Crackerbarrel. I had to have deep therapy get it out of the dark basement of my brain that my defense mechanisms had forced it into. Not at all surprised to see another thread in this forum that Applebees was at the bottom of the 10 unhealthiest places to eat list. "Well slathered" indeed. Im waiting for some of these places to cut to the chase and serve processed, textured, colored lard topped with corn syrup.

Perkins is evil Evil EVIL.



Didn�t browsing through the gift shop filled with quality, tasteful items make up for it?

Please stop......

Well, if anyone wants to find me a family owned deli in Tampa that's any good (I goto Jason's Deli, which is a chain) or a quaint Italian restaurant (I goto Bellas off Howard Ave, not a chain but part of a restaurant group - certainly not owned by some single woman) I'll be sure to check them out.

The reality is that the bigger cities are not where everyone lives nor are they any sort of real indication of what's available in most cities and towns.

Sure there are. For example, I know of an industrial zone near me that only offers KFC, pizza hut and McDonalds.

However, anyone who's got access to a car can drive to the town 5 miles down the road and choose from a very reasonable array of restaurants.

If you don't have a car, that's understandable (though I'm sure a bus passes 'round every so often). If you do, there is no excuse for eating that rubbish.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8330/4.5.0.77 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

You seem to be forgetting that this is a frequent flyer forum. In the last couple weeks I ate at several decent to excellent restaurants in freaking Borneo that weren't chains. I travel a LOT including once a year to Marco Island for the last 10 years. I even found several decent places there that weren't Applebees and that is a lot smaller than Tampa.

I'm aware Cheesecake Factory is a chain restaurant and it is no better than any of the others, possibly the most over-rated restaurant I've come across. I went once with a group of people for a birthday and the way people were talking about it beforehand was if it was the world's first restaurant to get four Michelin Stars!

Maybe I was a little cut and dry with my first post but I do think that if you spend a couple of minutes on the internet and don't mind jumping in a cab or car for 5mins you'd never need to see a TGI Chilipees in your life.

It's not elitist, or snobbery it is the fact the food is unhealthy and is often prepared offsite and just cooked at the restaurant. My point is that you go to a chain restaurant anywhere and it is exactly the same crap. If you ask your hotel concierge/front desk person/someone at your client site/a flight attendant on your inbound flight/someone on the street/WWW for a decent, local casual place far more often than not you'll find somewhere that'll surprise you. It has been a long time since someone said, 'well to be honest the best place here is Chilis!'. Sure the local joints aren't always winners but that's probably 1/20 where I feel I wouldn't go back.

My view is that with a little effort you can avoid the dull predictably of a forgettable chain restaurant night on night.

I do try local (simple affordable) places all the time, because often they are really good. However I am nowhere near 19 to 1 in success. Probably 40% at best in the New England states, and 70% everywhere else.

I've found in the NE some really hole in the wall seafood restaurants that are great

When I ask a hotel clerk etc. for a restaurant recommendation, I always phrase the question as "What's a good restaurant, not a chain, that you like to go to with your friends" or something similar. If I want a slightly more formal place, I might ask a young clerk "how about a place where you'd take your parents out for a special dinner"? More often than not, they'll have a place in mind, or will ask their fellow employees - the consensus often results in a good recommendation.

Maybe this thread has what you are looking for, if not, you might inquire on it@:-) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/flori...-bay-area.html

I found a great beer pub / steak place in my travels in PA. The beer was good, and the food was better. I stopped in a few times, and got to know the owner. One trip he was complaining that he wasn't going to make it. A new mega big box plex had opened a couple miles down the road and he was getting killed by The Olive Garden, Bennigans, and Outback. He knew and I knew that he provided much better value, but these were the first time these chains had entered the market, and the locals had seen it advertised for years, and in their minds, their town had "arrived"

and pretty soon you'll have an Old Navy and I'll have one, then we'll both have plenty of restaurants to choose from, an Applebee's, Chili's, TGI McFunsters, Red Lobster, Olive Garden etc etc.

UGH, shoot me now please.

Very good point. It is people accepting the mediocrity of these places that drives the small restaurants out of business. Interestingly, perhaps because of the stronger ethnic sense of community, or just a higher food consciousness or awareness, it happens to a lessor extent in some parts of the country. And not just big cities. My wifes family is from western PA and the local Italian and Polish places still do a good business with correspondingly fewer chains than in many other parts of the country.

You may recall an Olive Garden post I started a few years back. A neighboring town was snubbed when OG decided the local population did not merit a restaurant.

That changed eventually and one was built. It does a lot of business. In the 7 years I have lived here, 2 locally owned restaurants featuring Italian food have opened. The first closed within 6 months. I ate there once. The waiter was a 17 year old kid who showed up to take my order with a toothpick sticking out of his mouth. The service was slow and sloppy and the food was Chef Boyardee bland.

The second might not have lasted 6 months either. The menu was huge and featured Italian and Greek food. The portions were huge, prices were ridiculously low and the food was excellent. But everyone who ate there was cheated on the bill. Little things, like a drink not ordered or dessert $1 higher than the menu price or tax at an inflated rate. I cannot comprehend their business model and wish they had run an honest business and simply slimmed down portions and raised prices. I'll miss them and the likelihood that Greek food will appear on a local menu again in 10 years is minute. Someone else will try Italian. I hope they get it right. Meanwhile, we have a dozen chain restaurants. The other options are barbeque, Mexican and fried catfish places. Mrs BV and I eat dinner every Friday night at a locally owned Mexican place. The atmosphere is perfect, the food is good, the staff knows us and we spend less than $40 with drinks and a generous tip.

Every once in a while, we want something different and that doesn't mean barbeque or fried catfish. So far, we haven't gotten sick. The price is reasonable, the atmosphere is ok (maybe a little too crowded), the service is decent and the food and drink is ok. At least so far, the waiter hasn't belched the winelist or charged me $50 for extra bread.