My big one is Olive Garden. The food isn't terrible, but it's super expensive for the quality of food and service which isn't really that good...
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Chain restaurants and food places that you don't get the hype for?
- Thread starter entremet
- Start date
Roy Rogers
Went to drive-thru and received a "meat sandwich". No toppings, no mayo, no cheese… I was later told you'd need to go inside the store to put those toppings on. I mean, sure "Okay"… but the drive-thru attendant didn't even offer it, and I didn't find out I had lunch meat in a bun until I was down the road. To make it more annoying is that the image of the sandwich on the menu had toppings on it, leading you to think it comes with them. At least Arby's puts in toppings. What a weird resturant with dry sandwiches.
Went to drive-thru and received a "meat sandwich". No toppings, no mayo, no cheese… I was later told you'd need to go inside the store to put those toppings on. I mean, sure "Okay"… but the drive-thru attendant didn't even offer it, and I didn't find out I had lunch meat in a bun until I was down the road. To make it more annoying is that the image of the sandwich on the menu had toppings on it, leading you to think it comes with them. At least Arby's puts in toppings. What a weird resturant with dry sandwiches.
Come to think of it, I don't think anyone goes to Tim's for anything other than donuts and Tim bits. Also, I think any "hype" has mostly been from ads, where "proud Canadians" are more than happy to buy coffee from there, even though the coffee is probably the worst thing about Tim's.
I haven't had chicken from Popeye's in a while, but I think anything is better than KFC chicken. And I used to prefer the Popeye's chicken sandwich over any chicken sandwich from any other place, but I find that it's way too greasy now, especially after trying their blackened chicken sandwich.
Panera - This one really pains me to type out because in college and high school it was like THE go-to for coffee and lunch with friends for studying or whatever. It felt like something a little more substantial than going to Starbucks or Dunkin, and the stores themselves were usually nice to be in. But, at some point before the pandemic everything shifted for them and then it just hasn't stopped getting worse. Things got much more expensive, food got much more inconsistent, and they cut back the menu while also adding things that no one really likes (removing the teas for the death lemonade) or are bad (the flatbread pizzas). It's just not someplace I want to go anymore.
I liked Five Guys a lot too around when they first started opening around us but it's absolutely not worth the cost. I don't dislike the food or anything but it's just not something I'm ever itching to go to when other (actual sit down restaurant) options exist at a similar pricepoint.
I liked Five Guys a lot too around when they first started opening around us but it's absolutely not worth the cost. I don't dislike the food or anything but it's just not something I'm ever itching to go to when other (actual sit down restaurant) options exist at a similar pricepoint.
I remember Chick Fila being much better quality 25 years ago. We moved back to the Midwest just shy of 10 years ago and was very dissapointed with Chick Fila on top of their terrible political leanings.
Olive Garden used to be better. It was never good exactly, but in like the mid-2000s it was a perfectly serviceable suburban option for a nice Italian dinner and now I think the food actually is pretty garbage.
All of that lines up to when private equity bought them. They destroyed that restaurant in name of "efficiency."
I'd venture if you looked at a lot of the restaurant names in this thread you'd find the answer as "private equity bought and ruined it"
Donut chains for me, dunkin or Krispy Kreme. Small independent donut places are always better. I've never been to one that isn't. And they are everywhere. I've never lived somewhere that doesn't have at least one nearby.
If you think that's bad you should ask how people like their steak cooked.
Some will say extra well done with ketchup and a1 sauce. If it doesn't have a texture of a tire, it's undercooked.
At the end of the day, restaurants vary from one to another even among chain locations, so we can't discount the fact that the particular chains we've been to happen to be particularly good ones or bad ones. Personally, the Blimpie's and Jersey Mikes I've been too have been very stingy with the meat compared to the JJs and others I mentioned, again, the ones I've been to. Blimpie's especially was just incredibly plain sandwiches with the bare minimum amount of meat. My JJs is very generous with the meat and other toppings and the customer service is great. Looking online, the rating for our JJs is 4 stars (out of 5) whereas Blimpie's is 3 and Jersey Mike's is 1.5 stars. It may all be down to the local management.
Another one is Steak n Shake since they were bought out a few years back. They kept most of the menu items, but they went downhill from what they once were. Take for example their Frisco Burger, the bread used to be toasted perfectly and it was just a crunchy, saucy, joy to eat. Now it comes out limp and greasy with barely any frisco sauce. It was another chain that seemingly simply hasn't recovered due to the upper management issues that came into play after being bought out and then Covid happened and compounded those issues and they trickled down to the stores in terms of staffing and automation taking over and removing things like wait staff.
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I don't think I've ever seen someone say something good about Roy Rogers. Had one near me in high school but never heard anyone even talk about it and never went there even once.
I mean, this for me and food of all types. I've eaten at plenty of chains and not a single one is worth it to me over a better option.
But, I grew up in a very rural area. One of the little towns about 10 minutes away had a grocery store, a bar, a couple of gas pumps, a fast food stand, and a donut shop. They were really good donuts.
A McDonalds opened up down the road in a larger town another 10 minutes past there, but the little fast food stand was so much better and a little cheaper.
Came here for this [was hoping first post, but this'll do].
*tips fedora
I think it's just consistency with these places?
Like, you know what you're gonna get, no matter where you get it from / what location you get it from.
And it's cheap as shit compared to the superior local spots.
Edit: also, weird thing, but for me [who weighs their food and tracks their macros], chains have easily accessible nutrition info, so if I'm gonna buy a shitty burger [which I honestly don't do], I'd feel less anxious doing it from a place that I can get nutrition numbers for [god I'm so lame]
Raising Canes can't be eaten Togo. Those boxes are like a sauna for some reason. Everything becomes soggy within seconds if the lid is closed. When I go through the drive thru, I immediately open the top of the box and drive home that way. The food stays crispy (well the fries never were, they suck).
Not saying you'd have liked it more, but to answer your question — yes, 5 minutes was too much.
Canes is good only for the sauce. I don't get it often for that reason as it's pretty unhealthy and expensive to boot, but damn if that sauce doesn't hit the spot every so often.
Agreed with Panera. Only good thing now is their sip club. The food is either insanely expensive or really bad. I only order soup nowadays and only with a good coupon. It's like $10 for a cup of soup. The fuck?
-Chick Fil A - incredibly average, nothing special whatsoever
-Raising Cane's - BLANDEST chicken I've ever had from a chain restaurant and fries taste worse than elementary school cafeteria fries.
Anyone saying In-N-Out is not a good person and should be avoided in real life.
-Raising Cane's - BLANDEST chicken I've ever had from a chain restaurant and fries taste worse than elementary school cafeteria fries.
Anyone saying In-N-Out is not a good person and should be avoided in real life.
Hah! Fair enough! I've had similarly sweaty food containers from a local restaurant near me, so I figured it was mostly that, but definitely didn't expect it so quickly. Still think we probably got the last bits though considering the fries were cold (although I love crinkle cut fries, so even then I thought they were good, but maybe that's in contrast to how bad the chicken was, haha!). Didn't think the garlic bread was anything to write home about either, and at least with that, it had like NO flavor, so I can't imagine it's any good right away regardless.
It's just buttered toast. No garlic I'm pretty sure! At least I've never detected it haha. The cole slaw sucks too, I just get extra toast.
Like I said, the sauce is the only reason to go there. The sauce is top notch. But it's definitely not somewhere I go to often for that reason. It's overrated for sure.
You complain about Raising Cane's fries, but then defend In N Out? Have you somehow avoided their cardboard tasting veggie straw texture potato's?
OH....well, that's my bad! Haha. It was indeed toast, at the least!
Same. I don't get it. Seemed like for a while everyone was really into Five Guys. I think people were just enamored with the amount of fries in the bag. But the fries were mediocre in the first place and the meal wasn't cheap. There's basically no redeeming qualities here.
Chick-fil-A. Not that I'd ever choose to eat there due to the whole raging homophobia thing, but the times I have had it it wasn't anything special. Popeye's is far superior.
In-n-Out is okay, and it's nice to get a quality burger for cheap, but it's nothing mind-blowing.
Whataburger though, that shit is amazing. They gotta start selling Spicy Ketchup in stores, that stuff rules.
In-n-Out is okay, and it's nice to get a quality burger for cheap, but it's nothing mind-blowing.
Whataburger though, that shit is amazing. They gotta start selling Spicy Ketchup in stores, that stuff rules.
In-n-Out was a massive letdown after the way west coast people acted like it was some kind of life altering experience. It's McDonald's if McDonald's had fresher ingredients. It's a better choice than McD's, sure, but marginally.
It's the exact same kind of thing as Dunkin is: it got popular because it's a cheap option that punches a little above its price class, but its legend among locals massively outgrew its actual quality.
It's the exact same kind of thing as Dunkin is: it got popular because it's a cheap option that punches a little above its price class, but its legend among locals massively outgrew its actual quality.
Panera - Extremely expensive for the quality
Cheddar's - I feel like the food comes from the microwave
Cheddar's - I feel like the food comes from the microwave
