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I'm amazed at the number of people who reflexively hate chain restaurants. I don't believe it can possibly be about the taste of the food - there's a lot of var

I'm amazed at the number of people who reflexively hate chain restaurants. I don't believe it can possibly be about the taste of the food - there's a lot of variety among chains. It just looks like social posturing.

stegosaurus 11y ago
Hmmm. I dislike chain restaurants for the same reason I dislike all large enterprises. I don't think I've ever dealt with a large company that has satisfactory customer service, it represents huge accumulation of wealth into few hands, etc. Is that social posturing?
eli_gottlieb 11y ago
At least when I was growing up, a lot of the higher-end chains were only just starting out. Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's were completely new when I was a child, so "chain restaurant" really was synonymous with crappy hamburger joints.
QuercusMax 11y ago
Restaurants like Applebee's, TGI Friday's, Chili's, and the like tend to have lots of menu items that are scarcely better than fast food. Their menus are full of over-salted, frozen, deep-fried things like fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, etc. that have no redeeming culinary value. There may be some reasonable items at these places, but a lot of their food really is just dressed up versions of what you might find in a high school cafeteria.
lifeformed 11y ago
The thing with chain restaurants is that you'll likely be receiving lower quality food than a local mom-and-pop shop. People who work at chain restaurants generally are there to make some money and then get on with their lives. They're less likely to be passionate about food and sharing that joy with customers. They're using corporate recipes and the cheapest ingredients from massive suppliers. When I go to small local joints, I see owners who are in love with their business and really want to share their passion of food with customers. This care really shows in the quality of the food. They made the recipe themselves, so they know every nuance of it. They often get fresh local ingredients. Now this is just a generalization, there are plenty of passionate workers in chain restaurants, and plenty of apathetic local restaurants. It might just be a local thing too. I just had a revelation once I moved from the chain restaurants of midwest suburbia to the local shops and food carts here in Portland. It was a night and day difference of quality and general experience.
jules 11y ago
Variety doesn't equal quality. Chain restaurants have common characteristics that make the food bad: - it has to be cheap - cooked by a largely untrained worker in a couple of minutes, who does not really care about what is served to you - the taste has to be such that most people will not dislike it Every time I've tried a chain restaurant the quality was mediocre at best except for foods that fit well within those constraints (e.g. potato fries, and even those weren't great). If you can recommend a chain restaurant that has good food I'd love to hear it.
- beachstartup 11y ago
  in-n-out, chipotle, five guys, that's pretty much all i eat at when i'm in a hurry. luckily there's one of those nearly everywhere. maybe OPH (a much, much higher quality IHOP, though it varies by location) also.
lukifer 11y ago
A lot of chain restaurants source their ingredients from the same place (ie, Sysco).

stegosaurus 11y ago

Hmmm. I dislike chain restaurants for the same reason I dislike all large enterprises. I don't think I've ever dealt with a large company that has satisfactory customer service, it represents huge accumulation of wealth into few hands, etc. Is that social posturing?

eli_gottlieb 11y ago

At least when I was growing up, a lot of the higher-end chains were only just starting out. Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's were completely new when I was a child, so "chain restaurant" really was synonymous with crappy hamburger joints.

QuercusMax 11y ago

Restaurants like Applebee's, TGI Friday's, Chili's, and the like tend to have lots of menu items that are scarcely better than fast food. Their menus are full of over-salted, frozen, deep-fried things like fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, etc. that have no redeeming culinary value. There may be some reasonable items at these places, but a lot of their food really is just dressed up versions of what you might find in a high school cafeteria.

lifeformed 11y ago

The thing with chain restaurants is that you'll likely be receiving lower quality food than a local mom-and-pop shop. People who work at chain restaurants generally are there to make some money and then get on with their lives. They're less likely to be passionate about food and sharing that joy with customers. They're using corporate recipes and the cheapest ingredients from massive suppliers. When I go to small local joints, I see owners who are in love with their business and really want to share their passion of food with customers. This care really shows in the quality of the food. They made the recipe themselves, so they know every nuance of it. They often get fresh local ingredients. Now this is just a generalization, there are plenty of passionate workers in chain restaurants, and plenty of apathetic local restaurants. It might just be a local thing too. I just had a revelation once I moved from the chain restaurants of midwest suburbia to the local shops and food carts here in Portland. It was a night and day difference of quality and general experience.

jules 11y ago

Variety doesn't equal quality. Chain restaurants have common characteristics that make the food bad: - it has to be cheap - cooked by a largely untrained worker in a couple of minutes, who does not really care about what is served to you - the taste has to be such that most people will not dislike it Every time I've tried a chain restaurant the quality was mediocre at best except for foods that fit well within those constraints (e.g. potato fries, and even those weren't great). If you can recommend a chain restaurant that has good food I'd love to hear it.

beachstartup 11y ago
in-n-out, chipotle, five guys, that's pretty much all i eat at when i'm in a hurry. luckily there's one of those nearly everywhere. maybe OPH (a much, much higher quality IHOP, though it varies by location) also.

lukifer 11y ago

A lot of chain restaurants source their ingredients from the same place (ie, Sysco).