Me too. I don't eat eggs by themselves, so WH is a great breakfast place for me. But I only eat breakfast food there, their other food is atrocious. I wish there was a WH near me, because I often get up at 3am when I'm doing writing for work (like tomorrow) and I could use a double order of hashbrowns scattered and smothered, some bacon, and some coffee at that time of morning.

I'm going to Orlando this weekend, and my tradition is to have WH for dinner at about 11pm the first night.

Ugh. After my visit to the ORD one with several other FTers a couple weeks ago, I gotta say I don't get it. The meat was all good, but not outstanding, the atmosphere was decidedely low-end, and it cost $80/person! The BA Grill in SEA has much, much better cuts of meat, a great atmosphere, and runs around 1/3 of that price. I guess that's why it's the unofficial SEA favorite.

This is what I'm talking about. Does anyone here remember the original Legal Seafood? This place was very, very good. It was so good that you just could not get a table on a Friday night. Word passed all around New England that this was the place to go. So the owners used that publicity to start a chain. But then the obvious happened. They could not keep up the quality at the chain restaurants because (I assume) the motive for profits from the investors kept them from spending the money on good quality.

Nowadays, New England people who used to go to the original Legal Seafood flat out refuse to visit one of these chains. They get visibly upset when they talk about how good the original was and how bad (in comparison) the chains are. The chains are OK suburban restaurants, but nothing like the original.

A few Texas favorites:

* Abuelos (I used to live behind the original in Lubbock TX and we would stagger home from the margaritas... the chains no longer have the 15 flavors of margaritas that the originals did and the enchilada selection has gone from 15 or 16 to 8 or 9 varieties now, but the food is still good... upscale Tex-Mex.)

* Pappadeaux (I had a seafood mixed grill at Emerils - another now "chain" - that was damn good, but I kept comparing it to Pappadeaux.)

* Bobs Steak and Chophouse (Possibly the BEST of the great steakhouses in Dallas... now two locations plus an outpost in San Fran. When I was into dating local chefs, this was their unofficial "night off" hangout... says something.)

Yup - first ate at Legal in '69: Inman Square was a dumpy mess,
with Legal not adding much to the atmosphere of the area; the
place was cash-only and, by then-current standards, not too cheap;
the seafood was good - perhaps not better than at the clam
shacks and lobster barns up the coast, but certainly among the best
that most of us non-New Englanders had ever encountered. And the
place was packed even on weekday nights.

But in time the Berkowitzes got a bit big for their britches, with the
result that you see - not cheap, and the seafood is decent, perhaps
among the best that non-New Englanders have ever encountered.
Even the one at Logan C - if I have been hit by a delay, I'll duck in
there and get steamed mussels and a beer and be perfectly happy.

If you go with a simple preparation, you're likely to do okay; but
as soon as they add a sauce, all bets are off.

stimpy,

The Cheesecake Factory was called the best chain restaurant in Los Angeles (though of course the chain is nationwide with very consistent quality) by Toby Young, restaurant critic for London's Evening Standard. He said in Slate:

The restaurant I've been most impressed by so far is the Cheesecake Factory in Brentwood. I had a cobb salad there last week that was every bit as tasty as the cobb salad I had at the Ivy, yet it was brought to my table in half the time and it was a quarter of the price. In Britain�indeed, in France�there just aren't any midmarket restaurant chains to match the quality of the Cheesecake Factory.


The Maui salad and Evelyn's pasta are favorites of mine there.

Similarly the original Pizzeria Uno (and Pizzeria Due) in Chicago.

Though I have to admit that the chain Unos aren't bad. At least nowhere near as bad as Domino's, Pizza Hut and such of their ilk with their contrieved recipes ("stuffed Pizza") and combinations (Pizza and cinnamon sticks or "Cheesey Bread?") - ugh!

The Cheesecake is OK. I've eaten at the one in Beverly Hills several times. But as the reviewer you quoted says, it's mid-market. The service to me is a step below what you should get with the prices you pay. And with the huge menu that they have, some dishes are good and others so-so.

And what does he mean about mid-market chains in France? There aren't any. The only thing close might be Hippo but I rate them lower than a TGIF.

Ah but the original restaurants are still there, serving arguably the best pizza pie in the world. Not that I would know from recent memory since each time I try lately I cannot get close to getting a table.

Definitely agree with those who mentioned Palomino. I ate at the one in San Francisco recently with a couple of FTers and it was quite good. I wouldn't have guessed it was a chain.

We have a nice strip of "chains" by our office that are favorites with our team:

Chammps Americana - Not bad although it can be a huge pick-up scene during happy hour and before/after football games at Texas Stadium. I rather like a few of their entrees, particularly the specials which vary from location to location.

Bahama Breeze - The only think I like here are the cocktails and shots - they have a huge inventive menu (much like the bars at Fridays used to have back in the day). The food otherwise always seems greasy and just a bit "off" from what it should be. This is a favorite with my younger staffers... they like the steel band playing on Friday evenings - again, another big pick up scene by our office.

The Keg - Canadian steakhouse chain. Love this place... we go in there for lunch or after work snacks a lot. Good and reasonable (for our area) wine/beer list and interesting munchies that don't break the bank. Not the place I would go for a good steak (on par with Steak and Ale) but certainly great for a salad and stuffed mushrooms.

Better than Del Frisco's? The 12 oz filet mignon was a thing of beauty; so good I almost cried. I ate there three nights in a row (hotel was across the street). Bliss.

You need to forget Uno and hit Due at an off time, like 11:30am or 11:30pm on a Thursday. Both work equally well!

There's a Champps about three blocks from my parents. The problem is that the place is just way too noisy at all times, to the point where we got sufficiently turned off by it. But I think many of their sandwiches are very good.

The Keg to me is in that middle ground somewhere better than Outback, Lone Star, etc. but not trying to be at the Morton's, Ruth Chris level. I am very fond of the Kelowna one.

I can name at least a handful of steakhouses in Dallas that beat Del Friscos. Del got by on name alone for several years but when it comes to where the good FOOD is, Del's ain't it.