $14 after tax and tip, it was a rather poor value for the money. I guess it looked a lot bigger on the menu was all. The server was nice, and he was able get me an extra order of sweet potato fries (bottomless fries, but the issue was actually it was after closing time). Going to I&O burger, spending $6 for a double double with fries would've been about the same experience and probably same quality of food, but a whole lot cheaper!
I don't eat at Applebee's or Red Robin unless I'm along with someone else who likes them. Very rarely I'll go to Chili's. Like others, I've found the local restaurants or smaller local chains have better food.
Best cheeseburger, hot dog, italian beef around here is at Portillo's (a local chain which has been expanding to a couple of other states). Places like 5 Guys are in my opinion way overrated. I go to Oberweis Dairy for a dish of ice cream (another local chain), or Culver's (chain out of Wisconsin). Gemato's here has a good burger, too (a local restaurant). For Mexican food, I like the Jalapeño Grill (they have two or three restaurants in the Chicago area). There are too many good Italian spots around to even begin naming them - anyone who goes to a place like Olive Garden in the Chicago area needs to have his/her head examined.
I've eaten at all three. I love Chili's Chips and Salsa. They also had a couple of burgers that we're tasty. For appetizers I liked their onion blossom, egg rolls, and chicken strips. Overall decent food.
Red Robins has a couple of burgers I like, but they seem so overpriced lately that we don't go there anymore. Bottomless fries are good, but fries don't cost that much to warrant their prices.
Applebee's has always been meh. Overpriced and never very good. We stopped going there years ago.
If we're going to a chain restaurant we like Texas Roadhouse. Fresh rolls with cinnamon butter, yes please.
Alright I was on my way home in some nasty traffic and decided to stop at red robin. I'll update y'all when I finish the A1 peppercorn burger I ordered.
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