THE BORE
General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: Rman on November 27, 2007, 05:10:24 PM
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I feel most chain restaurants are pretty much soulless. The food is not inventive. The menus have been crafted by focus groups and service tends to blow. However, there are a few chains that are tolerable IMO:Chipotle, In-N-Out, Cheesecake Factory, and, yes, forgive me, White Castle.
Chains the blow: McDonald's, Applebee's, Taco Bell (No thanks to Grade D ground beef), Olive Garden, (take your unlimited mediocre bread sticks and salads elsewhere), and UNO's.
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Red Robins
Wendys
Dennys
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WTF? Applebee's is good!
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applebee's is good wtf
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Not my style.
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Olive Garden :bow
Burger King
Taco Bell
Wendy's (I need to try that double deck jalanino sammich)
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I only feel guilty about going to Taco Bell.
Grade D beef? Grade D dog meat.
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Not my style.
There's a difference between your "style" (whatever that means) and flat-out shit (ie nothing good). Applebee's has some pretty good stuff, Mcdonalds is shit.
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TACO BELL (sad that the meat sucks)
Burger King
Applebee's
Ruby Tuesday's (partially because I think of the Stones, lolz)
On occasion, White Castle
KFC (I live within 100 miles of the FIRST EVER one, omg)
Gold Star Chili
Sonic
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The meat sucks? I wouldn't know since I just get the 99 cent cheesy bean n rice burrito :bow
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Applebees is SHIT. Their drinks cost too much! Jesus christ! They dont even know how to MIX drinks anyway! Its all watered down crap!
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Ahhh, the chain... staple of the American casual-dining experience... I prefer the hole-in-the-wall ethnic joint or family-owned restaurant, but many of my friends are scared of trying new things so we usually default to chain dining. (One thing I hate is, when traveling to a new city, people who want to go with the chains, instead of exploring what the city has to offer - when I'm in Miami, I want Cuban food, when I'm in Alabama, I want BBQ, Buffalo, I want wings and beef on weck!)
Good chains:
Grand Lux Cafe - probably the best chain restaurant out there in terms of decor and quality of food. Unfortunately, I think it's only in major markets.
Boulder Creek Steakhouse - I think this is a regional thing, but their food isn't too pricey and it's not bad. It's not quite on the level of a local steakhouse, but their chipotle-marinated skirt steak for $16, and a rack of lamb for $20, are delicious and more than worth the price.
In-N-Out - Only had this once in LA but it was damn good, much better than their competitors.
Mighty Taco - Buffalo-region only Mexican fast food chain - higher quality ingredients than Taco Bell at the same price.
Cheesecake Factory - Hit-or-miss, which is understandable due to the excessive menu... the salads are consistently pretty good, though. Unfortunately, sometimes I've had to wait 3+ hours for seating... at least they're usually set within large malls so I can shop while I wait.
Texas Roadhouse - None around LI now, but I've been to ones in Buffalo and Huntsville. Unlimited peanuts before the meal begins, and some decently-priced BBQ fare.
Famous Dave's - The closest I'm gonna come to getting good BBQ on the island, for now. Gives you a shit-ton of food, their sausage is good, and the campy redneck-inspired decor is good for a laugh or two.
Popeye's - All the ones near me closed down, so the nearest one is in Jersey... love the spices and the crispness of their fried chicken, doesn't seem to be nearly as greasy/fatty as KFC, either.
Worst chains:
Olive Garden - I come from an Italian family and live in an area with a family-owned Italian restaurant on every other corner, so I can't even fathom how others can eat here... food has no taste whatsoever, only thing I can tolerate is the breadsticks.
Applebees - poor food and not to mention you get tons of annoying kiddies here, only good thing about them is 1/2 price appetizers after 10
Chili's - used to love it but my friends killed it for me by wanting to go there all the freaking time... plus, their food just tastes overly salty to me.
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Haha nice write up
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I like eating at a chain that has at LEAST two healthy(ish) menu items. Places like Chili's has ZERO healthy items lol
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by the way,
MCDONALDS FUCKING SUCKS.
Just clarifying that one for the board.
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Half Priced Appetizers at Applebees is a horrible deal. More like half priced leftovers! Plus after 10 is the worst time to start appetizing anyone!
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Glad I'm not alone in the Applebee's hate.
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Yeah olive garden is terrible. Applebees ain't much better (they have drinks but as MAF said they're watered down.
RMAN: Check the Secret Santa thread plz.
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applebees is AWFUL
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a couple that haven't been named (might just be a bay area thing in some cases):
L&L hawaiian bbq
macaroni grill
lee's sandwiches
happi house
yan can cook
quiznos
togos
round table pizza
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Five Guys
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QUIZNO'S
POPEYE'S
CHIPOLTE
PANERA
That's fine dining.
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I fucking LOVE Popeye's, I don't even want to know how much I spent on the 5 strip meal last summer.
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a couple that haven't been named (might just be a bay area thing in some cases):
yan can cook
Martin Yan has a chain?! :o
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CHIPOLTE
PANERA
:bow :bow
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Applebees gots that jive talkin Apple
I'm starting to prefer Burger King over Wendy's. The Tendercrisp is my addiction. I've also redisovered my love for Chicken Nuggets.
As far as actual chain restaurants? I like Uno's a bit
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Popeyes & Long John Silvers.
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I don't know how common this is, but there is a Chipolte not to far from where I work that absolutely LOVES to stack THREE ADDITIONAL POUNDS OF BEANS AND RICE on top of what is already far too much food to serve as lunch for any modestly proportioned human being. I've personally weighed a burrito at over 6lbs. I go there whenever my cabinets at home are looking empty and I'm not in the mood for putzing around in the grocery store.
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Chain restaurants get a bad rep sometimes. Many of the upscale restaurants aren't that much better than the best chains, at least not based on price/value. For example, a $60 steak at an indepedent restaurant might taste better than a $25 steak at Outback but not $35 better.
Good:
Ruth's Chris
Lawry's
Morton's
Grand Lux Cafe (same company as Cheesecake factory but better)
Cheesecake Factory
Claim Jumper's
Red Robin
Outback
Macaron Grill
BJ's
In N out's
Fatburger's
Johnny Rocket's
Carl's Jr
Island's
Bad:
Taco anything
Acalpulco
El Torito
PF Chang
Mickey D's
Domino's
Little Caesar's
Applebee
Yoshinoya
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Martin Yan has a chain?! :o
out here he does! and the recipes are amazing. :drool
BJ's
In N out's
Johnny Rocket's
omg can't believe i forgot those. :drool
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I had Chipotle when I was in Chicago, and it was crappy. Ostrich Eggs disguised as... I'm guessing a burrito?
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I had Chipotle when I was in Chicago, and it was crappy. Ostrich Eggs disguised as... I'm guessing a burrito?
what the fuck??
no seriously. what the fuck??
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Uno's
Chili's
Outback Steakhouse
Wendy's
Taco Bell
Burger King
KFC
Arby's
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I forgot Sbarro's.
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Panda Express :bow
Chipotle :bow
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Well Panda Express EASILY > Magic Dragon haha
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In N Out
Chipotle
Panera
Togo's
Steak Escape
Mimi's Cafe
Anything from Cheesecake Factory that isn't Cheesecake sucks.
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I'd really love to go to an In-N-Out. I've heard so much about those places.
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Olive Garden is actually decent.
Macaroni Grill is good to .. not sure how many of them are around 'Merica.
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Olive Garden doesnt taste BAD or anything, I actually like a few things there. I can understand why people sneer tho. I mean the OG does like to pretend its authentic when its about as authentic as my favorite chinese joint
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YAY:
Chili's
Applebee's
Friendley's
Olive Garden
Pizza Hut
McDonald's
Burger King
KFC
Wendy's
Taco Bell
There aren't many restaurants I don't like. I hate Old Country Buffet lol, and I have to be in the mood for like Ruby Tuesday, Smoky Bones, and Ground Round.
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Oh, yeah, I like the Macaroni Grill too. They serve pretty big portions.
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Red Robin, Taco Del Mar and Wendy's are probably the only national chain places I ever eat at. Everything else would be single location establishments, or Seattle-area chains (Kidd Valley, Pagliacci, Toshi's Teriyaki).
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ARENT U A FANCY LAD!?!
OH GOD BLUGAY PAPRIKA OH GOD
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All the best local establishments here are dying off. It is making me hate chain places.
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BO BO BO APPLEBEES
lol
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I forgot Sbarro's.
That's the pizza joint at many shopping malls, right? Their pizzas look good but they don't taste so good.
Well Panda Express EASILY > Magic Dragon haha
I don't think I can eat Panda Express for a few years. My friend, who has a pretty high position at PE, gave me a ton of coupons for free food and drinks. I ate lunch at PE almost every day for a few months.
ARENT U A FANCY LAD!?!
OH GOD BLUGAY PAPRIKA OH GOD
Distant seems to be a even bigger food snob than me. He's lucky that he doesn't live in a town where Round Table Pizza isn't the premier dining establishment.
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ARENT U A FANCY LAD!?!
OH GOD BLUGAY PAPRIKA OH GOD
Distant seems to be a even bigger food snob than me. He's lucky that he doesn't in a town where Round Table Pizza isn't the premier dining establishment.
It's not even that, it's more that I don't live near any real chain places aside from a Taco Del Mar in the same complex as Whole Foods. We typically hit up our favorite mom and pop Chinese, Japanese, Greek and Indian places, and this fucking sweet German pub. Wait, there's a Zao Noodle Bar nearby, which I fucking love. That's a chain, right?
ZAO!!! SHANGAHI BEEF AND CHICKEN!!
:bow :bow :bow :bow :bow
Oh yeah, I totally forgot about Subway. And then there's Taco Bell, my ultimate guilty pleasure weakness.
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I've never been to a lot of the places posted here.
Oh also, I obviously enjoy Subway, as I work there.
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ARENT U A FANCY LAD!?!
OH GOD BLUGAY PAPRIKA OH GOD
Distant seems to be a even bigger food snob than me. He's lucky that he doesn't in a town where Round Table Pizza isn't the premier dining establishment.
It's not even that, it's more that I don't live near any real chain places aside from a Taco Del Mar in the same complex as Whole Foods. We typically hit up our favorite mom and pop Chinese, Japanese, Greek and Indian places, and this fucking sweet German pub. Wait, there's a Zao Noodle Bar nearby, which I fucking love. That's a chain, right?
Oh yeah, I totally forgot about Subway. And then there's Taco Bell, my ultimate guilty pleasure weakness.
You dig Asian, Mediterrenean, and Indian? I could totally hang out with you and your wife. There aren't that many people in the States that could appreciate food from all regions.
Food is probably my #1 hobby, even more so than movies, games, or sports. When I travel to other countries, my first priority is always to check out the best food establishments.
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IF YOU ARE EVER IN MILL CREEK, CHECK OUT ROUND TABLE PIZZA FOR PREMIRE DINING
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And I forgot Quizno's. I frickin' love Quizno's. NOM NOM NOM.
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Quiznos is fucking badass but OMG FAT
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MAF, are there any In N Outs in Washington or Arizona? A 4x4 beats anything from Quizno's in terms of fat.
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Haha, not that ive seen, but I stick to the burbs
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Once, I actually ate a 6x6, fries, and a chocolate shake. Ahh, to be young again.
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God the cafeteria at work has the best looking calzones, I had to resist it was so hard :(
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Is the MS cafeteria like a real restaurant? I'm not looking forward to eating mostly in hospitals for the next few years. Hospital cafeterias are shit from what I've heard.
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Nah, its a cafeteria, but the variety is that of a restaurant I guess. I generally hit the breakfast tho, the grill lady in our building is the best omelette maker ever.
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Omelettes are like my favorite breakfast items. I usually go for just egg whites nowadays which don't taste as good as whole eggs. I'm scared of yolks' cholesterol. It probably wouldn't matter if I exercise more but I'm teh lazy.
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I figure a bit of extra cholesterol > eating a huge lunch cause I didnt eat a proper breakfast. Im combating desk job weight gain every day :(
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I figure a bit of extra cholesterol > eating a huge lunch cause I didnt eat a proper breakfast. Im combating desk job weight gain every day :(
I'd definitely say a slightly unhealthy breakfast is better than no breakfast at all, that makes you eat a huge lunch.
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Applebeads!?
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In n out.
mcdonalds chicken nuggets and fries.. :bow
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MAF, are there any In N Outs in Washington or Arizona? A 4x4 beats anything from Quizno's in terms of fat.
My cousin just started school at Arizona State and he was talking about how good In N Out was, so I assume yeah they have some at least around Tempe.
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Are most of these places east/west coast? I haven't even heard most of these places till today, certainly none in Kansas :-\
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We don't have In N Out in Washington or Oregon. California and Arizona are the closest.
Speaking of Arizona, Filberto's down in the Phoenix area has the best nachos I've ever eaten.
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There isn't one place listed here that I wouldn't enjoy. Who doesn't enjoy a greasy shitty meal?