What's your opinion?

[J Francho]

IHOP. Had a really bad deal there last time I went. Normally would stick to local, but the kids love it there and we had a GC. 

[Dwight Hottle]

I always pick local over a chain but the one that stands out as really bad is the already mentioned Outback Steakhouse. 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Im going Chick fi la as well does nothing for me way overrated.

[roadwarrior]

2 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

 

I believe Chick-fil-a is the best fast food chain restaurant on the planet.   

 

Agreed!

[gim]

2 hours ago, WVU-SCPA said:

Texas Roadhouse......It's not bad food,  but if you drove by the local one you would think they had 5* meals with the full parking lot and line waiting everyday.

I like that place.  The portions are sizable, tasty, and reasonable in cost.

 

I do agree that they are always ridiculously busy though.  Aint gonna wait an hour to eat there like a lot of people seem to do.

 

Given the choice between Outback and Roadhouse, I would select the Roadhouse every time.

[Kirtley Howe]

Outback Steakhouse......our more or less local one is very good. Never had a bad meal there. But.....the quality of food/service seems to vary a great deal between locations. Last time we hit one while traveling, it was terrible. 

Texas Roadhouse....good steaks, ok service, but usually way to noisy for my taste...and unless you go at 4pm you have to wait an hour just to get in the door.

IHOP used to be a great place for a cheap breakfast. I don't know what happened, but the quality has dropped a lot (how can you screw up eggs and pancakes when that is supposed to be your specialty?) and the prices have gone up a lot.

For breakfast, the best deal going is Denny's.

Of course I would always try a local place first rather than any chain restaurant if the choice is available, but sometimes when on the road, you have to bite the bullet and go with the devil you know.

[Fishing_Rod]

Greetings and Happy Friday All,

I concur with @Fishingmickey with regard to how significant things are at the local level. We live in a smaller modest sized community. When we do treat ourselves to a meal out, we generally seek the locally owned establishments over chain organizations. This is not to say that we avoid them. Since OG was mentioned prominently in this thread, I'll share our recent experience the other evening.

 

Our local OG did a splendid job at assembling and preparing our four take away dinner meals. It was prompt, accurate, prepared well for transport, and reasonably well made. So we were able to enjoy a relaxed dinner.

 

Our local OG has been consistently a good performer both for dine in and take out experiences. I attribute that quality not to the corporate organization but more to the staff running our local establishment. Being a smaller sized metro (if that is appropriate as we are the largest municipality in our vast rural county) folks remain familiar with their neighbors. We see each other often, so there is a sense of pride involved.

 

Similarly, it is that way with the locally owned restaurants too. There is pride in what they have to offer and appreciate support they receive. It is really great to be appreciated and acknowledged by name (reference greetings in the situation comedy "Cheers", where everybody knows your name) when entering their establishment. It is a welcoming touch that endears.

 

In my youth, I remember my immigrant grandfather who was a chef and part owner of restaurant (diner style) on old main street. He had freedom to adjust and prepare meals to better suit his clients. Through that experience, I can see how there are corporate restrictions involved limiting how meals are prepared to optimize production and for other reasons too. Thus probably not the optimum dining experience for some who may have greater expectations.

 

Similarly, this theme is there when making other retail purchases too. It all depends on what your aspirations are as a customer. I prefer sourcing from locally owned establishments but not to the exclusion of corporate opportunities. I do this as I  appreciate the support from our locally owned providers. They are important to our community. Still, there are times where I seek alternatives. Those are simply consumer driven selections.

 

We all appreciate good value. I have found that value is not limited to just what is represented by a $ sign. Just my $0.02 put in. Be well, and cheers!

[Buzzbaiter]

4 hours ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

Chick-fil-a  was a big disappointment to me. 

I really enjoyed Chick-fil-a, at least for a little while. The food they make is good, there’s just no variety to it. Your options are tenders, nuggets, a sandwich, or a salad. If you’re feeling exotic, you can get a *spicy* sandwich. It gets old after a bit. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

4 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

 

Depends on what you were expecting.  I believe Chick-fil-a is the best fast food chain restaurant on the planet.   The only problem is the lines going in the place are outrageously long.  It's so popular where we live the customers block traffic.  The employees all seem happy,  The food is decent and the service is efficient.  Chicken is chicken, but at least Chick-fil-a tastes like something other than a piece of cardboard.  A month ago, I ordered a chicken sandwich at Burger King. What I got was a pressed piece of something that I'm not sure what it was.  McDonald's chicken sandwich is edible, but it's not nearly as good as Chick-fil-a.  McDonald's does have the best fries.

I’m going to say something that would will cause a heated debate. KFC makes the best spicy chicken sandwich. 

17 minutes ago, Buzzbaiter said:

I really enjoyed Chick-fil-a, at least for a little while. The food they make is good, there’s just no variety to it. Your options are tenders, nuggets, a sandwich, or a salad. If you’re feeling exotic, you can get a *spicy* sandwich. It gets old after a bit. 

I only went once, maybe my sample size is too small. It was meh at best. 

[Jrob78]

5 hours ago, you said:

Five Guys. It's not terrible, but, compared to other folks I know, I feel like it's...

 

 

It's not even that the food isn't good, it's fine, but it's way too expensive for what it is. 

 

Off the top of my head:

Olive Garden

Chili's 

Applebee's

In-N-Out

[padlin]

Except in a pinch, we avoid all chain restaurants. How can folks rave about Cracker Barrel?

[roadwarrior]

14 hours ago, padlin said:

How can folks rave about Cracker Barrel?

I think Grand Pa's Breakfast is THE BOMB!

 

 

Grandpa's Country Fried Breakfast®

Two farm fresh eggs* with grits, and your choice of Fried Apples or Hashbrown Casserole (400/420 cal) -plus-Country Fried Steak or Fried Chicken Tenders with Sawmill Gravy (600/710 cal). Includes All the Fixin’s: Buttermilk Biscuits (160 cal each), Sawmill Gravy (160 cal) -plus- butter and the best preserves n’ jam we could find.

[slonezp]

From a service standpoint, almost all restaurants have declined since covid. I rarely eat at nationwide chains. 

[Log Catcher]

When we ate out there were only a few restaurants we would go to. We finally had to quit going to Cracker Barrel. The food and service were both terrible. Bob Evans is another one we quit going to due to terrible service. On the rare times we do eat out now we go to Sonnys BBQ once in a while but we go to Culvers more than any of them.

[Jar11591]

Chic-fil-a is the most overrated. I’d rather eat Tyson frozen chicken. In-N-Out tasted like cafeteria food. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Uhh idk. Maybe Whataburger? I was excited to try it when I got here but I’m really not that big a fan. It’s alright. 
 

My favorite fast food is In N Out, Chick-fil-a, Taco Bell (unapologetically), Bojangles, Panera Bread, and Popeyes

 

I never ate much from chain restaurants

[N Florida Mike]

Suprised no one said mcdonald’s. Still the #1 fast food chain, which defies all logic… I will only go there if my wife begs me enough. The only thing there I like is the fries.

The one near me has TERRIBLE service. The last 10 ? times they have forgot something in the order. I park and go in and they ignore you as long as possible…

Went to an arbys the other day for lunch. The door was locked, but we could see people eating in there. Walked around to the other side and got in.

Seems that were only letting a few people in at a time. Don’t know what that was all about, but I’m willing to bet the owner didn’t know.

That’s never happened to me before. Not in a big rush to go back, although the food was good…

 

[Bird]

@N Florida Mike

Not sure why but the biggest town close by has a burger king, Wendy's, Arby's,Denny's and many others and McDonald's always has a line.

[Happybeerbuzz]

Taco Bell is its own genre of food and cannot be compared to other restaurants.  

[newriverfisherman1953]

I’ve pretty much given up on most of the standard fast food restaurants. Covid killed most of them here. They never have a full staff and seem to care less about serving you unless you’re in the drive through. As mentioned before, I suspect it depends on individual locations too.  Texas Roadhouse seems to do a good job but there is usually a wait. For fast service, we go to Panda Express, Fazoli’s, Chicken Salad Chic or Mission BBQ. 

[detroit1]

too much soozookey ha ha.

[gim]

2 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

My favorite fast food is In N Out, Chick-fil-a, Taco Bell (unapologetically), Bojangles, Panera Bread, and Popeyes

What a lineup.

 

[VolFan]

Actually that jogged my mind. I think Panera is the most overrated, overpriced place I’ve ever been, and that was well pre-Covid issues. 

[deaknh03]

6 hours ago, Jrob78 said:

It's not even that the food isn't good, it's fine, but it's way too expensive for what it is. 

 

Off the top of my head:

Olive Garden

Chili's 

Applebee's

In-N-Out

 

[N Florida Mike]

10 hours ago, Bird said:

@N Florida Mike

Not sure why but the biggest town close by has a burger king, Wendy's, Arby's,Denny's and many others and McDonald's always has a line.

Maybe it’s the cheapest?