I will eat at chains if the mom-and-pop places are an unknown quantity, as many, if not most, restaurants are heavily reliant on industrial products that taste dead to me.

360° Burritos (there's one at SJC airport, with branches coming to Cincinnati, DFW, Las Vegas, and Minneapolis airports.

Roy's ("Hawaiian Fusion")

Il Fornaio (though why you'd name a restaurant with a homophone for "ill for now" is baffling)

California Pizza Kitchen

Before I swore off commercial corn-fed beef (the Rainforest beef of this decade!), I loved Carl's, Jr., especially the Double Western burgers. On a road trip, they're great, but too guilt-inducing for normal consumption.

The thing about Wolfgang Puck is his slipping credibility. Interesting discussion here: a Robb Walsh piece in the Houston Press sheds light on Puck as the modern equivalent of Chef Boyardee. The fact that he's in bed with ConAgra is scary.

Big ditto on the recs for Baja Fresh, In-n-Out, and Chevy's.

I will not eat at an Olive Garden. Italy cured me permanently of the notion that their food resembles Italian food at all.