New Food Chains that you have found while on the road

[roadman65]

To not resurrect an old thread, so I decided to just open a new one as it is similar to the restaurants on the road chain.

I am currently in Kansas and just finished a trip down to DFW and was in TX and OK for a few days, and found a restaurant chain in both Kansas and Oklahoma, called Braums.  They have a neon pink and blue sign at night and the one I did visit had a little convenience store inside of it with a fast food area serving burgers and dogs along with ice cream.

To all of you who live in Kansas and Oklahoma, I must say you have something real good.  I am glad I stopped at one as I have seen dozens of them all along i-35 from Kansas to the Texas Line.

BTW this is not just to advertise a specific chain, but all who want to rant about new restaurants that are not in your hometown or state, but you like when in other regions of the nation or even world for the overseas road geek.

[US 41]

I didn't know Church's Chicken existed up until last year.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Denny's and IHOP were actually new things for me when I started traveling outside of Québec.

[hbelkins]

Whataburger, Freddie's, Cook-Out, Friendly's, Hoss's Steak & Sea, Eat-n-Park, Tudor's Biscuit World, Gino's Pizza & Spaghetti, to name a few. I haven't eaten at all of them, however.

[kurumi]

Sonic (Bowling Green, KY)
Burgerville (Portland)
Zippy's (Hawaii)
Zaxby's (Huntsville)
Fatburger (Santa Barbara area)

[Pete from Boston]

Shake Shacks have recently popped up all over here.  I really don't see what the big deal is. 

[Thing 342]

PDQ (Wake Forest, NC, along US-1 on my way back from Florida)
Biscuitville (Salisbury, NC, along I-85 on a trip to Atlanta)
Zaxby's (Columbia, SC, along SC-60 while in town visiting family)

[rawmustard]

Probably one of the first chains we discovered while on the road was Cracker Barrel before it expanded outside of the Southeast. I'm also am glad to have experienced many of the Pennsylvania-based chains (Sheetz, Hoss's, Quaker Steak, Eat'n Park) on my travels to that state. I also got to experience Zaxby's while on a road trip, and I'll probably discover a few more while on my Charlotte trip later this month.

[Purgatory On Wheels]

In general order of discovery...

Little Caesars, northern Michigan, late 1970s
Hardees, Knoxville, early 80s
Sonic, some small town in Arkansas, early 90s
Whataburger, same trip, in Oklahoma
Jack in the Box, St Louis
Happy Chef, Iowa or Minnesota
Ted's Hot Dogs, Buffalo
Culver's, Wisconsin
Krystal, Mississippi
Tudor's, West Virginia
Zaxby's, southern Georgia
Ivar's, Seattle
L&L Hawaiian BBQ, California
Jollibee, California
Harvey's, Ontario
Bojangles, North Carolina
Cook Out, Virginia
Gino's, Baltimore
Shipley Do-Nuts, Houston

Add to those a few others I knew about before visiting and actively sought out once I got to their territory (In-N-Out, Arctic Circle, Burgerville, Pal's, Shake Shack).

[Mapmikey]

Chains I like that I discovered outside Virginia/S. Carolina:


Culver's (midwest)
Sonny's BBQ (deep south)
Tropical Pollo (Florida)
Shari's (similar to Dennys or Shoneys) northwest
Tim Hortons
Opa! Souvlaki (large Canadian cities Ontario and westward)
Al Basha (Louisiana)
Hungry Howies (scattered)
Nandos
Pret A Manger (largest cities)
Cabana (Texas)
Smithfield's BBQ (NC)
Miami Subs (mostly Florida)
D'Angelo Subs (New England)
Woody's BBQ (mostly Florida)
Canes Chicken Fingers

Mike

[formulanone]

I gravitate towards Cane's, In-and-Out, Taco Cabana, Culver's, Tim Horton's, Rudy's, and Hoss's if I see them and I'm without any local suggestions.

I wasn't terribly impressed with Braum's, but the two locations I've stopped at had convenience stores attached to them, which helps if you want something for later.

[jeffandnicole]

While I can't remember all of them off hand, Bojangles is one that sticks in my mind.  I finally hit a Zaxby's as well.

[JakeFromNewEngland]

When I was down in Florida back in 2008, I first discovered Steak N Shake. When we went back down to DC in 2010, we tried finding one but it was closed. 

[noelbotevera]

Steak n Shake on the PA Turnpike.
Atomic Burger on the Atlantic City Boardwalk (something like that - I don't know what other locations).

[74/171FAN]

I didn't know Church's Chicken existed up until last year.

There has been one in downtown Petersburg for a long while.  Considering the crime issues in that area, I am not sure how that one stays open.

Probably the most surprising chain I have found was Graeter's ice cream (from what I understand a chain based in Ohio).  The only reason my friends and I went is because a friend we went to see begged us to try it.

[formulanone]

I just re-read the thread title, and I was re-imagining it to go like this:

Concrete Barrier > Tractor Trailer > Steel guardrail > Cars > Two-Legged Big Green Signs > Wooden Posts > Motorists > Birds > Bugs

[cjk374]

Southern Maid Doughnuts in Shreveport, Bossier City, and Dixie Inn, LA.  These doughnuts are so good they will make you puke anytime you see a Krispy Kreme or a DD. Also in Shreveport... Strawn's Eat Shop.

Lambert's in Foley, AL, Ozark & Sikeston, MO. Home of the throwed rolls.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I had Checker's/Rally's for the first time on Monday. I thought the burger was good but the fries were unspectacular.

[Jim]

Too many to count for me, but some that I discovered in travels and stick with include Firehouse, Zaxby's, and Raising Cane's.  I already knew about some others, like In-N-Out and Five Guys before I first was able to try them while traveling.

A little variation on this is my experience with Hot Harry's Burritos, which has several locations in the Capital District and Berkshires, and one out in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  We go all the time locally, so when passing through Cedar Rapids a couple years ago, we just had to give it a try and mentioned that we'd been to most of the NY and MA locations.  The person working was not nearly as impressed as I thought he should be..

[Pete from Boston]

I just re-read the thread title, and I was re-imagining it to go like this:

Concrete Barrier > Tractor Trailer > Steel guardrail > Cars > Two-Legged Big Green Signs > Wooden Posts > Motorists > Birds > Bugs

Yes, every time this is how it reads to me. 

[Purgatory On Wheels]

Southern Maid Doughnuts in Shreveport, Bossier City, and Dixie Inn, LA.  These doughnuts are so good they will make you puke anytime you see a Krispy Kreme or a DD.

Good one...wish I could have been in Shreveport after 4 when they're hot, but even the not as fresh examples they sold me at 11 am were still far better than most donuts I've ever had.

[Pete from Boston]

Chains we don't have here, to my knowledge:

We went over the sub chains in another thread, and I can say I see no difference between Penn Station, Smiling Moose, Firehouse, Quizno's, and probably something else I'm forgetting.  At least only Penn Station posts the error "East Coast Subs" on their sign (this chain dreck is not what is native to this coast).

I have been to Schlotszky's Deli and... is it Fazoli's? a couple of times, and both were pretty lame. 

I have been to a Carl's Jr. exactly once, ten years ago, and I remember the toppings and burger seeming remarkably fresh. 

I have been to Captain (Cap'n?) D's once, which will likely remain my lifetime total. 

I finally ate at a St.-Hubert in the past few years, but for the life of me I can't remember much about it. 

[Scott5114]

I am currently in Kansas and just finished a trip down to DFW and was in TX and OK for a few days, and found a restaurant chain in both Kansas and Oklahoma, called Braums.  They have a neon pink and blue sign at night and the one I did visit had a little convenience store inside of it with a fast food area serving burgers and dogs along with ice cream.

To all of you who live in Kansas and Oklahoma, I must say you have something real good.  I am glad I stopped at one as I have seen dozens of them all along i-35 from Kansas to the Texas Line.

Braum's is awesome. Their food seems to be very like-it-or-hate-it–I like it, but I know several people that hate it–but the mini-grocery is a wonderful thing. I used to live within walking distance of one and it was very nice to be able to pop in and grab a few things.

But. The milk. Oh, my goodness, the milk. You are lucky you did not drink any of the milk while you were there. Once you taste Braum's milk, you simply can't go back to the stuff at the grocery store.

P.S. They have locations in southwest Missouri as well. Springfield is about the far end of their range. I don't know if they have any Texas locations, but they might.

[xcellntbuy]

Before I fled New York and moved to Florida and now Georgia, there a several chains I had never seen before:

Waffle House
Church's Chicken
Bojangles
Krispy Kreme (before it became a phenomenon and since it retracted)
In-And-Out
Sonic
Chick-Fil-A (everyone who buys there chicken seems to go bananas over it)
Zaxby's (started to see these when I moved to middle Georgia)
Huddle House (couple exist in Milledgeville, folks here tell me it is a kind of Waffle House)
Checkers

I have never eaten at any of them.

[catch22]

I am currently in Kansas and just finished a trip down to DFW and was in TX and OK for a few days, and found a restaurant chain in both Kansas and Oklahoma, called Braums.  They have a neon pink and blue sign at night and the one I did visit had a little convenience store inside of it with a fast food area serving burgers and dogs along with ice cream.

To all of you who live in Kansas and Oklahoma, I must say you have something real good.  I am glad I stopped at one as I have seen dozens of them all along i-35 from Kansas to the Texas Line.

Braum's is awesome. Their food seems to be very like-it-or-hate-it–I like it, but I know several people that hate it–but the mini-grocery is a wonderful thing. I used to live within walking distance of one and it was very nice to be able to pop in and grab a few things.

But. The milk. Oh, my goodness, the milk. You are lucky you did not drink any of the milk while you were there. Once you taste Braum's milk, you simply can't go back to the stuff at the grocery store.

P.S. They have locations in southwest Missouri as well. Springfield is about the far end of their range. I don't know if they have any Texas locations, but they might.

My wife and I love this place.  My in-laws live in Oklahoma City, and we always manage a few visits to Braum's during our visits.  We also stop at one in Springfield on the way home to Michigan for lunch..  Good stuff.

There's a few in the northern Dallas area, at least.  I've been to one in Plano and there's one in Carrollton too.