Why do chain restaurants keep going out of bussiness in downtown Bellevue

[Guineas]

Originally Posted by annonymous0381

Recently maggainos closed their downtown Bellevue location.

At the height of the pandemic ruth chris and pf changs closed in downtown Bellevue.

I enjoyed eating at all 3 of these restaurants.

Pf changs still has a location in Lynnwood,Washington at alderwood mall still in business.

In Southern California where my parents live pf changs, maggainos and Ruth chris all have busy locations that are still in business and thriving.

California pizza kitchen closed thier northgate seattle and Bellevue locations before the pandemic.

In southern California where my parents live California pizza kitchen has multiple locations that are very busy.


Do people in the puget sound area have different taste than people in the Los angeles area??

Many of the local seattle area restaurants are horrible in my opinion.

Hopefully the cheesecake factory at Bellevue sqaure mall won't go out of bussiness.

Even though I live in northagte seattle most of my friends live in Bellevue.

Cactus mexican food is not nearly as good as El torito in California.

Tutta bella pizza doesn't hold a whistle to California pizza kitchen.

Thanks for the laugh OP. I almost choked on my coffee.

To be blunt, if you think the Cheesecake Factory and CPK are some pinnacle of cuisine, maybe you shouldn't judge the local Seattleites for their taste.

I find there are lots of decent local restaurants in Seattle proper, most are not chains, nor are they pricier than the chains. You need to have a more open mind about it. In the case that you just can't change your taste for faux fancy chain restaurants, the good news is that the Cheesecake Factory is in every 1980s mall in America, coast to coast including the entire Midwest.

[CityWok]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

For me it’s not a cultural quirk, I avoid the chain restaurants because (to me) there are many others that just taste better. I’ve actually tend to gravitate toward hole in the wall ethnic places. The tastes are often delicious with superb quality as the owner is on site running it. They often can be authentically friendly places too, and affordable.

So true, and totally agree. Seems I skipped the obvious. We are spoiled with the options we have here.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by CityWok

So true, and totally agree. Seems I skipped the obvious. We are spoiled with the options we have here.

Been to Kedai Makan, City Wok? Straight up delicious. Here’s the link: Food — Kedai Makan

[Hebrews12]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

I would imagine that they are having the same problems that all these shut down businesses had with these economically hard times from shutting down the economy for near 3 years and they have it worse with the franchise fees.
Seems like simple math to me.

I agree with this. The big guys (expensive restaurants and larger stores) are more likely to survive. Seems like the middle of everything is going away (middle class, middle-priced restaurants etc.). We'll be left with mostly fast food and fine dining. Everything will continue to get more expensive as our economy goes through these hard times.

[Vincent_Adultman]

Originally Posted by LookinForMayberry

I do agree that we had better meals in Tucson restaurants when we lived there, prior to our move here in '90. DH was raised south of LA, and his family followed him up over the ensuing years. They, too, seem to like chain restaurants, though we do not. I guess it could be a part of your cultural upbringing. For my money, I avoid chains like the plague, but then I have never been one to prefer a cookie cutter approach to life in general.

Seattle is not one of those cities like New Orleans or San Francisco where every restaurant you go to is seemingly great. However, Seattle is excellent for Seafood, Southeast Asian food (Thai and Vietnamese), Middle Eastern, Ethiopian, and Japanese food. The Chinese food has also improved exponentially in recent years. It has some amazing sandwich, burger and pizza places as well. I lived in Tucson for years and aside from the Mexican food, I think Seattle has better options.