GolfHos

We around PGH don't have


J Alexanders
Carrabas


of course, I miss Canyon Cafe the most, but I'd hardly call that one anything close to a national chain

We need a good breakfast buffet place.  Like Shoneys.

IHOP is teh sukk. [sm_disgust]

I haven't ever heard of :
J Alexanders
Carrabas

shoneys ??!?!?!     even ihopp > shoneys !!!

$.02


http://www.jalexanders.com/index.htm
http://www.carrabbas.com/menu.asp

jalexanders had me at "discriminating ambiance".

The Italian joint looks good.

For the most part I've never eaten in a national chain restaurant I was wild about.

Del Taco
Sizzler
Shakeys Pizza

Well, not really, but I did see them on a recent trip to S.Cal.  Did not realize they were even in business anymore.

hey, they let ME in there.  ;)

well, give the 2 i mentioned a try  :o


j alexanders in denver colorado
carrabas in orem utah

Well, Denver isn't exactly close but next time I'm there I'll consider seeking it out. As for Orem, I don't like to spend any more time in Orem than absolutely necessary. Odds are not good that I'll make the 45 minute drive to have dinner at an Italian place, but I suppose you never know.

 [sm_thumbsup2]

Interesting note: the Cheesecake Factory was looking at setting up shop in SLC, but after some extensive market research they decided against. I assumed it was our silly liquor laws, but it turns out that they determined Utah doesn't have enough advanced degrees per capita.

Cheeseburger in Paradise
Rock Bottom Brewery (and any other brewpub chain)

There are probably other chains I'd like to see if I knew what they were.

we got one here last year (or maybe 2005)  but we still haven't been

its in a location that feature ridiculous parking difficulty.  and they still reportedly have hour+ long waits to be seated

That's how it was when we finally got a PF Chang's. We waited until the novelty wore off (took almost two years  :o) before we tried it. It was fine but nothing I'd ever wait 60-90 minutes for a table.

I don't know if this qualifies as a national chain but they have a few in the Chicago area, one here in MN and one in Atlanta.

http://www.wildfirerestaurant.com/


I have had excellent dinners there. A bit pricey so I only get there once or twice a year but I wish I could make it more often.

We ate at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville in Las Vegas a few years back. Meh.

(But at least one margarita cost $9, so it had that going for it.)

We actually have a Carrabas but I haven't eaten there.  I'll check it out.

I wish we would get a Champp's Americana http://www.champps.com/

Yeah, Champps is cool.  Great place to watch the Queens play.

Besides fast food and pizza, nothing closer than 60+ miles here.

Aske, Is this the Alexanders near Park Meadows?  If so, we love the place.

And it is only 160 miles away.

Agree with stroh. Champp's is pretty good. Great place to grab beers and appetizers with a group.

Goodburger  ::)







I've had crappy movies on my mind today.  ;D

There are no fast food outlets were we live!!!!!
So when we go to Cairns, it is a big deal, to have McDonalds!!!!! I prefer Hungry  Jacks!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
We probably go to Cairns, twice a year!!! ;D ;D ;D

White Castle

 [sm_disgust]

I'll add Fatburger to my list.

The IHOP near us has a large smoking section cordoned off from the non-smoking by a 3/4-height wall.  Ceiling fans through it, but no blowers or air remediation devices.  The whole place reeks of smoke.  Just the place to take the wife and small child for a lovely brunch.


Personally, I extend my "Walmart" stance to eateries, too: frequent the independents, avoid the national chains.

National chain restaurants?  There is such a thing?  ;)

Considering that there are 7 in this family, "eating out" is a huge expense so it doesn't happen very often.  And with food sensitivities and allergies also needing to be taken into account, there's really only 1 restaurant we've found that everyone can enjoy.

This is about the tenth thread in which I've bemoaned the fact that all the Baja Fresh stores in Utah closed on the same day.     :'(

I concur.  :sad3:

We still have Baja Fresh. We also have In-N-Out Burger and L&L Hawaiian Barbeque. ;D But we lost the only Yoshinoya that was in San Francisco. :sad3:

Good advice.  I prefer local ambience and idiosyncracies over homogenized mass marketing.  And the food is usually better and more interesting at the independent places.  But when I'm making a long trip on an interstate I will stop at the national fast food chains ... trying to get somewhere and don't have the time to search out the local joints.

It is becoming more difficult to find the independent places. The sad thing is, in my smallish city, they make big news out of the fact new restaurants are coming to town. And they wind up being Perkins and Ruby Tuesday's. Basically the same fare I can find 10 minutes further away in the next suburb.

In the town I live in, I'd be happy just to get a Burger King.  [sm_anon]

In the town my aunt lives in, she would be happy just to be able to get out of her house right now. :(

exactly, around it's almost impossible to combine a weekend 'outing' to have errands/shopping/fun/whatever and find an actual independent restaurant nearby....  almost 9/10 times it seems wherever we are the 1st remotely 'appetizing' thing (aka non fast food) will be a franchised national chain.... and it seems to be getting worse every day.   now near our apt. to just a few miles away , it's a different story, there's tons of nice small independent places of all sorts


anyways, i wanted to revisit this thread because lately we've become pretty big 'fans' of Houlihans.  nice fresh take on 'merkan menu at a fair price for a chain.... good drink specials on sundays. 

i guess if i had my pick of top 5 chains... i'd have to add them in.

Is that the place with all the goofy *feces* on the walls and the mozzarella sticks?

(http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/5320/supertrooperscoolchrismeh0.th.jpg) (http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=supertrooperscoolchrismeh0.jpg)

We have one in Maple Grove. (Fuzz will get the reference.  There's one of *goshdarn* everything in Maple Grove.)


Meh.

Jules, for the benefit of CONUS you should refer to Hungry Jacks as Burger King ;)

Does "In and Out" Burger count??

The nearest one to me is about 18 hours away...

We refer to Burger King as "BK" here. And you?

i refer to it as crap

Usually "Jacks" or "Hungrys".

The only places in Australia that Burger King can trade as Burger King is in the International Airports. Everywhere else they trade as Hungry Jacks...

You don't refer to Hungry Jack's by its initials?

Not personally, but those with a limited vocabulary often do

LMAO.

Most times, the oddest threads are the best.

Same here. We have a Carrabas but I've never gone.

Champp's is probably the only chain restaurant I eat in on a semi regular basis. Good food, lot's of TV's, but unlike a local sports bar it's nice enough to get the wife to want to go.

We don't have them here, but I'll take the Eat 'n Park breakfast buffet over both of them.

Problem is, nobody up here knows how to cook a grit. 


(http://www.americanrhetoric.com/images/videomoviespeechmycousinvinny3.jpg)

Almost every single restaurant you all have mentioned we do not have here. With a few exceptions like BK/Ihop/Fattburger/Mickey D's/PF Changs, all the others I've never even heard of.

If by independents you mean something like a "mom and pop" joint unfortunately they're almost dead near me. I do have a restaurant where I meet up with my dad at, and we have breakfast about once a month, but those places are virtually extinct, again with a few minor exceptions.