"Themed" restaurants...

Well, you do have to go inside to hear the waitress say, "I'm Mandy and I'm going to be your server tonight" to which I generally respond... "I'm Rita and I'm going to be your customer tonight."

Ugh

I usually just ask the locals where to go when I'm in an unfamiliar city. People are usually happy to talk about their favorite place to eat, and often the best restaurants are the hole-in-the-wall places that don't advertise. I'm usually careful about asking at the hotel, because I often get the feeling they have agreements to recommend certain restaurants. However, asking shopkeepers, taxi drivers, or folks on the street will usually get you a decent local meal.

1. Never eat at a place with pictures of the food outside.
2. Never eat at a place with the menu in multiple languages with pictures of various countries' flags.
3. Never eat at a place with a "tourist menu".
4. Never eat at a place with plastic/rubber "replicas" of the food outside.

I have all of these in abundance in the town where I live, and learned the hard way.

You'll miss a bunch of great little hole-in-the-wall places in northern and southern California that way, though.

But for national chains, generally yes. :)

Taco Diner in Dallas is a good resturaunt. Owned by some of the same family that owns Mia's and Mi Cocina. If you go to any of these, have the brisket tacos.

Unless one finds oneself in Cusco...then cuy might just be the house specialty... :D

Actually, I've had good meals at places that have each of the
warning signs, up to and including the insects.

Did the roach legs add flavor?

You might go hungry in Venice.

Avoid any place with a dirty bathroom. If the bathroom (which you can visit) is dirty, imagine what the kitchen (which you can't) must be like!

Been to a chinese joint lately?

The order of importance:
FOOD
then
Dining room
then
Kitchen
then
bathroom

Normally they only get the top 3.

Party_boy....

Funny, I was just in a similar conversation this past week. I tend to avoid unfamilliar Chinese places on the road just for the reason you mentioned....unless someone specifically suggests one. But that said....my three favorite Chinese places on tha planet are all places suggested by locals and are each "pristine" in every way.

(The Pearl-Toronto, Le Caveau Szechwan-Ottawa, and Jade Garden-London)

Gigantic yellow arches atop the building or on a pole outside are a dead giveaway there will be mediocre food on offer.

I'm quite surprised it took 29 posts to get to the obligatory McDonald's slam. However, the OP did refer to "restaurants", and I am of the opinion that merely serving food does not a restaurant make. I'm also fairly convinced that your average McDonald's patron is entertaining thoughts only of clogged arteries, angioplasty, and triple by-passes rather than the absurd notion that a world-class *** Michelin dining experience awaits them.