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How Appleby's stays in business mystifies me. Then I remember -- it's because this country is filled with rubes.
Appleby's is absolutely the worst excuse for a restaurant I have ever encountered. Its food is dreck, its manufactured "ambience" is phonier than a three-dollar billl, and its advertising is beyond cynical and all the way to mendacious.
People who would go to an Appleby's more than once are lacking in basic judgement. Which is depressing when one considers how many of these so-called "restaurants" blight our landscape...
How Appleby's stays in business mystifies me. Then I remember -- it's because this country is filled with rubes.
Appleby's is absolutely the worst excuse for a restaurant I have ever encountered. Its food is dreck, its manufactured "ambience" is phonier than a three-dollar billl, and its advertising is beyond cynical and all the way to mendacious.
People who would go to an Appleby's more than once are lacking in basic judgement. Which is depressing when one considers how many of these so-called "restaurants" blight our landscape...
Yes, I know that you can call ahead at most chain restaurants, but who wants to wait 45 minutes to an hour to be seated?
The day, this rare restaurant goer, does go to a restaurant and has to wait even 5 minutes to be seated, will be the day I hear screams from hell: I'm freezing! I'm freezing!
We have never eaten at an Outback or a Red Lobster before. ( I think I ate at one for a work lunch many years ago, but I know our kids have never eaten at one & my oldest is 10).
We did go to OG last year as someone gave us a gift card for there. Of course, my youngest proclaimed it was the BEST mach & cheese she ever had! Ugh...
I will say, OG does have a great salad dressing, but that's about all I can say for them.( & I know it is loaded w/salt,tc..)
We pretty much avoid chains when we can. There are so many decent local restaurants, we would rather eat at them.
I think you just hit the nail on the head: your little girl loved the mac and cheese. This is what draws people to some of the chains, not really good or healthy but it pleases those who don't always cook gourmet style meals. They are nice for those who just like a simple, and usualy tasty meal but don't eat the way many of us do...Not everyone is a true foodie..Most people are not.
No meat, I am a vegetarian. Large can of tomatoes, maybe $1.25, tomato paste 2 for $1, the farm market by me sell bunches of basil for $1. Ok maybe a little over what I estimated including the olive oil and I add some onion and garlic, but still cheap. I don't really like parmesan. But it is just two of us and this sauce lasts for multiple meals.
not all of us have farm markets and I don't know anywhere around our house to get tomato paste, 2 for a $...You are comparing the type of sause you like with whatout realizing most people do add the cheese, maybe meat, some not, other spices and cook it for hours. That makes it a litle more expensive than what you are talking about. Even if I make vegetarian sause, I use mushrooms and probably bell peppers Plus a lot of us add red wine to the sause. Now th price has jumped a little. You make a simple sause, some of us make our sauses with a little more flavor. It is a matter of what you like and what you are used to. I would like to know where you live, because i have never seen a basic red sause and a plate of pasta for $12.95. I have seen it with meat at that price, of course it comes with salad as well.
I enjoy cooking at home and I've actually gotten pretty good at it. And it's nice to know what exactly is going into each dish that I cook at home. But I like eating out, too.
It's nice to go to a place like Outback and order something that I would never cook at home - like a Bloomin' Onion. And it's also nice not to have to do the dishes, plan the meal, shop for the ingredients...
I wouldn't necessarily want to eat out on a regular basis. But an occasional meal out is fine with me.
It's the marketing people. The big corporate restaurants and franchises have the bucks for advertising, way more than the privately owned. Can you really watch those commercials without wanting to go to Olive Garden, Chili's, or Red Lobster?
Yes, I can. There are plenty of good, independent restaurants that serve better food.
But I did just realize that this thread is addressing "non-restaurant-goers"!
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 12-13-2012 at 06:38 AM..
How Appleby's stays in business mystifies me. Then I remember -- it's because this country is filled with rubes.
Appleby's is absolutely the worst excuse for a restaurant I have ever encountered. Its food is dreck, its manufactured "ambience" is phonier than a three-dollar billl, and its advertising is beyond cynical and all the way to mendacious.
People who would go to an Appleby's more than once are lacking in basic judgement. Which is depressing when one considers how many of these so-called "restaurants" blight our landscape...
Well, I'm sure I'm lacking judgment in some areas (like everyone else in the world), but at least I do possess reading comprehension and spelling skills.
I go to Applebees several times a year. Here's why:
1. They are one of the few local restaurants which offer true low calorie and healthy menu options that actually taste decent and are made from fresh ingredients. They also offer a pretty wide variety of food choices, so they're a good option for a group of people with varying tastes.
2. Though I don't go to Applebees for their ambiance, I do go there for comfortable seating, quick and friendly service, and a pleasant environment. I'm not going there to be entertained, or for a romantic evening, or for a gourmet meal.
3. My adorable granddaughter LOVES Applebees. She thinks it's a special treat to go there. I have no idea why - after all, she's the child of the daughter I was talking about earlier - the one who is a health food and gourmet food aficionado. So - when that child is spending the weekend with me, and I ask her where she wants to eat dinner, if she picks Applebees then that's where we're going. I really don't NEED any other reason to go when ya think about it.
Now - as I said earlier, my husband and I are pretty good cooks ourselves. We are very into healthy cooking, organic foods, and exploring a variety of cultural cuisines. Several times a month, we drive nearly an hour to buy groceries at a very high end gourmet grocery store that offers exceptional choices (locally owned but similar to Central Market or Whole Foods). We do a lot of cooking at home, and we also eat out several times a week, usually at locally owned restaurants. I even grow my own herbs and make my own yogurt and much of my own bread, for Pete's sake.
We also own our own successful business and have raised a group of five kids who are all doing very well in their own business and personal lives.
So I'd say we've got some pretty good judgment overall. For instance, one thing we've learned over time is that it's not good judgment to judge others we don't know at ALL by trivial things such as what sort of shoes they're wearing, what sort of car they're driving, or what restaurants they choose.
Yes gasp we eat at chain restaurants and enjoy it. Our cholesterol levels are perfect no health problems and we've eaten at chain restaurants for years. We like not having to cook and clean and having no distractions from the tv, etc.
I do not criticize others for their choices even though I do wonder about all the money spent on organic foods really is it that much better? Some studies say no. We were blessed to be born with good genes no history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol etc. I think this makes a huge difference. Know many "healthy eaters" who have more health problems that us chain restaurant eaters consuming all that horrible food.
Geographic concentrations of such ensure availability of high quality cuisine such is found in Philadelphia and NYC.
Awesome. I'll have to let my cousin's wife -- whose parents emigrated from Lombardy as teenagers after World War II; and what's really cool is that the town her parents are from is only 40 miles away from the town where my grandparents are from -- that her beautiful Italian restaurant in Phoenix couldn't possibly be authentic, high-quality cuisine because there's not much of a geographic concentration of Italian-Americans in Phoenix.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeledaf
How Appleby's stays in business mystifies me. Then I remember -- it's because this country is filled with rubes.
I bet those "rubes" know how to spell the name of their favorite restaurant correctly.
Quote:
People who would go to an Appleby's more than once are lacking in basic judgement.
So are people who judge others merely because of a restaurant they enjoy patronizing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by springfieldva
It's nice to go to a place like Outback and order something that I would never cook at home
Exactly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
Well, I'm sure I'm lacking judgment in some areas (like everyone else in the world), but at least I do possess reading comprehension and spelling skills.
Quote:
For instance, one thing we've learned over time is that it's not good judgment to judge others we don't know at ALL by trivial things such as what sort of shoes they're wearing, what sort of car they're driving, or what restaurants they choose.
That, too.
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Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. 
