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The only time I ever eat at a chain restaurant is for convenience when traveling, and then it's limited to fast food (see one from the freeway, exit and eat, go on my way) or for breakfast when I'll do sit-downs.
These are not dining experiences. They're food procurement and consumption missions.
For the pleasure of dining out, a large chain is never worth the effort. Small chains are another story. My town has a great little Mexican restaurant, one of four or five located within a thirty-mile radius. Small chains like that often retain the hands-on attention of the owner(s), who might not always be present but are periodically around and overseeing them.
But larger chains? Forget it. I'll take the one-off cafes and diners and restaurants every single time (and there's always one or more of those places for every chain location).
Anybody here ever eat at Johnny Rockets? I love the 50's diner vibe in those restaurants and the burgers are always wonderful. It's a shame they aren't more common.
Too expensive is my opinion. We have one here that's part of Frankie's Fun Park.. A go-kart/arcade type place. Food is OK to good, even, but it's just too expensive for what it is. I feel the same way about Steak and Shake. The food is OK and for the prices they charge, I expect better than OK.
These are not dining experiences. They're food procurement and consumption missions.
I'll take "Arbitrary and Subjective Distinctions" for 800 Alex.
I've eaten at local restaurants that were good and bad experiences, and chain restaurants that were good and bad experiences. I know it's fun to romanticize the local restaurant as being something better just by virtue of not being a chain, but that isn't the case. It depends.
Anybody here ever eat at Johnny Rockets? I love the 50's diner vibe in those restaurants and the burgers are always wonderful. It's a shame they aren't more common.
Yes. One in the mall near me, and one in Atlantic City. The diner vibe feels real and the food is good..
I'll back you on most everything else. Olive garden and Cheddars I haven't been to more than once.. While I wasn't overly impressed by them, they weren't bad at all.
But the two above.. now.. We have to qualify that "Your mileage may vary".. I've gotten really good food at BK before, but in general.. It's rather crappy. For a fast food burger place, I'd put Wendy's up there, though they seem to have gone downhill lately.. I would have considered them to have the best chicken sandwich a few years ago, even beating out Chik-Fil-A. But BK.. You want some bad food.. Order the chicken nuggets when they're not on sale. Horrid. The Whoppers are usually fine.. The regular burgers.. Meh. Better than McD's no question.
Now Hardee's.. I will not argue anything outside of breakfast, but they're top-2 on breakfast. Bojangles and Hardee's are the go-tos for breakfast. Often, you can get a decent burger there, because they do so little business outside of breakfast that you wind up getting the food cooked fresh.. And fresh, they do have decent food. But they tanked so bad in the mid to late 90's.. I'm shocked they're still in business. I've told this story before, but I worked for Flagstar which was Jerry Richardson's company that franchised them in the southeast.. they'd call us up to close a restaurant and pull the equipment and tell us to meet in the parking lot at 10am, because they'd want to squeeze that last breakfast service out of them. Back in the day, when they did chicken.. Again, if you got it fresh, that was some dang good chicken, and the Peach Cobbler they had was incredible.
One that i'd put on the horrible list would be Jack in the Box. I haven't gotten ANYTHING good there. Not breakfast, not dinner. Just cheap and nasty.
Bojangle's has a good breakfast. For me, it's not as convenient to my office. I try to avoid fast food biscuits. I had been eating several a week. I'm now making breakfast at home.
I got burnt out on Wendy's years ago due to it being the only late fast food place where I worked. They used to have a salad bar and removed it.
Cook Out is probably the best regional burger chain in this area.
Make some of these biscuits. You'll thank me afterwards. We first had them in Charleston in October. Now they are a regular in our house. The cream cheese elevates these biscuits to a new level.
I'll give just about any restaurant a chance, no matter how it looks. We've found some wonderful hidden gems and we've had some terrible experiences at national chains.
Last edited by Dirt Grinder; 01-04-2018 at 03:29 PM..
The only time I ever eat at a chain restaurant is for convenience when traveling, and then it's limited to fast food (see one from the freeway, exit and eat, go on my way) or for breakfast when I'll do sit-downs.
These are not dining experiences. They're food procurement and consumption missions.
For the pleasure of dining out, a large chain is never worth the effort. Small chains are another story. My town has a great little Mexican restaurant, one of four or five located within a thirty-mile radius. Small chains like that often retain the hands-on attention of the owner(s), who might not always be present but are periodically around and overseeing them.
But larger chains? Forget it. I'll take the one-off cafes and diners and restaurants every single time (and there's always one or more of those places for every chain location).
Totally Agree - smaller family businesses and small chains are usually much better than massive chains and multinationals.
Love:
Country Kitchen (reminds me of college days)
Perkins
Denny's
Ruby Tuesdays
Like:
Outback Steakhouse
Longhorn
Bob Evans
Dislike:
Chili's
IHOP (junk specialty pancakes - marketed to kill kids)
Cheesecake Factory (the calories on all their items would do you in - I get paranoid eating there)
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We first had them in Charleston in October. Now they are a regular in our house. The cream cheese elevates these biscuits to a new level.
