Favorite restaurant chains

[doorknob60]

My top two are located nowhere near Bend (well, the closest is ~100 mi), but I love In-N-Out as well as Five Guys. Too bad we have neither here For any other time, McDonald's is my typical choice because of convenience, price, and I like their food. Taco Bell and Subway are good too.

[Stephane Dumas]

Time to dust-off this thread. ^^;

Wendy posted a funny and politically incorrect ad

Also, they seems to have updated their logo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wendy%27s_new_logo.jpg

Burger King decide to step into South Africa during 2013. McDonald's and KFC are present there since 1995
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20250244
http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/how-burger-king-came-to-sub-saharan-africa/22171/

[vtk]

Code Select Expand

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lKYYFVBeB0[/youtube]
FTFY

[cjk374]

Raising Cane's is too pricey for what they offer.

Buffet places seem to be my favorites:  Golden Corral is my favorite. Ryans is to be avoided at all costs. 

Pizza joints:  Pizza Inn & Johnny's are best.  Cici's is good because it's cheap!  Pizza Hut is awful.  Shakespeare's Pizza in Columbia, MO was awesome last time I had it.  Not sure if it was a chain or just a one-hit wonder.

Chicken offerings:  Chick-fi-la, KFC (buffet prefered), Popeyes, Chick-a-dilly (my most favored choice  ).

Burgers:  Griff's has the best greasy-spoon tasting burgers ever!   

Sandwiches:  When my mom lived in Columbia, MO we would always hit St. Louis Bread Co.  They had the best bread bowls for the best chicken noodle soup.  They later changed their name to Panera.  It's been so long since I've been there, I don't know if Panera still exists.

Seafood:  Capt. D's

Ice cream:  Dairy Queen.  Unfortunately most have closed in my area.  The closest ones are Minden, LA and Magnolia, AR.   

Breakfast:  Waffle House is #1 followed by Huddle House & the McDonald's AYCE breakfast buffet in Houston, MO (not sure if they still have it.  I always left Columbia early enough to catch the buffet open).

Sit down:  Cracker Barrel, Hooters, Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro located @ the LA Boardwalk in Bossier City, LA

Wings:  Hooters

Mexican:  Taco Bell, La Fogata's, El Jarritos

When traveling I will always try a mom-n-pop diner/restaurant.  I love something different from what we have here at home.

[kphoger]

Ryans is to be avoided at all costs. 

Ryan's seems to vary from location to location.  I've been to super-cool-awesome ones, and some that I'd rather forget.

[hbelkins]

Ryans is to be avoided at all costs. 

Ryan's seems to vary from location to location.  I've been to super-cool-awesome ones, and some that I'd rather forget.

I've never been to a terrible Ryan's. Golden Corrals are usually pretty consistent, but I've been to a couple of clunkers.

[Takumi]

It's been so long since I've been there, I don't know if Panera still exists.

Do you mean that particular one? Because Panera has expanded big time in recent years. I find it overpriced for what you get.

[Sanctimoniously]

Johnny's

I haven't lived in Louisiana for almost five years now and I still have yet to have pizza better than Johnny's. There's just something about it, the way the toppings are melted in relation to the crust and amount of sauce

I also enjoy Raising Cane's, even if it is a bit pricey, it's always worth getting when I find myself back in West Monroe.

[ftballfan]

Raising Cane's is too pricey for what they offer.

Buffet places seem to be my favorites:  Golden Corral is my favorite. Ryans is to be avoided at all costs. 

Pizza joints:  Pizza Inn & Johnny's are best.  Cici's is good because it's cheap!  Pizza Hut is awful.  Shakespeare's Pizza in Columbia, MO was awesome last time I had it.  Not sure if it was a chain or just a one-hit wonder.

Chicken offerings:  Chick-fi-la, KFC (buffet prefered), Popeyes, Chick-a-dilly (my most favored choice  ).

Burgers:  Griff's has the best greasy-spoon tasting burgers ever!   

Sandwiches:  When my mom lived in Columbia, MO we would always hit St. Louis Bread Co.  They had the best bread bowls for the best chicken noodle soup.  They later changed their name to Panera.  It's been so long since I've been there, I don't know if Panera still exists.

Seafood:  Capt. D's

Ice cream:  Dairy Queen.  Unfortunately most have closed in my area.  The closest ones are Minden, LA and Magnolia, AR.   

Breakfast:  Waffle House is #1 followed by Huddle House & the McDonald's AYCE breakfast buffet in Houston, MO (not sure if they still have it.  I always left Columbia early enough to catch the buffet open).

Sit down:  Cracker Barrel, Hooters, Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro located @ the LA Boardwalk in Bossier City, LA

Wings:  Hooters

Mexican:  Taco Bell, La Fogata's, El Jarritos

When traveling I will always try a mom-n-pop diner/restaurant.  I love something different from what we have here at home.

I've never heard of some of these chains.

I've rarely had a bad Pizza Hut experience in 15+ years.

KFC buffets seem like a Southern thing. The farthest north I've seen one is Kokomo, IN.

I've never had Chick-fil-A or Popeye's (only one Chick-fil-A in MI and a few more Popeye's).

Golden Corral has a good variety and a nice selection of food. However, you do see a LOT of heavyweights there.

There are a lot of Panera locations in the Grand Rapids area.

Waffle House stops right at the Michigan line.

[Revive 755]

KFC buffets seem like a Southern thing. The farthest north I've seen one is Kokomo, IN.

There's one off I-65 at IN 114, and I think there may be one further north between that exit and US 30.  I've heard of one in the southern half of Chicagoland, but can't remember the town.

[cjk374]

It's been so long since I've been there, I don't know if Panera still exists.

Do you mean that particular one? Because Panera has expanded big time in recent years. I find it overpriced for what you get.

Not exactly that particular one in Columbia (I think it was in one of the malls).  I also ate at (St. Louis Bread Co.) the one located in the Grand Central Terminal mall in St. Louis.  It was just as good & consistent as the Columbia store.  I haven't seen a Panera restaurant anywhere south of Missouri.

Someone earlier mentioned good sweet tea.  When I started going to MO regularly (1996-2002), I noticed that sweet tea started disappearing off of menus once you crossed the MO stateline.  Coca-cola products also became scarce in eating establishments sans McDonalds.  My drink order at restaurants went like this:

WAITRESS:  What would you like to drink?

ME:  Sweet tea please.

WAITRESS:  We have sugar & sweet-n-low     you'll have to add yourself.

ME:  I'll take a Coke instead.

WAITRESS:  Will Pepsi be ok?

ME:  No thanks...I'll drink water instead.   

[DandyDan]

As a Nebraska resident, I must say I enjoy Runza.  There's an even smaller chain here in the Omaha area called Don and Millie's (I'm not sure they are anywhere else, even Lincoln) which cooks excellent hamburgers.  It's also the only fast food place I know about which serves beer and margaritas.

When on the road, I am always on the lookout for Subway, even if they are wildly inconsistent.  OTOH, if I spot the Jimmy John's first, I'll go there before Subway.  I have also taken to going to Applebee's when on the road, in part because my work rewards program allows you to get Applebee's gift cards for cheap.  I can also get Chili's gift cards, but I never seem to run into a Chili's on the road.

I'm also a big fan of Buffalo Wild Wings and often get a large amount of chicken wings, either Parmesan Garlic, Asian Zing, or Mango Habanero, depending on my eating mood that day.

I'll also go to Popeye's and get their chicken gizzards.  Chicken gizzards are a family specialty, but I'm too lazy to cook them myself and don't want to make mom cook them.

Another place I go to is Chipotle.  I liked the Moe's they used to have here, but it closed up.

Pizza is strictly either local places to eat at.

I like the very new local Chick-Fil-A, but I have only ate there once so far.

As for places I won't eat at, it's been nearly 10 years since I went to a McDonald's.  Bizarrely enough, the last two times I ate at Mickey D's, it was in Indiana.  The last time I ate at a local McDonald's, I got sick and had to leave work early.  Burger King is not nearly as long, only 7 years, in Columbia, MO.  Wendy's is more recent, only a year, but that's only because I got a gift card for Christmas 2011 for them.  All of them have bland hamburgers.  And the only reason to go to Hooter's is the waitresses, because their food is awful.

[Sanctimoniously]

WAITRESS:  Will Pepsi be ok?

I have this problem with Dr. Pepper, too. In some places, Dr. Pepper is Pepsi-bottled and in others, it's Coca-Cola bottled, so there has been many a time where I've had to settle for Mr. Pibb. . .which is fortunately a decently acceptable substitute.

[hbelkins]

And the only reason to go to Hooter's is the waitresses, because their food is awful.

I think I've been to Hooters about three times. All three times were when I was single, with a friend, and about 20 years ago. The food was nothing to write home about and there's certainly no reason I would consider going there now.

Even then, I wasn't crazy about going for the scenery. My philosophy was, "none of those women would go out with me, so why should I pay exorbitant prices for bad food just to look at unattainable females?"

[elsmere241]

KFC buffets seem like a Southern thing. The farthest north I've seen one is Kokomo, IN.

Probably not farther north, but I ate in one in North Platte, NE in 1996.

[DandyDan]

And the only reason to go to Hooter's is the waitresses, because their food is awful.

I think I've been to Hooters about three times. All three times were when I was single, with a friend, and about 20 years ago. The food was nothing to write home about and there's certainly no reason I would consider going there now.

Even then, I wasn't crazy about going for the scenery. My philosophy was, "none of those women would go out with me, so why should I pay exorbitant prices for bad food just to look at unattainable females?"

Well, I never said that was a good reason.  I actually agree about the unattainable females, even though the last time I went to Hooter's, I thoroughly enjoyed our waitress that day.

I wonder if Twin Peaks has the same problems as Hooters.

[Stephane Dumas]

One Wendy's restaurant show a new look
http://www.macon.com/2012/12/31/2301328/modern-style-wendys-restaurant.html

And here an article about how Burger King went from McDonald's rival to train wreck
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-burger-king-went-from-mcdonalds-greatest-rival-to-total-train-wreck-2012-4?op=1

[corco]

I actually like Hooters wings.

A girl I saw a few years ago insisted that we go to Hooters for our second date. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to react but figured it was a test to see if I'd stare more at her or the waitresses. She then chastised me for not looking at the waitresses. She was kind of crazy- that was our last date.

[realjd]

It's been so long since I've been there, I don't know if Panera still exists.

Do you mean that particular one? Because Panera has expanded big time in recent years. I find it overpriced for what you get.

Not exactly that particular one in Columbia (I think it was in one of the malls).  I also ate at (St. Louis Bread Co.) the one located in the Grand Central Terminal mall in St. Louis.  It was just as good & consistent as the Columbia store.  I haven't seen a Panera restaurant anywhere south of Missouri.

Someone earlier mentioned good sweet tea.  When I started going to MO regularly (1996-2002), I noticed that sweet tea started disappearing off of menus once you crossed the MO stateline.  Coca-cola products also became scarce in eating establishments sans McDonalds.  My drink order at restaurants went like this:

WAITRESS:  What would you like to drink?

ME:  Sweet tea please.

WAITRESS:  We have sugar & sweet-n-low     you'll have to add yourself.

ME:  I'll take a Coke instead.

WAITRESS:  Will Pepsi be ok?

ME:  No thanks...I'll drink water instead.   

Whenever I'm on the road for work and am looking for good sweet tea, Chick-fil-A and McDonalds both do a good job as far as nationwide chains go.

You dislike Pepsi to the point with at you'd rather drink water? I know everyone has a preference but the taste of Pepsi and Coke aren't that far apart.

[vtk]

I think people need to get in the habit of just asking for "cola" if they don't care whether they get Coke or Pepsi.  Then the waitstaff won't have to ask "is ___ okay?" when the answer is yes.  And then when people do specifically say Pepsi or Coke, it's more likely that the other is not okay, and the waitstaff can ask for an alternate choice in a way that doesn't insult the customer's favorite drink.

[Sanctimoniously]

You dislike Pepsi to the point with at you'd rather drink water? I know everyone has a preference but the taste of Pepsi and Coke aren't that far apart.

I disagree with this.

[DaBigE]

You dislike Pepsi to the point with at you'd rather drink water? I know everyone has a preference but the taste of Pepsi and Coke aren't that far apart.

I disagree with this.

I disagree as well.
While I may not go as far as to have water if I cannot have a Coke, despite both being colas, there is a distinctive taste difference between the two. Coke has a much thicker syrup flavor, (which I find soothing to drink when I get a sore throat), whereas Pepsi is much thinner.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

KFC buffets seem like a Southern thing. The farthest north I've seen one is Kokomo, IN.

There's one off I-65 at IN 114, and I think there may be one further north between that exit and US 30.  I've heard of one in the southern half of Chicagoland, but can't remember the town.

We have plenty of KFC buffets in Minnesota, especially in smaller towns.

[hbelkins]

There's a difference in taste between Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, too. Diet Pepsi couldn't be any nastier if you poured goat piss into it. But i will drink it (sans goat urine) if Diet Coke is not available.

[Sanctimoniously]

I disagree as well.
While I may not go as far as to have water if I cannot have a Coke, despite both being colas, there is a distinctive taste difference between the two. Coke has a much thicker syrup flavor, (which I find soothing to drink when I get a sore throat), whereas Pepsi is much thinner.

Pepsi's carbonation is also much sharper. Coke is a little bit softer.