GB, i gotta agree with you: chain restaurants are to be avoided, in general. but ironchef is so right, california pizza kitchen is rather tasty. at least, the ones i ate in when i was actually in CA were good, and that may have had something to do with the beautiful wine list. haven't eaten at one since then...
if i had to go to chain-italian, carabba's wins over olive garden in a huge way.
my two sadnesses about "regional" differences in food: there are no pappadeaux up here in MD (it's rather a TX thing, but it's super cajun food. ****, the whole papa's empire tends to be pretty tasty), and on the fast food front, no sonic. man, there are the (rare) days where i reeeeeeely miss cheese-tots & a fresh lime slushy.