Best regional restaurant chains

I live about five blocks away from a Babe's. I somehow have not gained 100 pounds since I moved here. That's the stuff that food comas are made for.

I love having it though, because it reminds me of the fried chicken place back home. Y'all who drive I-70 in Kansas have at least seen the Brookville Hotel from the highway. It's not a hotel, but home to family style fried chicken dinners. Best freakin' creamed corn you'll ever have in your life.

 

I remember going to the Brookville Hotel when it was still in Brookville.

 

I've never been there, but some good friends of mine who used to live up around there say it's what they call a "road-trip meal."
You plan your road-trip around eating there.

 

Just one menu choice, chicken and the side dishes?

 

Yep. I haven't been there in years, but the side dishes were probably even better than the chicken.

The former mayor of Brookville was my dad's best friend from college. He could make the armpit fart noise without flapping his arm. He somehow knew how to flex the right muscles, and as a little kid it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

 

Duchess restaurants, which are exclusive to Connecticut, have a terrific, wide-ranging menu. Everything is cooked fresh, so you have to wait a spell for the Big D cheeseburger or the Long Dog. But man, it is worth it. Also reasonably priced. Can get two bacon and egg and cheeses for like $5. Breakfast wraps for under $3.

Duchess Restaurants: Fast food, fresh

 

No Steak 'n Shake in the Northeast, so maybe regional. But there's one in Madrid, so maybe global

 

The 99 is a New England chain but not particularly good (basically an Uno's or Applebee's equivalent). Mitigating factor is kids eat free the day after a Red Sox win. We still rarely eat there. Anna's Taqueria is a very good burrito chain, especially for the Northeast (Boston area only but at least 5 or 6 locations). Otherwise the New England chains suck ass (like Papa Gino's -- worst pizza chain on earth).

I don't get the Zaxby's love -- ate at one in Boone NC and it was awful. Obviously processed chicken too.

Some cheap chains that I love (I care about healthy options):

-Zoe's Kitchen -- good quick Mediterranean food -- especially their braised white beans. And they serve beer and wine. Southeast chain.
-California Chicken Cafe -- West Coast only as far as I know. Great char-broiled chicken on the bone, outstanding sides, great prices
-Rubio's (and Wahoo's) Fish Tacos
-Primanti Bros. --(I've only been to the original in the Strip District but there are multiple locations in Western PA ). Not healthy but awesome.

 

Legal Seafood? I’m going to Boston for a long weekend. Never been. Going to Legal Seafood one night, is that a mistake?

 

I'm sorry you ate at a Zaxbys while in Boone. So many great places to eat.

 

Zaxby's is workable. Don't know about the one in Boone.

 

I'm familiar with all of them -- my in-laws have a condo in Echota (Foscoe) in between Boone and Banner Elk. We spend a lot of time there when we're visiting. I've eaten pretty much everywhere in Boone, Blowing Rock and Banner Elk. We happened to be on our way out that day, it was pouring, we had to get the kids fed quickly and Zaxby's was right there and looked fast and cheap. It was. It was also pretty bad. Cook Out, on the main drag near the Harris Teeter, along with a bunch of other places might have been a better choice, but was a little out of the way. It wasn't the time to drive to Blowing Rock to hit Storie Street Grill or hit the hairpins of Shull Creek Road and take 2 whining kids to the Gamekeeper or even go to Farm Cafe.

I know your comment was meant more as a shout-out to the number of really good restaurants around there [and the options are pretty impressive -- it would take a couple weeks to get to everyplace good] but is a little odd in a thread about chain restaurants. Because anyone who ever eats at one for any reason (in our case occasionally out of convenience) is by definition foregoing better local places to eat (unless you're in a complete food desert)