Favorite Chain Restaurant

Jason's Deli has a salad bar (and complimentary soft serve ice cream).

 

I like Mellow Mushroom. Quality College Pizza and beer, and is better than Grotto Pizza, except Grotto has gelato.
Cook-out too.

We may be in the golden age of fast food. With 5guys, smash burger, shake shack, mission bbq, all the personal pizza places, chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings , plenty of decent chains ... it’s not just mcdonalds, burger king, Hardee’s and Arby’s.

Anyone been Dave’s Famous?

 

Yeah - I wasn't sure how much a chain they were when I nominated them. We have one at the Warwick Mall, and I think there are a couple in southern Massachusetts, but I have no clue how far out they go.

 

Famous Dave's BBQ. Worst ever. We went to BJs on what turned out to be a very busy night. There was an hour wait. Famous Dave's BBQ is next door. No wait (surprise surprise surprise). Went there for the first time. The BBQ stuff wasn't very good. I had brisket that was OK, kid had tri-tip that wasn't good, wife had ribs, which weren't good. I love cheesy mac. Their's came with velvetta cheese and had corn mixed in with the macaroni. There was more corn than mac. The cole slaw had onions in it. Some people might like it that way, I do not eat onions. We liked maybe one or two of the sauce selections out of the eight they offered. None were stellar.

 

I'm partial to sandwiches, so the Newk's/McAlister's Deli tag team is my go-to.
Newk's chicken salad and pickles are tremendous, but McAlister's sweet tea is a national treasure.

 

We rarely eat out and the only chain we patronize here, and even that is infrequently unless we are on the road for baseball, in our part of the Toronto 'burbs is Subway or, once or twice a year, The Keg.

In the OC, BJ's Brewhouse is one of our fave stops. Went to a Mellow Mushroom in Atlanta and really enjoyed it.

 

This whole thread reminds me just how little I eat and or like chain restaurants any more. There was a time when the wife and I did almost nothing but and thought, hey, we like it so who cares what others think. Almost like the anti-foodie and being proud of it. Two just mentioned here go tos for us, BJs and Famous Dave's. We have both literally a minute from where we live now and I bet we haven't been to either in at least four years and I have no desire to return. Funny thing is, since kids we've gotten way more picky. Don't know if it's growing up ourselves or if when we do get a chance to go out and sit down we don't want to waste it on stuff like that.

If I had to say anything, Chili's is still serviceable, at least I think. I haven't been there for a while either. And the earlier debated Cracker Barrel can do it for me. At least with the kids (and we have four of them) you can get a lot of food for not a ton of money!

 

Of all the things journalists have knowledge about, cheap food has to be really, really high on the list. Perhaps at the top.

 

Maybe that's where my chain taste left, is when I got out of the biz!

 

Yup. My corner of the Metromess has 3 of the 6 mentioned and Del Taco was here, but left (too many excellent taco places). El Pollo Loco is pretty good though...offers more options than Chipotle.

 

McCallisters wasn't bad, tried one a few years ago in MB.
Lot of people were raving about Cook Out (esp. The milkshakes). It was ok.