What is your favorite/least favorite chain restaurant?

[luvs]

i try not to go to those places unless boyfriend is low on cash. but:
TGI Friday's has a some good stuff, especially these sesame jack chicken things. Ruth's Chris is an exception. i'd go there and not think of it as chain restaurant food. just good food.
i am another who dislikes Denny's. Eat 'n Park, too. the food is so salty it is sickening. i don't like Waffle House, either. just not my kind of food.

 

[middie]

we have a roadhouse here but i've yet to try it.

 

[buckytom]

tgi friday's used to have these brocolli cheese balls i loved. they were a floret of brocolli, rolled into a ball with cheese then battered and deep fried. they were so good. a few years back they changed the recipe, and now it's just tiny bits of brocolli. they blew it.

 

[luvs]

we have a roadhouse here but i've yet to try it.

you get to throw peanut shells all over the floor before you get your food!

 

[Juliev]

we have a roadhouse here but i've yet to try it.

you get to throw peanut shells all over the floor before you get your food!

Yep! and you can draw in the brown paper tablecloth with black crayons... it's fun! All while you watch your steak being done and take in all the great aromas!

 

[norgeskog]

Love Applebees, Chili's, Roadhouse, fast food has to be In & Out (do not have one in Eugene )

Dislike Dennys, McD, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Panda Expess,

It is difficult because there are four restaurants in Eugene that I live but they not national chains and no one would know them. THe same goes for the fast food places.

 

[Juliev]

I also like Arby's... their roastbeef sammiches are fantabulous!.. They have good subs and salads too!

 

[kadesma]

Im not big on chains, I use to like just the soup and salad at Olive Garden, but that was it, I tolerate Applebee's and gag at the thought of Jonny Carino's (supposed Italian food), I'm spoiled about Italian food, as my m-i-l was Italian, her pasta sauce was not only wonderful to eat, imported dried mushrooms, herbs spices, a dark rich warm brown, color, it was also beautiful to look at. It didn't look like someone opened a can of tomato sauce dumped it over the pasta and said EAT So, I like the out of the way places, started by people here in town.

 

[mudbug]

we have a roadhouse here but i've yet to try it.

Contradicting myself here, but our local Roadhouse is always packed; however, the time we ate there the service and food were terrible.

 

[norgeskog]

we have a roadhouse here but i've yet to try it.

Contradicting myself here, but our local Roadhouse is always packed; however, the time we ate there the service and food were terrible.

The Roadhouse here in Eugene runs hot and cold. I have eaten there three times and once was great, once good and the last time awful. The first two times I had their ribs, the last time a steak and it belonged on the sole of my shoe.

 

[Otter]

The reason I asked the question is that other than the chains, we have no interesting food here. There are a few local restaurants that do good burgers and hot beef sandwiches, but the scope is very limited. So far, it's Ground Round #1, Perkins #2, and Applebee's #3. When we lived in CA we went to TGIFridays quite often, and Chili's to a lesser extent. Stuart Anerson's Black Angus was pretty good a long time ago, but they went downhill really fast. I noticed they changed the name and folded a while later, which is probably a blessing.

 

[norgeskog]

I just remembered a favorite of mine. My daughter and I used to share the Awsome Blossom at Chili's and then split a salad. I picked up a diet counter book that featured resraurants with calories, carbs, and fat. I looked at the Awsome Blossom and was blown away, I have never heard of so many calories in one dish, 2800, no typo, 2800 calories and forget the fat. howver, low carb. My daughter has the book now and refuses to eat the Awsome Blossom again. My telling her it was only 1400 cause we shared it did not help.

 

[masteraznchefjr]

cheesecake factory great fav chain also nobu is up there too. mcdonals is just horrible,

 

[Otter]

norgeskog, a few years back there was a newspaper article that came out about Halloween time and was called "Horror Show." It featured the worst caloric nightmares and some of the counts were unbelievable. Actually, this brings to mind the gal working for a government agency who called fettuccine alfredo "a heart attack on a plate." I haven't heard from her since - she's probably working the drive-up window at Burger King.

 

[norgeskog]

norgeskog, a few years back there was a newspaper article that came out about Halloween time and was called "Horror Show." It featured the worst caloric nightmares and some of the counts were unbelievable. Actually, this brings to mind the gal working for a government agency who called fettuccine alfredo "a heart attack on a plate." I haven't heard from her since - she's probably working the drive-up window at Burger King.

Otter, that is funny and scarry as I love Alfredo sauce. But when Alfredo was first created it was not as rich. It was pasta tossed with either olive oil or butter, with parmasean reggiano shredded over it and I believe either Italian parsley or Basil. It evolved into the creamy rich meal through the years. THanks for the idea Otter, I think I shall have it this way with my parmasean/garlic/panko coated shrimp and caesar salad.

 

[norgeskog]

cheesecake factory great fav chain also nobu is up there too. mcdonals is just horrible,

Hey masteraznchefjr, when you make yourself a burger, how do you fix it? I like to stuff gorgonzola, and minced roasted garlic and shallot in mine.

 

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

Applebees......... yuck. $10 for cr@p. This is a step above fast food for 3 times the price. And I ALWAYS have stomach problems later. Go and figure huh?! :?

 

[norgeskog]

Applebees......... yuck. $10 for cr@p. This is a step above fast food for 3 times the price. And I ALWAYS have stomach problems later. Go and figure huh?! :?

You think that is bad DS, eaten at Marie Callanders lately??? I remember eating in the original in Newport Beach, was a PIE SHOP. Now they are advertising dinners for $15.95 and up and their pie is $5.95 a slice. If I am going to pay that kind of money for a meal, it will not be at a pie shop, albiet good.

 

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

YIKES NOrg!!!! What a RIP!!!! Yeeeeesh! They HAVE to be smoking oregano. LOL!

 

[mudbug]

I agree with you, norgeskog. I had my first Marie's meal in southern California years and years ago and it was wonderful. Bought their frozen chicken pot pies for a long time until they "improved" the crust and ruined it.