Thoughts on chain restaurants.

[satcomer]

As solider the local in Okiniwa was called taco rice! Can now make it at home with short grain sticky rice (usually found in the International section at grocery store) and lettuce and all of your favorite taco toppings and mild or spicy taco sauce! it is easy to make with the simple ingredients!

 

[Herdfan]

I first saw McDonalds in the Washington DC area around 1968. I can’t remember what competition they had if any back then. The sandwich that put them on the map imo was The Big Mac, just because it deviated from typical hamburgers in taste, and was delicious. That was when regular burgers were $.35, but I can’t remember what it cost. It took a long time for me to tire of them, but, on occasion, I’ll still partake. We have 2 McDonalds in our neighborhood. On a recent trip to France the city center and smaller towns, the McDonalds we stopped at were full of people wanting to eat fast. 😉

I remember as a kid, all I wanted was to be a grown up so I could eat McDonald's every day.

Now it seems like more of a punishment if I have to eat lunch there. Do grab breakfast about once a week though.

 

[lowfreq]

I'm not sure how many folks visit chain restaurants but I've noticed a clear decrease in quality since the pandemic.

• The 99 restaurant - A regional chain here in the northeast. Pub food at a good price, its a shell of its former self, both in food selection and quality.
• Olive Garden - more microwaved food then anything
• Panera bread - once marketed as a fresh alterative to fast food, is preprocessed and mediocre. Hell, the last time we were there, my daughters said their chicken soup was worse then the canned Progresso soup sold in supermarkets, i.e., the ingredients were all mushy and falling apart, and it was luke warm
• Red Robbin, we tried going there yesterday, and it was dirty, empty and no help could be found - at one point we wondered if it was even open.

I ALWAYS go by the mantra, that I avoid empty restaurants. They're empty for a reason and that reason typically isn't good. I'm finding that these chains tend to be mostly empty, but locally owned are still very busy.

Anyways what are your thoughts and/or opinions on chain restaurants.

Conversely my experience to locally owned restaurants continue to be overly positive, so its no the food service industry but its limited to chains.

I used to have a high tolerance for poorly prepared food and at one time gave many chain restaurants a good endorsement. Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, etc...I was a fan of many local places until recently also.

Over time my tastes and standards changed and I started to recognize that these places were not as good as I had thought. I've heard that in some cases many of these food chains basically used pre-packaged foods that were frozen and they basically just heated everything up. No idea if there is truth or not to that but I started realizing the meals I got at these places really were not all that great.

The endpoint for eating out for me was when I went to a couple of local pubs that were highly regarded. I ordered seafood/crab chowder at one place, and was served something that had imitation crabmeat.

The second place I am thinking of I ordered a " Grilled cheese with basil" sandwich and was served something that basically had dried basil flakes in it. I was under the impression it would be fresh basil.

In other words, it is all overrated.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

I know you're discussing chain restaurants and not fast food, but I can confidently say the last time I ate at a McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, etc. was during the Clinton administration. Fast food is terrible, and it makes me feel bad for having eaten it. I have made the choice to avoid those places, it's easy.

As for chains, most have been bad - serving pre-packaged and reheated product - for years. And as many here have mentioned, when you dine there, you are giving money to huge corporations instead of locally owned businesses.

A friend asked me to meet him at a Panera once, not too long before the pandemic, and it was a terrible experience. All the ambiance and quality of a high school cafeteria. I don't intend to ever go to one again.

I live in Southern California, and I am stunned that places like Taco Bell even exist here, because you would need to drive past a dozen great honest real Mexican taco places in order to get to one.

But I think the reason people do like Taco Bell (and chain restaurants) is that no matter which highway exit you take across the country, the experience will be the same. They are repeatable. So for people who want Chili's, every Chili's will do. Same for Panera, Olive Garden, etc. If you don't want to have to worry about having a new or different experience, you go to a chain restaurant.

And sadly there are lots of places across the country where the predominant kind of restaurant is the chain. The food tends to be mediocre at best, it's overpriced and the whole place is pretending something it's not.

 

[Micky Do]

I know you're discussing chain restaurants and not fast food, but I can confidently say the last time I ate at a McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, etc. was during the Clinton administration. Fast food is terrible, and it makes me feel bad for having eaten it. I have made the choice to avoid those places, it's easy.

As for chains, most have been bad - serving pre-packaged and reheated product - for years. And as many here have mentioned, when you dine there, you are giving money to huge corporations instead of locally owned businesses.

A friend asked me to meet him at a Panera once, not too long before the pandemic, and it was a terrible experience. All the ambiance and quality of a high school cafeteria. I don't intend to ever go to one again.

I live in Southern California, and I am stunned that places like Taco Bell even exist here, because you would need to drive past a dozen great honest real Mexican taco places in order to get to one.

But I think the reason people do like Taco Bell (and chain restaurants) is that no matter which highway exit you take across the country, the experience will be the same. They are repeatable. So for people who want Chili's, every Chili's will do. Same for Panera, Olive Garden, etc. If you don't want to have to worry about having a new or different experience, you go to a chain restaurant.

And sadly there are lots of places across the country where the predominant kind of restaurant is the chain. The food tends to be mediocre at best, it's overpriced and the whole place is pretending something it's not.

Gee, that's recent. The last time I ate at macDonalds was during the Nixon administration.... It was the one and only time.

I have eaten at KFC the odd time over the years, the last resort when all else was closed. The last time was when I got off work (tractor driving) about 11.30 PM. Normally we were provided with dinner, but not this day for some reason, so I reckoned on a quick Chicken 'n' Chips to take home, in town about 20 miles from the yard. By the time I got there the store had closed, but they still had a bit of food left. They took pity on a cold, tired old chappy on a motorcycle, and gave me a couple of boxes.... Free!!

Have never tried Burger King or most other chains, and am not inclined to do so. Don't do Starbucks either. I usually cook at home, using fresh produce, not frozen. The odd time I do eat out it's at an independent.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Gee, that's recent. The last time I ate at macDonalds was during the Nixon administration.... It was the one and only time.

I have eaten at KFC the odd time over the years, the last resort when all else was closed. The last time was when I got off work (tractor driving) about 11.30 PM. Normally we were provided with dinner, but not this day for some reason, so I reckoned on a quick Chicken 'n' Chips to take home, in town about 20 miles from the yard. By the time I got there the store had closed, but they still had a bit of food left. They took pity on a cold, tired old chappy on a motorcycle, and gave me a couple of boxes.... Free!!

Have never tried Burger King or most other chains, and am not inclined to do so. Don't do Starbucks either. I usually cook at home, using fresh produce, not frozen. The odd time I do eat out it's at an independent.

I guess I should explain the recency of even that fast food meal. My job at the time required me to be driving much of the day, and fast food was generally all I could do, having something between one stop and the next.

Proudly, the cars I've owned since then have not had even one sesame seed in the driver's seat or on the floor.

 

[compwiz1202]

I remember as a kid, all I wanted was to be a grown up so I could eat McDonald's every day.

Now it seems like more of a punishment if I have to eat lunch there. Do grab breakfast about once a week though.

Lunch is like the only consistently good time for me to get it. And it has to be right when lunch starts. Only time you can absolutely guarantee it will be fresh.

 

[Huntn]

I remember as a kid, all I wanted was to be a grown up so I could eat McDonald's every day.

Now it seems like more of a punishment if I have to eat lunch there. Do grab breakfast about once a week though.

I like their breakfast burritos on occasion when traveling, and Big Macs. 🙂

 

[NYCValkyrie]

“Fast food” serves one primary purpose, eat fast, and taste acceptably good. McDonalds are lined up every highway in the US or so it seems, clean, with bathrooms, editable food, usually next to a gas station. 🙂

I first saw McDonalds in the Washington DC area around 1968. I can’t remember what competition they had if any back then. The sandwich that put them on the map imo was The Big Mac, just because it deviated from typical hamburgers in taste, and was delicious. That was when regular burgers were $.35, but I can’t remember what it cost. It took a long time for me to tire of them, but, on occasion, I’ll still partake. We have 2 McDonalds in our neighborhood. On a recent trip to France the city center and smaller towns, the McDonalds we stopped at were full of people wanting to eat fast. 😉

I'll say this, international versions of fast food restaurants are at least 10 times better than their original American counterparts. And their local items are so so good.

 

[BotchQue]

I'll say this, international versions of fast food restaurants are at least 10 times better than their original American counterparts. And their local items are so so good.

Heh, my last/ultimate high school "band camp" was a two-week tour of Europe, starting in Austria and ending with a concert under the Eiffel Tower.
We spent the last two days in Paris, and once we learned that the local McD's had wine and beer on the menu, with no age limits, we all flocked there, only to be greeted by the band director at the door. So close...

 

[SalisburySam]

Lunch is like the only consistently good time for me to get it. And it has to be right when lunch starts. Only time you can absolutely guarantee it will be fresh.

And by “fresh” you mean just defrosted and the first to go into the deep fat fryer oil that day?

 

[compwiz1202]

And by “fresh” you mean just defrosted and the first to go into the deep fat fryer oil that day?

Yes and not sitting forever not following hold times. Most fast food tastes good if they follow cook times and hold times. That's a different story than it being good for you

 

[rhett7660]

While they are a chain fast food place, In-and-Out seems to keep the quality relatively high. I have yet to be disappointed with them. The food is always good IMHO.

 

[decafjava]

And by “fresh” you mean just defrosted and the first to go into the deep fat fryer oil that day?

AKA "Fresh frozen" cue Gordan Ramsay rant.

 

[compwiz1202]

AKA "Fresh frozen" cue Gordan Ramsay rant.

That's so frozen, Idina Menzel sang about it!!!

 

[Mity]

I'm not sure how many folks visit chain restaurants but I've noticed a clear decrease in quality since the pandemic.

• The 99 restaurant - A regional chain here in the northeast. Pub food at a good price, its a shell of its former self, both in food selection and quality.
• Olive Garden - more microwaved food then anything
• Panera bread - once marketed as a fresh alterative to fast food, is preprocessed and mediocre. Hell, the last time we were there, my daughters said their chicken soup was worse then the canned Progresso soup sold in supermarkets, i.e., the ingredients were all mushy and falling apart, and it was luke warm
• Red Robbin, we tried going there yesterday, and it was dirty, empty and no help could be found - at one point we wondered if it was even open.

I ALWAYS go by the mantra, that I avoid empty restaurants. They're empty for a reason and that reason typically isn't good. I'm finding that these chains tend to be mostly empty, but locally owned are still very busy.

Anyways what are your thoughts and/or opinions on chain restaurants.

Conversely my experience to locally owned restaurants continue to be overly positive, so its no the food service industry but its limited to chains.

I don't eat out much because I can't control the quality of the ingredients that are used. However, I do like eating at Whole Foods because I can choose from the buffet, pizza or bakery (not gonna lie, sometimes it's all 3 🍭). Last week, I had a chicken tikka and eggplant pizza and I was blown away at how good the combo was. I also like that they pay their staff well - the avg. wage, according to a Google, is $18/hr. I hate playing the tip game.

 

[H-L-T]

Patronage of a “chain” restaurant, let alone a privately owned restaurant doesn’t make a difference to me, it really depends on the food quality experience and sanitary standards, which for me personally, I’ve had good and poor experiences on both sides of the spectrum with corporate restaurants, and privately owned. As a restaurateur myself years ago, I have the expectation that sanitary methods need to be priority, and that means wearing gloves when handling customers orders. If I observe a business using improper sanitary methods, like not using gloves when touching customers orders, they officially lost my business and earned a negative review. Not acceptable.

In any instance, I look at the totality of the experience, which includes customer service, food quality, and sanitary standards. I don’t care how well-established a restaurant is (Franchise, “Chain”, or privately owned) if they don’t have all three, then I’m not interested in being a patron.

However, from local restaurants from my experiences, sanitary standards are not on par what a corporate restaurant is, but they have more hand-crafted dishes that separates them from corporate restaurants. And on the other side, corporate restaurants tend to have more popular, typical dishes, but their sanitary standards are usually very good, being they tend to be audited more from the county health department than a privately owned restaurant does. Also, corporate restaurants tend to have more frequent visits from regional managers who specifically are ensuring the restaurants health standards and execution of the POS (Point of sales).

 

[maflynn]

Bertucci's files for bankruptcy again, closes more Massachusetts, New Hampshire locations

I remember when one of these opened up in my local town where I lived in, back in the day. Lines around the corner waiting to get in. Always busy, always good food.

Like so many other chain restaurants, something happened along the way, the food stopped being so unique, service started slipping, competition was doing a better job.

I can't say that I'm surprised over this. There's a Bertuccis on a very busy road near a lot of commercial and retail buildings. Yet when you go there, the parking lot is empty.

 

[TechRunner]

Bertucci's files for bankruptcy again, closes more Massachusetts, New Hampshire locations

I remember when one of these opened up in my local town where I lived in, back in the day. Lines around the corner waiting to get in. Always busy, always good food.

Like so many other chain restaurants, something happened along the way, the food stopped being so unique, service started slipping, competition was doing a better job.

I can't say that I'm surprised over this. There's a Bertuccis on a very busy road near a lot of commercial and retail buildings. Yet when you go there, the parking lot is empty.

I ate at Bertucci's a few times. Always good food and a good experience. But like you said, it was back in the day.

 

[maflynn]

I ate at Bertucci's a few times. Always good food and a good experience. But like you said, it was back in the day.

Like the Olive Garden, they seemed to be kind of generic, nothing special.

One of the issues I'm seeing is cost. I know its been mentioned, but I kind of got hit with sticker shock the other day. Maybe I'm oblivious (I am), maybe I just don't pay attention (I don't) and may be I'm just particularly poor this time of year (I am). But I ordered take out at my local Italian Restaurant. Nothing special, 2 Chicken Parms, a garden salad with chicken cutlet and my got some sort of shrimp risotto.

It ran me almost 70 dollars. 😳 This would have cost me in the 40 dollar range 2 years ago. Its good food, its a mom and pop type place but still. I can't be spending this much money on a weekly basis. They've cut back on portions, the so called shrinkflation. The side salads that we get were literally a piece of lettuce, slice of tomato, and a little bit of onions.

So for chains, I can see them getting hit even harder as people go out less.

 

[decafjava]

One of the best chains in Switzerland bar none an Italian chain called Luiga:

Luiga Italian Specialites

A bit expensive even for Switzerland and have only ever had business meals there 😛 had one of the best veal Milanese ever. Pizzas and pasta fantastic too.

One of the best burgers chains is Holy Cow:

Holy Cow

i am an omnivore but I really appreciate their veggie burgers as the patties are made of vegetables (kind of Indian style) with peas, beans, cauliflower and not these "fake meats". Thick cut chips and a good selection of drinks including local beers for those looking for carb overload.

 

[TechRunner]

Like the Olive Garden, they seemed to be kind of generic, nothing special.

One of the issues I'm seeing is cost. I know its been mentioned, but I kind of got hit with sticker shock the other day. Maybe I'm oblivious (I am), maybe I just don't pay attention (I don't) and may be I'm just particularly poor this time of year (I am). But I ordered take out at my local Italian Restaurant. Nothing special, 2 Chicken Parms, a garden salad with chicken cutlet and my got some sort of shrimp risotto.

It ran me almost 70 dollars. 😳 This would have cost me in the 40 dollar range 2 years ago. Its good food, its a mom and pop type place but still. I can't be spending this much money on a weekly basis. They've cut back on portions, the so called shrinkflation. The side salads that we get were literally a piece of lettuce, slice of tomato, and a little bit of onions.

So for chains, I can see them getting hit even harder as people go out less.

We're eating out a lot less for the reasons you mentioned. Inflated prices, smaller portions, diminished quality. And here in SW Florida, tourism adds to the prices being charged too.

 

[bunnspecial]

My wife and I probably eat out too much, but looking at our typical spots we tend to favor either local places or regional chains.

My wife's family is Italian and that puts us in Italian restaurants a lot. Her taste buds are accustomed to "St. Louis Italian", though, which has its...quirks...but I've developed a taste for it. For a real proper meal on a nice night out we'll go to one of the places in the Italian neighborhood in St. Louis(The Hill) but there are a few places on our side of the river that are quite good also. I'm still warming up to the stuff they call pizza here.

I see a lot of people mentioning Panera. It's honestly not a place I've been a lot, but saying you dislike it here, or rather "Bread Co"(St. Louis Bread Company) is heresy. My wife's grandparents have breakfast there nearly every morning. It's take it or leave it for me.

Of the national chains around here, Red Robin I think has been the biggest post-pandemic disappointment. Their menu is tiny compared to what it use to be(I use to love their onion buns on some burgers, but they don't have that as an option anymore, plus a lot of their other choices). Texas Roadhouse has remained good, but unsurprisingly the one around here is always packed. Applebees and a few others have honestly fallen off our radar. Our last visit to Cracker Barrel was when the restaurant we usually go to for breakfast closed for a month for vacation back in the summer-it was okay. Bluegrass Hospitality, a restaurant group out of Kentucky, opened a restaurant near us a few years ago that is very good but I really wish that they'd bring their signature restaurant(a steakhouse) to this area as I think it would do well and I wouldn't have to wait until we visit my parents to go there 🙂 .

 

[TechRunner]

For a real proper meal on a nice night out we'll go to one of the places in the Italian neighborhood in St. Louis(The Hill)

I lived in the STL area for 11 years, and loved a good meal on The Hill. Favazza's and Cunetto House of Pasta were my personal favorites. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane!

 

[bunnspecial]

I lived in the STL area for 11 years, and loved a good meal on The Hill. Favazza's and Cunetto House of Pasta were my personal favorites. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane!

My wife grew up here and has never lived anywhere else, so knows the ins and outs much better than I do.

I really like Favazza's and I think that's her favorite also. Zia's edges them out slightly for me but it's probably splitting hairs.

My wife kept telling me she wanted to go to Rigazzi's for her birthday this year, so I made the reservation and got it all set up and so forth. We get back in the car after dinner and she says "That was really good, but you know I can't believe I kept saying here because I actually wanted to go to Favazza's". We've had a good laugh over that one since then, and yes a couple of weeks later I DID take her there 🙂