I know, food snobs, that they are few and far between. But they are out there. Good chain restaurants- they exist!
My nominations:
Mimi’s Cafe. Possibly my favorite, especially for breakfast. Mmmm, Mimi’s, I love you.
Sweet Tomatoes/Soup Plantation. Not everyone’s favorite, especially my 3 sons’, because there’s very little meat. But I love that place, or at least I used to before I moved to an area without them. My loss.
Del Taco. Fast food, yes, but possibly the best fries out there.
El Taco Tote. Expensive, for fast Mexican food, but yummy and fresh.
Zaxby’s. One good thing I have found about moving to the South. I love the buffalo blue salad like crazy. Maybe one day I’ll get sick of this place, but I doubt it.
The chain restaurant we eat at most is probably Red Robin. Good, customizable burgers, endless steak fries, fish & chips that isn’t all batter, a decent selection of microbrews…what’s not to love?
Sharing the love for Soup Plantation. But not for Mimis. Absolutely loathe that place.
Waffle House a grits & biscuits diner with no pretention of “experience dining.” And they make a policy to hire ex-cons.
Pollo Loco spicy but not greasy, since it’s roasted on a huge grill.
Taco del Mar hand-held seafood: not only do we eat the fish, but we grasp them, asserting our dominance in two ways. And it’s that rarity among faux Mexican cuisine: it’s not Tex-Mex.
Macaroni Grill. They drain their pasta before putting the sauce on it. Plentiful cheap wine.
Whataburger. Fast food for adults. No marketing tie ins. All burgers are heavy on the mustard unless you ask them to leave it off. They still serve real french fries. Most locations are 24 hrs. Mostly in the Southern US.
Taco Cabana. Reliable Tex-Mex in a drive-thru. Texas and Louisiana only.
Pappadeaux. South only. Metric buttloads of passable seafood. I prefer Connie’s or Tampico down by the wholesale fish markets on Airline Drive, but a Pappas family chain restaurant is not that bad.
I don’t like their burritos, but I do love Chipotle. That’s another place that’s missing here in this place where I’ve recently moved to. Why did I move here, again?
Taco C for the win! I must eat there twice a week, and every time I’m surprised that I can get such good Tex-Mex for so cheap. I mean, I’ve paid 5 times the price and had food that was no better, and in many cases, worse. You have to work pretty hard to come up with better beef fajitas than they have, and their charro beans are extremely good.
Pappas restaurants are routinely high quality as well- Pappadeaux is pretty good.
Whataburger is my go-to burger place as well. There’s a lot more competition there though; In-n-Out is pretty good, as are Smashburger, Five Guys and Mooyah (chain in D/FW, AFAIK).
Panera Bread is best overall; I’ve always like their selections.
Five Guys is the best hamburger place.
I’ve also gotten some pretty good seafood at Red Lobster (though the quality can be uneven at different restaurants). You also have to know what to pick; their daily specials are usually more dependable than the regular menu.
Until this year I would have said chik-fil-a but I ate there a few months back for the first time in years and wow did it suck. So I guess Ruth Chris is the only one I can think of, although they are overpriced. Outback was pretty good when it first came out and went downhill it seems (along w/the clientele).
Sit-down Tex-Mex: Chuy’s
Fast Tex-Mex: Taco Cabana
Fast burritos: Freebird’s
Fast burgers and shakes: Mighty Fine
Pricier Mexican: Pappasito’s
Most consistently pleasant and available everywhere: Chili’s
I like Texas Roadhouse a lot. I find their cost to quality ratio very good.
Cheesecake Factory used to be my favorite but they have gone down hill with their expansion.
Places like Morton’s, McCormick and Schmick’s, Fogo de Chao, Legal Seafood, Craftsteak don’t really belong on the list in my opinion. They are very good but are different then what I would consider a chain.
For the expensive chain, I’d go with Ruth Chris’ Steak House. I’ve never had a bad meat there, and that includes their seafood selections. The jumbo lump crab cakes are excellent.
For the cheap, drive through fast food places I have to go with Burger King. Ever since they finally got the hint that their fries actually DID SUCK, and revamped them, I can go there and have my Whopper (best fast food burger iMO on the planet) without having to stop at the McDonalds to get my fries first.
Taco Bell gets a close second simply because they have been serving the same five ingredients since it opened, and they always make it taste pretty good. I can’t remember anything crappy I’ve eaten there, probably because if it was crappy, for 59 cents, who cares?
I came in here to nominate Taco Cabana but I see it has been covered, if there any other self serve fast food place where you get the fajita meat on a skillet? They also have great vegetarian options and excellent breakfast burritos.