Chain restaurants that are actually good
 

This might be a tough one, since by definition a chain is bad and to be avoided. And even if a really good restaurant tries to become a chain, it rarely works. Think Legal Seafood here.

But there are some good ones that have a high standard of service and quality.

The Palm is a favorite and I believe that each of them are fantastic restaurants. http://www.thepalm.com/

Mortons can usually be counted on for great food and service. http://www.mortons.com/website/index.html

I'm sure there must be one or two others out there?

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak Houses. There are only six of them, but they serve the best steaks I've ever tasted. But then, maybe six doesn't a chain make?

Pasta Pomodoro

This is my favorite thing on the menu. It's especially good if you have them add sun-dried tomatoes.
RAVIOLI DI ZUCCA Roasted butternut squash ravioli, browned butter, crispy sage leaves, parmesan. $7.95 APPETIZER PORTION $4.75

If you like a great steak and have an extra few bucks in your pocket, you can't beat Ruth's Chris Steak Houses... http://www.ruthschris.com/home.asp

For a good, all-around dining experience when you're taking the kids, grandkids and their friends out to eat, you can't go wrong with the Olive Garden's all-you-can-eat breadsticks and salad with meals. http://www.olivegarden.com/

For fun, decent food and lots of "doggy bags" for the next day's lunch, check out Buca di Beppo... http://www.bucadibeppo.com/

I don't know why so many people are anti chain restaurants. Maybe it's because I grew up in the 'burbs eating at them but I have no issues with them like some people do.

Macaroni Grill is good. I love the "create your own pasta dish" concept.

Claim Jumper. Huge menu, huge portions.

Bobs Big Boy. It's a classic! Especially the one in Toluca Lake (near Burbank).

High end, Mortons and Ruths Chris are great!

Mosburger,the champ of Asian burgers. ^ Their spicy burgers are made-on-order and use quality ingredients. Something like the In-n-Out of Japan. :)

How about some of the smaller chain restaurants. I much prefer these over the typical Chili's, TGIFridays, Applebees, Olive Garden, etc.

Naked Fish: http://www.nakedfish.com/
10 locations in Massachusetts
- Great seafood & cuban cocktails

Vinny T's - http://www.vinnyts.com/
8 locations in MA, 1 in CT, 1 in ME, and 1 in PA
- Excellent neighborhood style Italian food

Fire & Ice - http://www.fire-ice.com/
5 locations, 2 in MA, 1 in RI, 1 in AZ, and 1 in CA
- Improvisational grill - create your own all-you can eat dinner...

Paparazzi - http://www.paparazzi-restaurant.com/
13 locations - 7 in MA, 1 in RI, 2 in NJ, 1 in DC, 2 in NY
- Italian trattoria & bar

Joe's American Bar & Grill - http://www.joesamerican.com/
14 Locations - 9 in MA, 1 in CT, 1 in RI, 1 in NH, 2 in NJ
- All-American Bar & Grill

---------

The following are slightly larger, but I am including them because they are unique or something special (in my opinion)

Melting Pot Restaurant - http://www.meltingpot.com/
Locations throughout the US (except New England & a few others)
- Fondue restaurant!

Bugaboo Creek Restaurant http://www.bugaboocreeksteakhouse.com/
Locations throughout the NorthEast, NY, PA, MD, DE, and Georgia
- Steakhouse with the flavor of the Canadian Rockies.

Fuddruckers - http://www.fuddruckers.com/
Locations throughout the US
- Their slogan is: "The World's greatest hamburgers!". I'm including this because although it is just a hamburger chain, it is still a whole heck of a lot better than a McDonalds or other fast food restaurants.

I've been happy with McCormick and Schmick's on both the east and west U.S. coasts.

I love the Macaroni Grill. Their foccacia bread is terrific. Everytime I go there I debate with myself about what to get, but I almost always go for the salmon over angel hair pasta.

Marketplace is also a nice chain.

I hate to sounds elitest, but ugh!

McCormicks and Schmicks I've had on both US coasts and they are OK. As is Smith and Wollenskys. But Fuddruckers? Worlds greatest hamburger? Bob's Big Boy? Come on! I'm talking about good dining here. Not adequate for suburban grub.

I like Fire and Ice, I eat there about once every other trip to Boston as I stay at the Sheraton Commander about three blocks away.. In Chicago we have a local place with a couple of outposts called Flat Top that is very similar, does some things better (special woks for people with allergies, better service) and worse (less variety of meats and vegetables). I like Fire and Ice a little better overall.

Most high-end steakhouses that have expanded are good. I've had good experiences at the Chicago locations of the Palm and Capital Grille with other FTers, and at Morton's in other cities.

Then there are the chains that I'll visit on business trips in smaller cities but would never consider when at home. Outback, Maggiano's and Romano's are at the top of that list: slightly better than acceptable, decent bar, and a price tag that won't destroy the project budget.

In Chicago, we have a couple of companies that have a lot (as in a couple of dozen) of restaurants but usually no more than a few of any particular subchain. Lettuce Entertain You (leye.com) is the biggest; they're the ones that created Maggianos and Corner Bakery and sold them chains to Brinker (the owner of Chili's), where unfortunately the quality of both have since suffered.

While they don't have a massive amount of stores nationwide, I'm consistently happy with Palominos.

I am going to be very non-elitist and admit that I absolutely love the Waffle House! One waffle, side of hashbrowns and coffee, please! :cool:

I'll second (or would that be third?) Macaroni. Worth it just for the bread, olive oil and pepper they give you while you decide what do order.

You said good chain restaurants. I happen to like the food at said chain restaurants. If you meant overpriced chain restaurants ya need to be a bit more specific.

Does Houstons fit your bill or is that too "swap meet"?

:D

It is always helpful to provide the links to the website so those of us who have never been there can get more info...

Macaroni Grill: http://www.macaronigrill.com/
Maggiano's: http://www.maggianos.com/
Claim Jumper: http://www.claimjumper.com/
McCormick & Schmick: http://www.mccormickandschmick.com/
Smith & Wollensky http://www.smithandwollensky.com/
Houstons: http://www.houstons.com/
Waffle House: http://www.wafflehouse.com/

Then don't forget...

Waffle House (http://www.wafflehouse.com)

;)

Well, I didn't feel like being helpful. I felt like being lazy! But thanks for the pangs of guilt, because it made me realize that Marketplace is a mostly Arkansas thang. 3 locations here and one in Joplin, MO. Here, my friend, is the link: http://www.marketplacegrill.com/

And then I brought up the Waffle House. Since I know everyone is dying to surf on over to their site, here it is: http://www.wafflehouse.com/
You can order your very own copy of the Waffle House Jukebox Favorites: Vol 1 cd. Wahoo!

:p

Dude! You beat me to it... :D

I LOVE THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY[COLOR=SandyBrown] :)

I absoutely love Claim Jumper and Buca de Beppo.

Other favs:

Pappacitos/Pappadeaux http://www.pappas.com/
IHOP http://www.ihop.com/
Original Pancake House http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/
Abueloshttp://www.abuelos.com/

I can't believe no one has thought of China Grill. NYC, Miami, Las vegas

PF Changs is an OK runner up, but CG is stunning.

You gotta try In-N-Out Burgers when you are in California, Nevada & Arizona... http://www.inandout.com/ Don't forget the unpublished, special menu... http://www.zenlemur.com/innout.shtml

I have to agree with Craig6z on Palomino -- I hit the ones in Cinti and Indy frequently....yummy! Hmmmm, note to self....still have a gift card to use ;)

By far the best chain restaurants are the Outback owned/operated Roy's with a special mention for the Flemings Steakhouse also run by Outback.

mike

Well I thought "good" was specific enough. ;) What I'm referring to are restaurants that are able to maintain a very high quality of food and service while operating as a chain. Those are pretty rare. If the quality of the food (fresh natural ingredients, etc.) is of importance, you won't eat at most of the suburban chains mentioned in this thread.

And yes in America good generally means expensive at chain restaurants. Chains are all about profit you see.

A favorite of mine when in the northeast http://www.legalseafoods.com/

Chain restaurants that are actually good
 

I have found a couple on my trips around the US. "Friendly's", an eastern chain, is good, home cooking, with a great ice cream and dessert menu. It's not fancy, but it's good food at good prices. The milkshakes are the old fashioned type, served in the mixing container!

I too vote for Cheesecake Factory. Good food (huge portions) and great desserts if you're looking for a reasonably priced place to eat. My first experience was in Chicago at the Michigan Avenue location.

One other chain that is also good, is the Cracker Barrel chain across the east and south.

Granted, these restaurants are "themed" but they have good food. If you're not looking for or into fine dining one evening, try these. The breakfast menu at these chains are good too.

Haven't been to a Corner Bakery for awhile, but the first time I stumbled onto one was in Chicago. Great breakfast menu. Then I got my friends hooked on the one in Ft. Worth a couple years ago while we were they for a conference planning session.

Happy Holidays! ^

Consistently good comfort food
 

Cracker Barrel

http://www.crackerbarrel.com

Without a doubt

FOGO DE CHÃO

Absolutely the best :) ^^

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.