Chain restaurants that are actually excellent

Cafe Society
1

Chain vs. indie restaurant. The chain is easy to deride, since there are so many bad ones. Yet, chains have the power to be good as well. I don’t exactly consider myself a “foodie,” but I feel I have a highly experienced palate (I lived in Japan for 8 years and ate the best stuff there) and definitely appreciate quality. So I hold up the following for praise as offering some genuinely great food. (I’m also gluten-free, so that counts too). Some may be unexpected! Without further ado:

Cracker Barrel. You can get an absolutely solid, healthful, delicious meal here for cheap. Overall, the quality-to-price ratio is close to unbeatable. The grilled catfish is impeccable. It’s perfect. I typically get that with the turnip greens, sweet potato, and cole slaw. Of course, this restaurant is everywhere and is a godsend on the road. The service is quick and pleasant as well. It’s a massive, massive chain that really delivers for the masses.

Cheesecake Factory. The crazy thing about this one is that you can get something pretty damn close to fancy dining for a reasonable price. Here’s something that blew me away recently: I got a burger, they had gluten-free buns, and it was frickin’ amazing. It was the three-bacon one. Beef done truly medium-rare, melted in my mouth. The corn cake appetizer is really delicious and intelligently put together. Their steaks are great. The Jamaican shrimp is a real treat. CF represents.

Famous Dave’s. Although my fave place for ribs and brisket in Indy in Hank’s Smoked Brisket (an indie joint, and amazing–go out of your way to get it!), Famous Dave’s is a chain with consistently quality food. Their ribs are slightly inconsistent (sometimes a little dry), but they can be an A+ when on target. The thing is, that is true of ribs in general (even Hank’s can be off on rare occasions), so it’s not really damning with faint praise or anything. Their chicken, pulled pork, and brisket are all excellent (but need I say that Hank’s brisket is the best ever?), and they have a really great selection of sides that are nicely done. And it’s all reasonably priced.

Longhorn Steakhouse. When you don’t want to splurge on Ruth’s Chris (I’ve actually never been there, but I’ve heard it’s pricey), this will get you a pretty damn good steak for a doable price.

So, that’s my selection for you. I really don’t eat out all that much, and I do go to indie restaurants much more–Thai food is my go-to.

Now gimme yours!

2

For burgers, In N Out (fairly regional), Culver’s (also pretty regional), Smashburger, Five Guys. Red Robin is pretty good, too.

For hot dogs, Portillo’s (also a mostly regional chain, although they have outposts in various places.)

For more general American cuisine, it’s tough for me to pick one I really like. Longhorn might qualify, although I’ve only been there once.

3

Well in between them, Capital Grille is pretty good too. Plus most of the time I’ve been there it’s been very quiet, and unlike most places where the servers just sit behind the counter when there’s no one there, they provide very good service.

4

We’ve only been to Longhorn 4 or 5 times, and at least 2 of those experiences were abominable - at 2 separate locations, so it wasn’t just a particular franchise.

I personally like Red Robin. We’ll also go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast - I do like their egg sandwich. I also used to really like **Perkins **- do they even exist any more? The two in our county disappeared years ago. But off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other chains that I consider exceptional. Most are OK, a few are avoidable - I don’t think I’d voluntarily go to an Olive Garden ever again.

5

I’ve never eaten at Famous Dave’s but I have at all the others on your list. I have found Cracker Barrel and Cheesecake Factory abysmal, and Longhorn is tolerable. I could understand calling them acceptable if you liked that style of food but never excellent.

Even In N Out or Five Guys, which people constantly rave about, are better than average but the food isn’t really fantastic. They are a clear step above McDonalds or Burger King, but that’s setting the bar pretty low.

6

As of a couple years ago there were still a few Perkins around central Florida. They always seemed a bit classier than Denny’s in some hard to pinpoint way.

7

Generally speaking, I’m an insufferable snob when it comes to restaurant chains in that I find them all pedestrian and mediocre at best.

Having said that, put me down for Pizza Hut (Wings only), Panda Express, and Maggiano’s (Chicken Marsala only). Sweetwater/Coastal Flats used to be decent when they first broke on the scene but became decisively mediocre quickly and I’ve not been back for years. P.F. Changs is still good. The new/re-invented Applebee’s is tempting when I’m particularly hungry. Though, like Friday’s or Cheesecake Factory, I feel like it’ll be disappointing in the end.

8

For burgers, it’s Five Guys.

I’m also a fan of Cracker Barrel, mostly because they’re the only restaurant in American that serves moderate-sized portions (which is one reason their prices are relatively low). Enough for a good meal without being stuffed.

Panera Bread has some very good sandwiches and salads.

The bagels at Bruegger’s are first-class.

9

I love Noah’s Bagel’s.

I also like Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill. I don’t understand all the hate for Olive Garden. The salad and breadsticks are awesome.

10

The real problem with chains is they fail at their objective, most every time!

They are aiming to give you a great experience and good food, hoping that when you see one somewhere else you’ll assume that will hold true. Y’know, the much touted ‘branding’!

In this regard, they all fail. The OP may be correct that the Longhorn Steakhouse is a good restaurant in his town. However, we all know that it means nothing when it comes to another location of the same franchise. The one in my town closed shop in under a year because it was all kinds of awful.

I think it’s a mistake to crow about a great meal at one franchise restaurant and imply that they must all be just as good. When this is repeatedly and demonstrably not true.

You don’t really know that it’s a great chain, you only can attest that the one near you is quite lovely, it seems to me. Witness so many in this thread qualifying their remarks because of this self evident truth!

11

Cheddar’s
Jason’s Deli
Panera Bread.

12

The quality can even change with in the same restaurant depending on who’s managing the kitchen that particular night.

13

Red Robin and Fuddruckers have great burgers. I like Five Guys but the location near me has inconvenient parking and you have to wait a bit. Plus their fries are mediocre at best.

I enjoy Ruby Tuesday. The croutons in their salad bar are amazing, I generally load up my salad plate with them. The food is good enough where you don’t feel like you’re getting ripped off. I think in general I end up thinking “Good buy, Ruby Tuesday”

14

Dennys and IHOP are good choices for breakfast. I’ve eaten at quite a few on trips. Service might be slow, but the food is pretty consistent. Pretty hard to screw up eggs and pancakes.

Cracker Barrel and Outback Steak House are good choices for dinner. Consistent food anywhere I’ve been. IHOP is often good for dinner too. Good coffee and the plate dinners ( Chicken Parmesan
Roasted Turkey Dinner) are fine.

Thats so important on car trips. Not knowing any local places. The chains are a travelers best choice.

15

I’ve only been to one 5 Guys, the one in my town. Just out of curiosity, is the music really loud in all of them? Like, conversation is difficult loud.

16

This is true of every restaurant whether it is part of a chain or not.

17

We used to have a Backyard Burger here in town which wound up closing shortly after Five Guys moved in down the street. I like Five Guys but don’t think it is as great as everyone makes it out to be, and I really wish BYB was still around because I think they had better burgers.

18

I don’t get the love for 5 guys. They are about as good as Wendy’s which only makes them a bit better than McDonalds’s basic bottom of the line burgers.

19

I’ve had great luck at just trying out local restaurants (and generally try to avoid chains when traveling). I went to one diner because I noticed there was a left turn lane at its entrance; I figured that if they needed the extra lane, it had to have good food (it did).

Nowadays, small restaurants can’t afford to serve bad meals. I can only think of one time I hit a place that was disappointing.

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There a couple dozen in the Minneapolis area.