ExitRowSeating

+1!

Lots of good points here, I was astonished to learn a couple of years ago how many "local" restaurants are buying prepared meals from distributors like SYSCO and just re-heating them. Since then I've developed a pretty good radar for the types of places that serve "microwaved meals".

There is still great regional food available in the US, and to me it is worth the effort to seek it out.

And I disagree with you, harper99, I think it does make me more interesting. When I come home, which story would my wife prefer to hear:
a) how I ate a plate of chicken and pasta at Olive Garden or
b) about the local BBQ place that doesn't even have a sign to identify it and makes the best hand-cut Vidalia onion rings I have ever tasted?

sonofzeus

2nd time you've expressed this. Walk into one and ask the customers why they eat there...(IF you want the answer.)

ExitRowSeating

The answer to the above question is one I figured out many years ago. The way to make a billion dollars in the USA is to be "consistently mediocre". This is one of the natural laws I have named after myself, The Jones Law of Consistent Mediocrity

Chain restaurants, Budweiser, etc, thrive on the fact that you risk practically nothing in consuming their products. The unfortunate side effect is that you will also never have a memorable positive experience, either.

sonofzeus

May I suggest dropping a shot of Cabin Still Bourbon in your Bud if you want a positive memorable experience?

quartermoon

Earlier this year, my doctor put me on a fairly restricted diet. I can go to Chili's because I already know what's on the menu, and I know that there are things I can eat.

When not dining alone, I'm dining with a group. So then we need a place where we can go for someone who doesn't eat chicken, someone who can't eat fried foods, someone who is allergic to seafood, picky eaters who need to re-arrange all the side dishes that come with the meal, etc. etc.

You don't have to consider chain restaurants as "fine dining" if you don't want to, but they do serve a purpose.

There are also those of us who don't have a relationship with food. I can visit lots of places in my travels, but if I never get down the local level of dining, I just don't care. My travelling isn't about food.

VivoPerLei

^

The great thing about the US though is that you have so many choices. If you want mediocre food fast, you got it. If you want great food you can find that also.

In the interest of fairness I should add that during my last trip stateside I ate at a Pizza Hut buffet lunch for $4.99, and it wasn't bad at all...
That is the kind of value meal that would be unheard of here in Europe for that price. I also ate at Capitol Grille and was disappointed, so go figure..

MisterNice

I mostly agree. Chains mostly eliminate the lows and the highs but overall I see nothing wrong with that. I ger a kick out of hearing people saying they had a great meal at a high priced steak place not aware it was a high priced chain.

MisterNice

mikeef

Dayton (really, the Columbus-Dayton area) is a huge test market for restaurant chains. Other big test markets are Dallas and Minneapolis.

I have just enough of a background with the restaurant business to be dangerous. There are a number of reasons that chains do so well in the US and no single explanation explains everything. But among the reasons that chains work so well here:

*Suburban growth and a driving culture. We're spread out and chains thrive on having lots of space.

*Time constraints. Two-income families mean that Americans have less time, meaning that we need fast service and consistency, since most families don't want to "risk" a bad meal when time is limited.

*Chains beget chains. Since most chains are owned by public companies who are able to leverage food costs, each extra restaurant you own lowers your cost, allowing you to outspend your competition.

*Friendly franchise laws. Many of the chains allow their restaurants to be franchised, meaning that they grow without investing their own cash.

*Branding. Americans like brands. It's one of the reasons that private label doesn't represent as high a share in supermarkets here as it does abroad (the other being that there are far more supermarket chains here than abroad).

We're really not a more "boring" culture than others and international growth has been a big opportunity for chains. Sorry about that McDonalds in the Louvre, Paris.

Mike

paulTX

harper99, I agree 100%

I have lived (and dined) all over the world and eaten in many many "fine dining" restaurants. BUT ... I really enjoy the Saltgrass Steakhouse chain and if we want a decent and reasonably priced meal where we know we'll get good service and food that we enjoy we'll go to Chilis. Not to mention the Texas Roadhouse where I had an excellent, unpretentious, well priced, well cooked steak last week!
Shock horror!!

dchristiva

My thoughts are echoed in other posts. Chain dining offers continuity and, in general, dependability. As much as I like to try "local fare" when traveling, if, in a pinch, I just want something that I know and like, I'll search out a chain restaurant. Similarly, at home, while I certainly have favorite local establishments, if we're dining with the kids, we often go to a chain restaurant because we know what to expect in terms of menu, service, and price. The kids aren't picky eaters, but it's usually more cost-effective to take them to a chain for their typical preferences than to go to a local sit-down place. However, we've been to plenty of local joints that treat us like "family" as opposed to the chains where we're just another patron. Really, though, I think it boils down to familiarity. A chain store is essentially going to be the same from NY to FL to CA and points in between.

ExitRowSeating

This is obviously the difference. I have a very strong relationship with food. I raise my own pigs, chickens, ducks, and turkeys. I have a 1/2 acre garden and a 3 acre orchard. I can and preserve fruits and vegetables for when they aren't in season. I buy my beef from my neighbor. What I eat is important to me.

When I am travelling, it is usually for work. So I am staying at the same hotels, renting the same cars, seeing the same factories. The only element that changes is my meals, so why eat at something like Applebee's? The same thinking applies on leisure vacations, why in god's name would I eat dinner at a restaurant I can find back home? I am travelling to discover new things!

ExitRowSeating

I realize the above could be misconstrued, so let me say that I understand the motivation to find something familiar when you are away from home, and I am in no way saying that I am more sophisticated or better than anyone else. It is simply a matter of choice and personal preference. I don't eat at chain restaurants in my hometown, either, so there is no sense of familiarity associated with them for me. In fact, we rarely dine out or pick up dinner at any type of restaurant when we're at home, so I do not have the same number of opportunities to eat at chain restaurants that many people do.

thegeneral

Several reasons. America is a growing, young country. That means that many of the new restaurants are new buildings in new areas and the franchises have people who's sold job is scouting such locations. They select the locations very well and have the capital to move where they will be successful no matter what.

The chains from America have always been strong (look at the success of McDonald's, etc) and they just drive their product and grow.

Modern America is a young country and people here are relatively an uncultured lot. Were you to serve 98% of the people a typical Italian breakfast, they ask why the coffee was so small and strong and why the pastry was so small. People are happy here with chain food. Most people don't know/care what confit is. We talk about chefs in the kitchen here, but often they're just cooks or people working part time. There's not the same dining culture as in other parts of the world.

Americans are also busier than Europeans. Less time off, longer days and less time to eat. As a result, we're used to Corn Flakes every morning, crap for lunch and whatever you can put together in the limited time you have for dinner.

turpwa

you always know what you get consistency is the key

quartermoon

While in Monterey, CA last week, we went to the Black Bear Diner. This seems to be a chain restaurant with many locations in the northwest US. But we don't have them in Houston, so does it count as eating at a chain, or eating a local place? How about if someone from Monterey goes to Atlanta and eats at the Cracker Barrel?