RadioGirl

It's not much, but I was amused to see a French chain called "Buffalo Grill" in Ferney-Voltaire. Over 300 restaurants, mostly in France with a handful in Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Similar ambiance to Outback. The buffalo steak was tough as old boots.
http://www.buffalo-grill.fr/ (In French.)
Granted, it's only one example, so I think your conclusion is right.

stut

Isn't the UK going this way too, though? In London and perhaps the larger cities, then yes, you do get the chains, but they are just another option among many. For the rest of the country, though, you can expect a selection from Pizza Express, Strada, Ask, La Tasca, Frankie & Benny's, Prezzo, Harry Ramsden's, Old Orleans, Nando's, Aroma, Caffe Uno, Cafe Pasta, Cafe Rouge, Chez Gerard, Loch Fyne, Chiquitos...

Swanhunter

Fair point stut. I think going that way is fair - thanks in large part to those horrible drive up retail parks which seem to have at least one chain - but even taking my hometown in the South there are still more local dining options than chains on the High street.

stut

It seems to depend on the location, I think. Those with established restaurants seem to keep an independent ethos, whereas those that never had much in the way of eating out (chippy or Berni Inn being the only options for years) seem to be grateful to receive the chains. Where I live has only one chain, the others being entrenched independents. Go down the road to Stevenage, and it's exclusively chains, go across to Cambridge and it's a healthy mix.

One thing is interesting in the UK, though, and that's that there's very little in the way of Indian (or Pakistani/Bangladeshi) chain food (other than Wetherspoons curry night ) - I'm not sure what's behind that, exactly. Italian food, however, is hugely bechained.

Swanhunter

My hunch is that as immgrant communities move through the generations they step away from jobs like catering and move up the ladder. 20 years ago I am reliably informed there were independent Italian restaurants pretty much everywhere. Now, the Italian community has been in the UK for quite a while 50+ years, there are more job opportunities and later generations have opted for something else. Something similar has happened with many Indian/Pakistani families but immgiration from Bangledesh has kept the restaurant stock topped up.

Now, off to my thesis on immigration!

Raffles

No-one has yet mentioned the property angle. Imagine you are a landlord opening a new building with a restaurant on ground level - would you rather have a blue-chip tenant who you know will pay the rent, or a mom-and-pop operation? Its a no-brainer for a landlord. Equally, buying a lease on an existing property can require a huge lease premium to be paid up front which will be out of reach of most small operators.

Green Dragon

And perhaps I missed it, but has anyone mentioned the sanitary angle? If it's a chain restaurant, people know (or at least believe) they are being held to a certain franchise standard. That may turn some people away from the local places.

I love trying the local stuff. That's one reason I like traveling - trying new places. It's about the only time I can get my husband to try something non-chain or unknown, too - for many of the above reasons. However, we are pretty good about trying new Indian or Chinese places, even new Italian places. Our favorite restaurant in Gainesville is a little locally-owned Italian place called Pomodoro's. Much better than, say, Olive Garden or Carrabas

VivoPerLei

That takes me back. The 'Three Horseshoes' restaurant in Madingley was one of my favorite restaurants when I lived in Cambridge.

Here in small town Germany many if not most of the restaurants are mom and pop places with the owners living above and the entire family working in the restaurant. You'll sometimes get crap, but once in awhile you find some place really special. One of my favorite steak restaurants in the world just happens to be an hour away and is Polish owned and operated.

I guess there is something to be said for the consistentcy that many of the chains provide. I eat in them when I want something fast while stateside. When I want something better I get on the internet and start doing research.

stut

I can't speak for elsewhere, but here in the UK, there's a Scores on the Doors scheme, where local authority hygiene ratings are prominently displayed on restaurants. I'm perenially surprised at how poorly some of the chain places do...

bensyd

On it's way but oh so far to go.

UK v USA

I don't think Europeans (or Australians) are any more "adventurous" outside of big cities than Americans (drive to any Australian country town and I can guarantee the local RSL Club with have a Chinese restaurant with a name like Jade/Lotus/Peacock/Mermaid Garden), but IME in Europe decent food can be had in non-chains for cheaper than chain prices whereas in the US the reverse tends to be true. Also portion sizes don't tend to be as important in many European countries.

I also think chains, in the UK at least, do a very good job of hiding the fact they are a chain. Sort of like this v this.


It could just be that some cuisines are more easily detuned for a mass market. Anything with lots of cheese always works well, hence tex-mex, pizza etc. Stewey type food, which is very much what curries are, never seem to do that well.
Slightly OT, but I was pretty impressed by the quality of meat available in Poland. I was there on and off for about 4 or 5 months for work. The steaks were cheap and the quality was much better than I imagined.

stut

Curry can certainly work well in a mass market. This is the UK, remember - even towns that can't manage to keep a shop, post office or pub going can boast an 'Indian' takeaway or restaurant. My little town of 15,000 can boast 2 restaurants and 3 takeaways - neighbouring villages have even more (including the legendary "The Gandhi, Sandy"). Every local shop and supermarket stocks entire shelves of microwaveable curries. The Tesco's up the road stocks frozen dosai and kulfi - and this is barely part of the country you'd call multicultural.

I think there's definitely something in what Swanhunter says. There are some 'brands' that are spreading through the country (Mumtaz, Café Naz, Tiffinbites, Masala Zone) but most of the chains that exist tend to be local operations where a successful, independent place manages to expand to a couple of neighbouring towns.

998R

Definitely NO, italians dont't eat mussels with garlic butter and that other stuff.

ElmhurstNick

Within 50 miles from home, I rarely eat at a sit down chain, the exceptions being 3-4x/year at Cheesecake Factory with my parents, and once or twice a year at Capital Grille and/or McCormick and Schmick's. And those are all chains where I would eat on the road as well, if I had a taste for that particular style of food.

For work travel, in places where I go infrequently or it's a smaler town, I'll settle for an Outback or Ruby Tuesday. For one dinner, the ROI on the time investment of finding a local place and having the local place actually be better is not worth it. Let's face it, a grilled chicken sandwich and an order of french fries is not that much different from Ruby Tuesday or the local diner. Add in the risk of the diner not moving their inventory fast enough, and Ruby Tuesday is fine.

But if it's a city where I'll be returning multiple times over the course of a couple of years, or one of the ten largest cities, I'll find something local.

indianwells

Well I don't mind holding my hand up and saying I always get a pretty good steak at Longhorn. Yes, i've had better, but equally i've had a lot worse for double the money.

sjclynn

I agree with the poster who said that not all dining has to be an experience. In our household eating out is often a spur of the moment thing. I don't need it to be complicated too. We have several non-chain local restaurants, almost all ethnic, that we frequent when we are in the mood.

Another factor is that for some of the nicer places there is some planning involved. I need to dress accordingly and probably need reservations too.

Some of the best places that I have eaten are little places that only the locals know. The locals would prefer that it stays that way.