Favorite Chain Restaurants

[dayooper]

Chipotle/QDoba (we have a QDoba that's in town but we have to drive for Chipotle) is one of our go too's. My middle son swears by 5 Guys for burgers and fries. My favorite is probably PF Chang's, though. Very good.

In Michigan, we have some local chains like Leo's Coney Island and Bagger Dave's Burgers that we frequent often. I had Billy Sim's BBQ and it's good for a chain BBQ, but they are only in Oklahoma, Michigan and maybe Chicago from what I understand.

One's I don't like? Although I like their sauces, Famous Dave's BBQ is dry and lacks flavor. So many other great BBQ places and even chains out there that are better. Applebee's is not good either.

 

[dayooper]

Grease bombs.
And speaking of noise. That's what keeps me out of Red Robin.

Red Robin is OK. They have gone up in price so much over the last couple of years. We only go in August as we can get a free birthday burger and not have that stupid song sung.

 

[OldGuy]

Famous Dave's BBQ

I like it, DW doesn't. I like the Tuesday Feast, which is $25 on every 25th this year. We take our college-student Great Niece.

 

[missyrcrews]

We have to eat at Steak and Shake when we head back home to MO. The second night on that road trip, we stay at a hotel that has one across the parking lot. Shakes for supper!!! We like Sonic, too...again, absence makes the heart grow fonder. And anyplace that has a smorgasbord. New Englanders are too full of Puritan restraint to have smorgasbord places, so we enjoy those in MO. Golden Corral is paradise for my youngest son. ("I can have ANY of that food? As much as I want? REALLY???")

Places here in Maine that we like are local chain Sea Dog Brewery. (I don't drink, but they have great seafood.) We can all agree on things we like from 99, too. That's a win these days.

 

[missyrcrews]

Kids just reminded me of Cici's Pizza. (Again...a buffet. Detect a trend?) That's another favorite spot in Missouri.

 

[klpca]

Golden Corral is paradise for my youngest son. ("I can have ANY of that food? As much as I want? REALLY???")

We took our 9 and 6 year old nephews to a great (non-chain) restaurant just after Christmas. It is located adjacent to LAX and is called Proud Bird with a view of the planes landing at lax plus some old planes located outside. On the weekend it is an all you can eat buffet. These kids had never been to a buffet and just couldn't believe that they could have whatever they wanted. It was pretty cute watching them get excited to get chicken and waffles, plus a slider. The six year old stood up on his chair to say that this was the best restaurant that he have ever been to, and the people around us got a good laugh out of that. The power of the buffet!

 

[wackymother]

The Original Pancake House (NOT IHOP!), sometimes called Walker Brothers Pancake House. Their apple pancake is to die for, and the rest of their breakfasts are excellent as well. They were a favorite when I was a young adult in Chicago and didn't realize they were a chain - started in Portland - until I moved to Oregon and found one in my new home town.

Original Pancake House is THE BEST! I forget they're a chain, too.

 

[clifffaith]

We have (had?) an Original Pancake House that we passed by regularly several houses ago, I did not realize they were a chain. I'm not sure if it is still there or not. Went once and never again because prices at that time were more than double going anywhere else. I'm thinking 20 years ago, $10 for a pancake breakfast that would have been far less at Denny's or IHOP. In our current home we prefer Denny's because it is larger and newer than the IHOP half a block down the street. Of course prices have crept up and we now don't mind that Denny's costs us about $30 for two breakfasts by the time tax and tip is added.

 

[SmithOp]

We have (had?) an Original Pancake House that we passed by regularly several houses ago, I did not realize they were a chain. I'm not sure if it is still there or not. Went once and never again because prices at that time were more than double going anywhere else. I'm thinking 20 years ago, $10 for a pancake breakfast that would have been far less at Denny's or IHOP. In our current home we prefer Denny's because it is larger and newer than the IHOP half a block down the street. Of course prices have crept up and we now don't mind that Denny's costs us about $30 for two breakfasts by the time tax and tip is added.

Too bad you are not close to Norm’s, a bigger better breakfast deal beats Lennys or IHOP. There’s one on PCH in Lomita.


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[dioxide45]

Grease bombs.
And speaking of noise. That's what keeps me out of Red Robin.

I do love Red Robin food. Their burgers are great and the onion rings fantastic! I do agree with the noise though, way too loud!

 

[dioxide45]

Now that we are in Florida, I am sure our favorites will change. We have a Sticky Fingers around the corner and not far away is a Hurricane Grill & Wings. Both places we have visited in the past when traveling to Florida. They will probably be semi regular places we go to now. Though we tend not to eat out very often.

 

[MabelP]

Not Your Average Joe's and In-N-Out Burger. I'll eat at either one any day of the week!

 

[klpca]

We have (had?) an Original Pancake House that we passed by regularly several houses ago, I did not realize they were a chain. I'm not sure if it is still there or not. Went once and never again because prices at that time were more than double going anywhere else. I'm thinking 20 years ago, $10 for a pancake breakfast that would have been far less at Denny's or IHOP. In our current home we prefer Denny's because it is larger and newer than the IHOP half a block down the street. Of course prices have crept up and we now don't mind that Denny's costs us about $30 for two breakfasts by the time tax and tip is added.

I also like Original Pancake House but their portions are enormous so we always split. Then the price is fine.

 

[clifffaith]

Too bad you are not close to Norm’s, a bigger better breakfast deal beats Lennys or IHOP. There’s one on PCH in Lomita.


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We used to live right down the street from there, but the old Parasol restaurant was still on the corner of PCH & Crenshaw when we lived there in the '90s, so that was our first stop for breakfast on the very few mornings we weren't working seven days a week.

 

[clifffaith]

I also like Original Pancake House but their portions are enormous so we always split. Then the price is fine.

It was like going to the Claim Jumper the first time and not realizing you'd have leftovers for two days, not just one, and could have easily split a meal. Even the fudge cake lasted three meals, and that's saying something with me around!

 

[PcflEZFlng]

We took our 9 and 6 year old nephews to a great (non-chain) restaurant just after Christmas. It is located adjacent to LAX and is called Proud Bird with a view of the planes landing at lax plus some old planes located outside.

Proud Bird takes me way back, when it was purely a steakhouse. My parents took me there for my birthday when I was 12 years old. In 1968.

 

[WVBaker]

Does KFC not qualify or has it fallen out of favor?

 

[klpca]

Proud Bird takes me way back, when it was purely a steakhouse. My parents took me there for my birthday when I was 12 years old. In 1968.

It's like a food court now and they convert to the buffet on the weekends. I had never been there. It was a hit with the nephews and I rather enjoyed it myself!

 

[OldGuy]

Does KFC not qualify or has it fallen out of favor?

Qualify for what?

 

[WVBaker]

Qualify for what?

As a chain restaurant.

 

[OldGuy]

As a chain restaurant.

Chain yes.

Restaurant debatable.

 

[Luanne]

Chain yes.

Restaurant debatable.

Many of these chains are debatable as restaurants. But, it was your original question.

 

[jimf41]

White Castle +1

 

[silentg]

We just had an early dinner at Cracker Barrel .Both if us got the Special Fried Chicken
Almost everyone was getting the same. It was very good.
We beat the crowd by going early.
We also enjoyed Perkins but they closed the one closest to us. Will try the ones a little further away.
There are some local places we go to frequently Fat Boys Barbecue, Jalapeños for Mexican Food.
Antonio’s for Pizza. All local and very good.
When we go to Massachusetts we enjoy the 99 and discovered a Bickfords close to where we will be in August.
Silentg

 

[clifffaith]

Cracker Barrel has made a big deal recently of adding "real" fried chicken to their menu -- real as in with bones. I never noticed they didn't have bone-in chicken, because boneless that I don't have to fight with (and then listen to Cliff say how much meat I'd left on the bones) would always be my preference. You should have heard Mom and Cliff gang up on Dad and me on the 4th because we'd left meat on our ribs we were discarding in the bone dish.

No one has mentioned shopping at Cracker Barrel. If I still had a Victorian home with lots of peacocks in my decor, I would have gone crazy in April because everything seemed to be peacocky. I always check the fat lady blouse area. Found a great bedazzeled, but not garish, red top there several years ago that I still drag out on Christmas and Valentine's. One year they had the perfect white blouse with just a bit of navy embroidery that would have gone perfect with some navy print pants I have. I kid you not when I say we visited every CB from Gallup to Flagstaff to all of that part of Arizona we'd pass through from Sedona to Scottsdale. I'd given up two stops before Cliff did. Every time we saw a CB sign he'd stop. I needed an XL. Size L was too small and 1X was too big. Even went online and they were either out of my size or no longer showing it on the website.