nkedel

Which one, so we know to avoid it?

Steph3n

Why are chains so popular?

One word, familiar.

So many people just go back to the same places, or same chains, or order the same thing over and over

Chili's baby back ribs for instance, I know people that just drool over these horrible things.

Familiar.

kipper

LOL, my experience posted above wasn't that I got sick from the food at that chain. Rather, I got sick before eating, although I probably didn't do much to help some of the patrons from getting sick.

exbayern

I agree - this is a big issue I have with chains in the US especially. Trying to find something vegetarian which is hot and somewhat balanced is often nearly impossible, as so much is premade. Try and have Panera remove something from their cheese/mushroom sandwich - not possible. That is just one of many examples.

Walt Disney World has taken the premade chain style food to new heights - they prepare the food in a central kitchen location and deliver it to the restaurants, severely reducing the ability to change anything about an item. What used to be 'boil in the bag' food there was marginally improved and how now sunk to new lows by not even doing 'boil in the bag' onsite.

I'm regularly amazed at how much business TGIF's and Hard Rock Cafe do around the world; they seem to attract a large number of American customers (who could eat pretty much the same food at home). And some smaller cities even support more than one TGIF! I just walked past one which had a Friday night crowd building while local restaurants were still fairly quiet.

nkedel

Sometimes you just want familiar, decent food. Although TGIF and the present incarnation of the Hard Rock Cafe barely qualify for that, and the Hard Rock is wickedly expensive these days (even by US standards, let alone local ones!) in places which are otherwise quite cheap. $20 for a hamburger is robbery even in Manhattan or London -- and the HRC in Pattaya of all places had a burger at that price (well, 600 baht) with other entrees similarly scaled up.

That and the general crapification of the menu is why these days, I just pick up an overpriced T-shirt and not a meal there. A shame - they used to be reasonably priced and reasonably good.

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)..

Familiar and decent.. almost oxymoron.. but the chains that have successfully got this system down pat, is getting the business nowadays..

exbayern

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.

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.

Ancien Maestro

I stand corrected.. I thought I saw the light of day for Disney in your post.. guess not..

Ruth's Chris is pretty consistent and excellent, so is Roy's..

The two french restaurants France Pavilion Epcot are rated highest with Theme Park Insiders.. very good quality..

Might be just me.. but I find the food very good at WDW.. and we spend $25,000 a year as a family dining out..

saneman

A lot of these mom and pop restaurants hit a rut at some point too and take short cuts, reheating old food, or ordering frozen food and reheating those.

I am sick of places like Chilis because I find their fries to be so processed tasting. But Chipotle and Chik Fil A does the chain concept extremely well.

I think mini chains are the best compromise. Enough size to get leverage in good wholesale prices and lower marketing per store costs. But not too big where there is less creativity in menus and choice of suppliers.

exbayern

It may just be you (or you and other Disney visitors with a certain palate or lack thereof). There are many people very disappointed with the trend in food there if you take time to read. Of course, if one enjoys places like Chili's and Applebee's, then the bland, unadventurous food at WDW sit down restaurants is similar. And again, the menus and food served at Epcot have little relation to the 'real' food found in the countries they represent, but they had to downgrade the offerings to meet the demand of the palates of most of their visitors.

Trust me, even Bistro de Paris and Chefs de France have had to make changes with menus and ingredients and prep. Those changes were not popular with the management and chefs. The three stars who originally gave their name to the concept are I am quite certain ashamed of what it has become.

The dining plan and preference of quantity over quality has driven the food into the ground over the past decade. There are a few decent places on site, but the vast majority of those are not owned by Disney and are outside vendors.

Ancien Maestro

I found Bistro de Paris to be excellent.. Perhaps the top restaurant in all of WDW..

Places like Garden Grill, I can see where they cookie cut with the same menu, as the Diamond Horshoe/Tavern serves the same menu..

Chef Mickey's was actually a lot better than the Disneyland Goofy's Kitchen.. i think Goofy's has to undergo a reno..

What places at Disney World do you like then, if the good restaurants are a hard to find diamond?

mosburger

I remember reading some press stories during the Bush administatrion years about a political divide between chain and non-chain restaurants.

If I recall them correctly, conservatives were suspicious of stand-alone eateries, viewing them as too "liberal" and "non-conformist". The conservative thing to do, at least during that era, was apparently to dine at chain restaurants that offered no disturbing surprises.

Any takes on this?

Steph3n

never heard of this, this is not OMNI P/R probably best not to 'go there'

Ancien Maestro

Never heard of it neither..

and agree its best not to 'go there'..

darthbimmer

At the risk of being OMNI... This sounds like political claptrap. It's a cheap ad hominem criticism. It's not bad enough that conservatives want to start WWIII, let the poor die of malnutrition, and personally kick your dog, but now they <gasp> eat at Chili's?

If someone's going make an ad hominem attack they should at least get the stereotype right. Take the simplest stereotype about conservatives: they distrust change. In the 1980s chain restaurants were change. They were growing rapidly, opening many new franchises, and displacing familiar, locally owned restaurants. Conservatives were the last people eating at Pat's Main Street Cafe before Pat retired early and closed the business, having lost out to the chain restaurant out by the new mall with the neon lights and expensive national advertising campaign with the annoying actors and rhyming slogans. Now those conservatives eat at Chili's because they have to, ordering the Old Timer burger and grumbling about how it's twice the price they paid at Pat's.