Good chains are possible. I'm currently eating a meal from a chain found in Asia and Europe, somewhat similar in concept to PeiWei, which is to me the ultimate in poor quality, unhealthy chain food. This chain advertises no item over 500 calories, and most entrees 200-260 calories, with fresh ingredients and not including the high sodium, high fat sauces often found at PeiWei, Noodles and Co, etc.
It is one of several 'pan-Asian' chains found in Europe and/or in Asia, and it is decent, cheap, and fairly healthy, especially when compared to places such as PeiWei.
Originally Posted by
Ancien Maestro
Surprising.. a good word about WDW. I find it pretty good selection at WDW.. and its now magnified after visiting DL.. Just not much choice at DL compared to WDW, where there seems to be alot more sit down restaurants to choose from.. and WDW actually does have some pretty high quality food restaurants that we've come to enjoy..
We typically like to get a fast serve, and a sit down restaurant each day we visit the parks.. we make the sit down meal an event.. whereas its character dining, or unique setting.. there's always a reason why we dine (example, getting some guaranteed reserved seats for a show)..
The food at WDW sit down restaurants (with very few exceptions, mostly those not run by Disney) is crap. It has gone sharply downhill in the past few years, and is now quite literally created offsite. Most of their restaurants at Epcot (again, those run by Disney) have been so dumbed down to meet the lowest common denominator palate that they have little relation to the country they represent. Menus have been homogenized across the resorts and dishes unique to locations have been cut.
In fact, I would put the current food at WDW below chain restaurants such as Chilis or Olive Garden, but at about double the cost. They serve a captive audience and in the last few years lost a lot of good chefs due to the obsession with unattainable food costs.
Thankfully, the Disney parks outside the US still serve relatively decent to very decent food.