[bobthecockroach]

My German professor once told a story about a fellow language professor who asked students to write in Spanish about what they would do with a million dollars. One student wrote that they would invest in cattle and chains. The professor was stumped until plugging the words back into an online translator and discovering that the student had used a translator for "stocks" and "bonds" without checking the semantic meaning of the words.

This thread is about chain restaurants, and since most of them revolve around cattle, I thought the title was strangely appropriate.

To get us started:

Originally Posted by meatfinger

I don't really understand the semi-snarkey comments about chain restaurants. Granted, I realize that the phrase conjures up associations of over-grilled, flavorless Applebees "steaks," but there are many chain restaurants I'll gladly eat. I'll eat wherever they have good food, be it a chain restaurant or a local hole-in-the-wall. Chains may not be hip or trendy, but if I can get a tasty meal there, I'm fine with it. Particularly if I'm traveling through an area, I probably don't have time to stop and figure out where the locals eat, and I may not want to gamble on some random restaurant on Main St. A chain is a known quantity, and that's a little reassuring.

Geez, and everyone says the secular music forum is/used to be pretentious...

Oddly enough, traveling is where I'm most careful to avoid chains. The internet has largely eliminated the gamble of trying local restaurants. If a place gets over 80% on Urbanspoon, it's probably delicious, and Urbanspoon covers almost everywhere now. I've used Urbanspoon to find delicious food everywhere from Atlanta to Jefferson, TX, population 2024. One of the big joys for me in traveling is getting to eat food I couldn't get at home. For example, the best tacos on Earth come from Tin Lizzie's Cantina in Atlanta, but I would never have known that if I stuck with chains.

But even setting aside travel, I think it's better to eat local. It's not that I think all chains are bad. I think Chili's is quite tasty, so is Texas Roadhouse. Chains are also very economical. The regional or national consistency lets chains do all kinds of cost cutting that individual restaurants can't do. Also, it's not pretension. I'm not above eating at chains. If someone wants to go to one, I'm fine with that (unless it's something on the level of McDonald's, which I simply will not eat at). Just when I'm picking a place to go, I like to go somewhere local.

To list a few reasons:

Eating local better supports the local economy. Lots of a chain's profits go to franchise fees. If it's a corporate location rather than a franchise, then even more of the profit goes out of state or out of town.

Eating local supports small business owners. Chains are generally much bigger than local restaurants are more profits are going to investors rather than chefs or owners.

Local restaurants provide more variety. They can update their menu. They can offer specials. They can cover more ground. Chains generally cover Tex-Mex, Italian and American, but rarely Thai, Vietnamese, Lebanese, or Moroccan. You won't find Bstilla at a chain.

Eating local puts you in better touch with your community. This may be more relevant in New Orleans, known for its food, but if someone from out of town asks you for a dining tip, would you rather list the chains you have in town or be able to point them to a one-of-a-kind local place?

[Cam42]

I don't mind Chains at all.

But dangit you just reminded me of this great Italian place that was in Boise that I can't remember the name of.
That's gonna bug me for a while.

[beanbag]

if someone came in from out of town and wanted to know where to eat, i'd point them to a local place if i knew of a good one and it was the type of food they'd want to eat.

for myself...i usually go someplace good and cheap. if that's local, then good. if it's a chain, then good. i prefer to eat at home or my parents, or to go someplace that has fancy, interesting experimental food--but those usually aren't cheap, so i don't go often.

oh yeah. i was going to say--the quality/availability of local restaurants really depends on where you live. in austin, there are a ton of really cool, non-chain places. where i live now, and where my parents live, most of it's chain. there are a few local places, but they aren't as common. they're pretty neat, though.

[thesteve]

I think if I planned out where I was going to be at a certain time instead of just being in a place and looking around, I'd probably eat a lot more "local" food. As it stands, I generally find myself surrounded with many choices and going with what is most familiar because I know it should be good. I do agree that with things like Urbanspoon and Yelp, it makes it a lot easier to find good restaurants when you're traveling/in an unfamiliar area or whatever, but when my access to that is non-existent...well...I guess I'm just not big on taking chances. For example, last May I drove up the California coast with my wife. We didn't know where we would be when we got hungry, so we were pretty limited to chain restaurants. I think we ended up hitting a Red Robin or Chilis or something along those lines for a late lunch and the dreaded McDs for dinner because it was 945PM and the town we were in looked like they rolled up the streets at 8PM.

I do think the "chains" mindset is something that is passed down from generation to generation though. I've noticed that when I eat out with my in-laws, we tend towards chains (Applebees, Mimis, Olive Garden, etc.) though if we're getting Mexican, we do go to a local place. Of course, going to a chain Mexican place in San Diego (yes, they exist) is almost nonsense.

[Rainer.]

Drinking a Starbucks totally supports my local economy. (also, you drinking a Starbucks supports my local economy...)

Out here in fabulous North Seattle, chains are actually quite rare in comparison to local dives. As you get out in suburbia and strip-mall land, chains become much more prevalent, and sometimes they're the only places to eat.

As far as where i'm living now, though, most places are locally owned, or are local chains with 3-5 locations.

[jthomas1600]

In an ideal world, I would chose the local independent joints. But the reality is we don't "plan" to eat out very often. It is usually an on the go type of thing and with chains we pretty much know what we're going to get both in quality and price so you can make a quick choice and not be disappointed. The Chinese place we eat at is independent. The Mexican place of choice is part of a small semi local chain. And we enjoy Ryan's buffet after church on Sundays. The wife and I also like Red Lobster and Olive Garden.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by Alton Dong

Drinking a Starbucks totally supports my local economy. (also, you drinking a Starbucks supports my local economy...)

I was thinking the same thing about Jack in the Box.

[Rainer.]

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

Local restaurants provide more variety. They can update their menu. They can offer specials. They can cover more ground. Chains generally cover Tex-Mex, Italian and American, but rarely Thai, Vietnamese, Lebanese, or Moroccan.

That also depends on where you are, though. There are a lot of Japanese [Genki, Blue C, lots of teriyaki chains], Thai [Thai 65, Simply Thai], Vietnamese [Pho Hoa, Lee's Sandwiches, What the Pho?], (insert Asian country here) chains around this part of the U.S.

[BillSPrestonEsq]

I sometimes like chains because I can find a safe food for allergies in a pinch.


Now...


How many restaurants does it take to be a chain? 2? 10? A lot of places I like have 2-3 local locations.

[jthomas1600]

Originally Posted by BillSPrestonEsq

I sometimes like chains because I can find a safe food for allergies in a pinch.


Now...


How many restaurants does it take to be a chain? 2? 10? A lot of places I like have 2-3 local locations.

I guess I see two or three can be a chain, but that's a world different than a franchise chain. With the small chains it seems management at each locations has a lot of leeway when it comes to the menu and atmosphere.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by BillSPrestonEsq

Now...


How many restaurants does it take to be a chain? 2? 10? A lot of places I like have 2-3 local locations.

I've been assuming that for this discussion "chain" means something with hundreds of locations. I would include something as small as "In n Out" as a chain.

[BillSPrestonEsq]

Originally Posted by thesteve

I've been assuming that for this discussion "chain" means something with hundreds of locations. I would include something as small as "In n Out" as a chain.

Yeah, I was thinking of a place I loved in hemet. I think there were 4-5 of them. One of my favorite Pho places is technically a chain. There are 3 of them I was told.

I'd hate to look down on a restaurant because it was succeeding at providing good food.

Generally speaking, I have a weakness for "ethnic" cuisines that the majority of people are local to the cuisine.

Though I have to check out the gelato stand a mile away, Ive seen a 3 block line once too often not to have tried it.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by BillSPrestonEsq

Yeah, I was thinking of a place I loved in hemet. I think there were 4-5 of them. One of my favorite Pho places is technically a chain. There are 3 of them I was told.

I'd hate to look down on a restaurant because it was succeeding at providing good food.

Generally speaking, I have a weakness for "ethnic" cuisines that the majority of people are local to the cuisine.

Though I have to check out the gelato stand a mile away, Ive seen a 3 block line once too often not to have tried it.

Yeah, I order my Mexican from a place in San Diego called Lolita's. I think there's five of them now. I went to high school with two brothers that were sons of the owners. I definitely don't think of Lolita's when I talk about chain Mexican. I think about La Salsa, Rubio's, El Torito, Chevy's, etc.

[Rainer.]

Originally Posted by thesteve

Yeah, I order my Mexican from a place in San Diego called Lolita's. I think there's five of them now. I went to high school with two brothers that were sons of the owners. I definitely don't think of Lolita's when I talk about chain Mexican. I think about La Salsa, Rubio's, El Torito, Chevy's, etc.

Never heard of any of 'em.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by Alton Dong

Never heard of any of 'em.

Interesting...

So El Torito is a (mostly) CA chain with 69 locations. Rubios has 170 locations in 5 states. Chevys has about 100 locations across the US. I couldn't find any info for La Salsa.