Favorite chain restaurants

[Tayl405]

What are yours?

Mine are:

--Planet Hollywood (not for the food necessarily, it's just a fun place)
--Maggianos
--Olive Garden
--Outback Steakhouse
--Chilis
--The Cheesecake Factory
--Bubba Gump!!!!!!!

[cornflakegirl]

cheesecake factory
pf changs

[Kitty]

am I alone in not being a fan of chain restaurants? I feel like everytime I go to one I am eating SUPER unhealthy food delivered in absurdly large quantities. For example TGIF's ..I've gone there a few times over the years and I can't believe how fried and oily everything is ..and how big the portions are..

[steph78]

am I alone in not being a fan of chain restaurants? I feel like everytime I go to one I am eating SUPER unhealthy food delivered in absurdly large quantities. For example TGIF's ..I've gone there a few times over the years and I can't believe how fried and oily everything is ..and how big the portions are..

I have to agree with that, but I make a point to make multiple meals out of it by getting a to-go box...and although I know it would be horribly unhealthy to eat at these places all the time, it's just REALLY good every now and then.

I like:
Maggiano's
La Madeleine
Olive Garden
Atlanta Bread Company

[john smith]

Yall must be talking SOUTHERN cooking baby. NUM NUM!!!!

1. Shorty Smalls
2. Outback
3. TGIF
4. Does eat place (regional place in Little Rock) You order your steak by the POUND. GREAT place!!

5. Market Place Grill

[Tayl405]

Shorty smalls????

[hopeless]

My favorite chain restaurants are The Cheesecake Factory, love their vast menu selections & another is Legal Seafood, their seafood is the best & I like how they sure the seafood is really fresh. I especially love their lite version of clam chowder, it's really good without all the heavy creaminess & their calamari is to die for!

[littledancerus]

I say the cheesecake factory too. But there aren't any in Michigan :( When I lived in DC there was one so close to where I lived I could walk there, didn't need to hop on the metro even. Leftovers would last me days!!! Not counting that since there are none here, I like Fridays best.

[shimmer728]

Like mostly everyone else on here, I loooooove the Cheesecake Factory. I wish my boyfriend would take me there. :cry:

I also love the Olive Garden, another place he won't take me.

I think I need a new boyfriend.

[Irish79]

Like mostly everyone else on here, I loooooove the Cheesecake Factory. I wish my boyfriend would take me there. :cry:

I also love the Olive Garden, another place he won't take me.

I think I need a new boyfriend.

Well, I'm sure he has other redeeming qualities other than his taste in food. :lol:

I love Red Robin - yum!

[LakeJay]

Legal Seafoods and Macaroni Grill

[shimmer728]

Well, I'm sure he has other redeeming qualities other than his taste in food. :lol:

I love Red Robin - yum!

I guess he has a few. ;)

That's funny that you mentioned Red Robin. There's one here in Pittsburgh, and every time we drive past it, I say we should go there sometime. In fact, I say that so often that he makes fun of me for it. Jackass. :)

[winneythepooh7]

I am not a big fan of chain restaurants either, for the above mentioned reasons. Plus, living in NYC, there are a TON of restaurants to eat at to avoid the chains, that are so much better, and so many, that you never have to eat at the same one twice. I did eat at Ruby Tuesday's on Saturday night though. I got the salad bar, however. All the other stuff on the menu is way too much grease for me. 9 times out of 10 when I eat at these places, I usually end up running to the bathroom several times that day. Chain restaurants are instant laxatives............

[MonaLisa]

I love to hate chain places but Olive Garden's soup and salad lunch special's pretty tasty. It's my one exception.

[bostongirl]

Generally not a big fan of chain restaurants for a lot of reasons mentioned above... they kind of symbolize to me why people in the US are so fat... huge portions of mostly unhealthly not terriblely high quality food... not that it necessarily tastes bad or anything, but the quality just isn't there :(
I was at an Outback in NYC on Saturday night, (clearly I wasn't picking the restaurant... ) which was kind of funny, since I never even think about these places being in cities... I associate them with being box restaurants outside large suburban malls...
As far as these places go though, if I'm going to eat at them Cheesecake, PF Changs, Outback, and Legal Seafoods get my vote. Chilis isn't too bad either...
-M

[pisces2473]

Not super big on chains, but I do like Outback and Ruby Tuesday.

[coll214]

Anytime I eat at the chains (or a good italian place too it seems like), I tend to take home leftover so i don't feel so bad eating it... but my favorites would have to be Friendly's, Ruby Tuesdays, Chili's, and maybe Denny's too...

[pisces2473]

Does anyone else feel like when they go to Friendlys, it's like being in a time warp? The service is soooooo sloooooowwww.

[wordsmith]

Hee, I don't like chains, either, but for nowhere near as noble of reasons as the nutritional value of the food or portion size.

I just HATE the pressed-out-of-a-factory-mold attempts at "ambience." I figure if you're going to eat overpriced, not-that-special food, you ought to get something more for your money than the generic, strip-mall type atmosphere that every Ruby Tuesdays/Applebees/Outback/TGI Fridays has. Seriously, how's that any different than fast food?

I'd rather eat at a dumpy dive with tasty food than someplace that reminds me of the restaurant that Jennifer Aniston works at in Office Space.

That said, Olive Garden's soup and salad does indeed kick some ass. :redface:

[Tayl405]

I just HATE the pressed-out-of-a-factory-mold attempts at "ambience." I figure if you're going to eat overpriced, not-that-special food, you ought to get something more for your money than the generic, strip-mall type atmosphere that every Ruby Tuesdays/Applebees/Outback/TGI Fridays has. Seriously, how's that any different than fast food?

That doesn't really bother me, as long as I like the restaurant. It makes me feel at home, and I like knowing what to expect (some of the time at least). Esp. since my life is constantly changing, at least it's something that stays the same :)

[pisces2473]

Hee, I don't like chains, either, but for nowhere near as noble of reasons as the nutritional value of the food or portion size.

I just HATE the pressed-out-of-a-factory-mold attempts at "ambience." I figure if you're going to eat overpriced, not-that-special food, you ought to get something more for your money than the generic, strip-mall type atmosphere that every Ruby Tuesdays/Applebees/Outback/TGI Fridays has. Seriously, how's that any different than fast food?

I'd rather eat at a dumpy dive with tasty food than someplace that reminds me of the restaurant that Jennifer Aniston works at in Office Space.

That said, Olive Garden's soup and salad does indeed kick some ass. :redface:
Yeah, I'd rather support a local diner or something than a national conglomerant (sp?). I <3 my diner!!!!

[kimmer23]

the friendly's around here i feel like i should be wearing a full body condom at. they are sooo freakin' dirty! all the waiters and waitresses are dirty too! ew!

i dont mind going to ruby tuesday or chili's once in a while though. its nice to have a margarita....not for the "outstanding" food. hehe!

there are a few MD chains that arent bad. we have bill batman's and ramshead tavern. ramshead is cool because it has a HUGE selection of beers.

[wordsmith]

Dude, my local greasy spoon diner is the BIGGEST dump, but I'd sooner eat there than at Outback or what have you, a zillion times over. For one thing, they have a menu that's about three times as long. The same Albanian family has run it for something like 40 years, and I went to school with all their kids. And, since I've been eating there for 28 years and counting, it's got that whole "I'm at home," vibe, too.

Did you ever read "Empire Falls?" Jen? It's a LOT like the Empire Grill.

[pisces2473]

I figured out why Friendly's is so random. It's because they don't serve alcohol, so they can hire 15/16 yr olds, etc. The food used to be really good, but the one by me, not so much. I have one that's a 1/4 mi from my house and I never go there b/c the service and food is shittay.

[mishl982]

I like Outback, Ruby Tuesdays and Noodles and Company :P

[biodork]

Melting Pot (SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!)
Olive Garden
OH and i love baja fresh, panera and chipotle :)

[hopeless]

I also like Bertucci's pasta & pizza. My dad isn't into the pizza since he hates having burnt spots underneath the pizza, practically tries to scrape it off with a knife, like that's gonna make it any better & he always tells me to make sure to scrape it off, & in my mind it's like I don't give a damn. I've been Panera Bread once & I order a sandwhich with soup & it was good, though the portions were huge I couldn't finish what I ordered. Another place I like is Au Bon Pain even if it's not a restaurant chain. I usually get a roast beef sandwhich on french bread & their pastries are pretty good too.

[Tayl405]

I forgot about the melting pot. I LOVE fondue.

When we were little (and not so little) and my dad wasn't coming home for dinner, my mom would throw a sheet on the living room floor and set up cheese fondue with apples and french bread and we'd watch a movie. It's funny, because those are some of my favorite childhood memories.

[pisces2473]

Another place I like is Au Bon Pain even if it's not a restaurant chain. I usually get a roast beef sandwhich on french bread & their pastries are pretty good too.
Uhhh, Au Bon Pain is a chain. There's one across from where I work in New Haven.

[coll214]

Dude, my local greasy spoon diner is the BIGGEST dump, but I'd sooner eat there than at Outback or what have you, a zillion times over. For one thing, they have a menu that's about three times as long. The same Albanian family has run it for something like 40 years, and I went to school with all their kids. And, since I've been eating there for 28 years and counting, it's got that whole "I'm at home," vibe, too.
LOL, one of the BEST italian places (and there are quite a few) in my hometown is owned by an Albanian family. a close friend of mine works there, and it's like walking into my own restaurant. the place probally hasn't changed in 30 years, but the food's great, which is what matters :).

[heatherf]

I can't help it but I love:

Chevy's, I drool over their chips, salsa, and margaritas. :(

And as for other chains:

Buca di Beppo, of course
Spaghetti Factory, cause it's so dang cheap
Macaroni Grill