Chili’s used to be a pretty good bet for a burger and fries, or some good salads. I worked at one years ago and most things were made from scratch. Now, it’s menu is all crazy appetizers and jumbo neon margaritas.
Red Robin is my choice. Give me the Royal Red Robin with an egg on top and an order of fries!
I’d say Red Robin. I could also say Texas Roadhouse, but I’ve never seen advertising for them.
Not that I’m the arbiter of all things restaurant - but I have no objection to those of you picking Red Robin. I’ve eaten there a couple of times and it was pretty darn good. Just not high enough on my personal radar to come to mind.
@bmoak1 - I agree. I think I’ve seen maybe one or two Roadhouse commercials ever. And in my personal experience, the “done right” vs. “done wrong” ratio is higher than Outback. And the service is worse on average.
As for the Lobster, I agree that those darn biscuits are awesome. Last time I went there with the 'rents, I had those and a soup-and-salad.
My homemade smash burgers are better than any locally (due to recipe and technique), but are made with bog standard medium ground beef. Hand cutting a better mix of three types of beef would improve them a bit, but not enough to be worth everyday effort.
The best chain burgers here are Five Guys and Burgers Priest. At least four independent restaurants make better burgers than these. Harvey’s is the best general burger and are the only one of the above that I’ve seen ads for, apart from a couple billboards for one.
But I’ve never been to the restaurants described by my American friends above.
I would take 5 Guys over Red Robin, but I’ve never seen 5 Guys ads either.
Red Lobster. The cheddar biscuits are crack as well.
Red Robin is a good second.
I can’t stand Outback. Worst customer service ever. Last few times I went to one (different locations) the food took forever to come out and was cold. If you want a decent advertises extensively restaurant steak dinner, Ted’s Montana Grill is far better. Longhorn is as well.
I haven’t eaten at a chain restaurant in probably 15 years or more (other than an unfortunate blood sugar stop at a McDonalds somewhere in the wilds of northern PA, and NEVER again, thanks), but I think the last one I went to where I thought “Hey, this is a pretty good burger” was Red Robin. Endless fries didn’t hurt, either.
We do actually prefer Ted’s over any other chain, but I’ve never seen them advertise on tv (or heard them on radio). Might be a regional/local thing. But I disqualified them in my head based on that.
In what regions would you find the American burger restaurants mentioned above?
Red Robin is more-or-less national; they originally started out in the Western U.S., but have expanded to much of the eastern half of the U.S. over the past couple of decades. It’s essentially a casual dining restaurant, similar to an Applebee’s or TGI Fridays, but primarily focused on burgers and sandwiches.
Five Guys, too, is more-or-less national at this point. They started out in the Washington DC area, then went through a rapid expansion phase. They’re a fast-food burger restaurant, with a fairly limited menu (hamburgers, hot dogs, a few other sandwiches, French fries, and milkshakes).
We have Five Guys in Canada. Good burger, good fries, free peanuts. Not sure if Toronto has a Shake Shack - which I find overrated based on the two times I’ve indulged. I’ve never had an In and Out Burger. But I’m often happy with a cup of Taster’s Choice (while you are springing the gourmet shyte). I like Bobby’s Burger Palace - thought it way better than Shake Shack; don’t know if they advertise outside of cooking shows.
I much prefer In & Out.
Five Guys refuses to have 1000 island dressing for their burgers. They dont run many ads.
For reference, since there was a comment above on “fast food isn’t a restaurant”, below is a list of the segments that the restaurant industry itself uses to describe the different segments. (Disclosure: I’ve had several different restaurant clients, in several different segments, over the course of my career.)
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Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs), usually called “fast food” by consumers. Usually have counter and drive-through service, rarely have table service (i.e., wait staff). Typically lower-priced menu items, very rarely serve any kind of alcohol (at least in the U.S). Examples: McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell, etc., etc.
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Fast Casual Restaurants. A newer segment, sort of an upscale QSR. Typically have a bit higher price than a comparable QSR, and are more likely to feature fresh ingredients. Some serve alcohol (or at least beer and wine). Examples: Chipotle, Panera, Shake Shack, Smashburger, etc. (Arguably, Five Guys might be a fast casual, rather than a QSR.)
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Family Restaurants. Sit-down restaurants, usually with table service. Moderate price points, fairly broad menu (sandwiches and full entrees), and often feature a big menu of breakfast foods, usually offered at any time of day. Rarely offer alcohol. Examples: Denny’s, IHOP, lots of local restaurants.
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Casual Dining Restaurants (CDRs). Sit-down restaurants, usually have table service, usually offer a full bar. Exact menu offerings vary by format, though the “bar and grill” format is common. Price points generally a bit higher than QSR or fast casual, but lower than a “fine dining” restaurant. Examples: Applebee’s, Red Lobster, TGI Fridays, Chilis, Olive Garden, etc.
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Casual Steakhouse Restaurants. Price points and general feel of these are similar to other CDRs, but they focus on steak. Examples: Outback, Texas Roadhouse, Longhorn, etc.
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Fine Dining Restaurants. Sometimes called “white tablecloth” restaurants, these are more upscale, and less “all-family” oriented, than anything else on the list. Higher price points, of course, accompanied by higher food quality, better service, and an upscale atmosphere. Fancy steakhouses fall into this category. Compared to the other segments, relatively few chains of any size in this segment, though there are a few noteworthy ones, like Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Morton’s, Seasons 52, and Capital Grill (the latter two are owned by Darden Restaurants, which also owns Olive Garden, and which used to own Red Lobster, too).
Related to the OP’s topic: the major regional and national chains in most of these segments typically do a lot of TV advertising. However, TV ads are less common for most of the fast casual chains, and very rare for fine dining (largely because of their much smaller numbers of locations, as well as the fact that, with a more upscale audience, they’re less likely to use mass media advertising to reach their audience).
No, there wasnt. Fast food is indeed a restaurant. But from the example the Op gave, I didnt think he meant fast food. Pretty much, all fast food advertises heavily and pretty much all fast food is crap. The Op wanted “what is the best restaurant that advertises a lot” and no fast food (or “QSR”) restaurant qualifies. He asked for the best, not the worst.
I understand that, but you said:
Which suggested to me that you don’t consider fast food to be a real restaurant. Regardless, it’s not worth an argument, and I apologize if you felt I’d misinterpreted you.
Red Robin seems to have a Vancouver location, but nothing in Ontario. We had them for a while in Alberta (and they are good burgers), but they’re all closed now. But if you ever ate at Toby’s Goodeats in Toronto, you’d have an idea of what Red Robin is like: very casual sit-down restaurant with table service, many different burgers to choose from, fries, onion rings, salads. There might be draft beer and glasses of wine on offer (I remember when the Toby’s chain got licensed–you got your draft in a milkshake glass), but while that may have brought some people in, most us us were happy with just soft drinks and milkshakes.
This might bring back memories, Dr. Paprika. Heavily-advertised Toronto (and Ontario) restaurants that no longer exist:
I don’t have a problem including fast food but they are unlikely to top the list.
I am not Torontois, but remember Mother’s fondly. Many of the mentioned places were unknown to me. We would occasionally go to Ponderosa and enjoy cheap steak with salad and ice cream. More recently, I’ve been to the one in Niagara Falls NY. As far as I know, there are still Ponderosas in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick (or was in 2002). I went to Chi-Chi’s once.
I always thought you were. Anyway, it seems that I cannot send you a PM, but you could likely send me one. Because I’m curious, could you let me know where in Canada you are? A PM would be fine, if you do not wish to disclose your location publicly.
I’m going to go with Longhorns. They make a decent steak, their chicken fingers have minimal breading and the salad is pretty good.