CKE Restaurants, Inc. is so far removed from the Karcher days anymore that I doubt it would matter. But for my money, the food quality has steadily gone down ever since the massive 80s expansion that forced the restaurant to franchise its stores, ending its once-industry-leading quality assurance program. 
And I dislike their ads immensely: the concept that I should want to eat their food because I’m a pig of an eater, enjoying sloppy food, is not an attractive notion. :smack:
Took the words right out of my mouth. Not being a big food person, there’s not that many restaurants that I enjoy to begin with. It did occur to me when I heard about Olive Garden pulling their adds from Letterman’s show that I would boycott them if it was a place I ever ate at to begin with.
Also, I like Red Lobster:eek: I went many years refusing to set foot in there due to their reputation and when the boyfriend suggested we go there a few months ago I just about laughed in his face. Turned out to be a great meal and we’ve gone back a couple times since.
Olive Garden and Red Lobster are both operated by Darden Restaurants, so that works quite well. You may wish to consider boycotting Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52 and Capital Grille locations 'cause they’re Darden too.
“Boycott” implies a moral stance. I avoid Applebee’s because everything they serve tastes like it’s been dipped in glurge. Not a boycott per se.
Is this thread sponsored by McDonalds corporation? I can’t believe that only one person has mentioned that blight and yet hate fast-food places where the food is actually eatable. I don’t actively boycott but I avoid them every way possible. They come into an area and drive all competition away. From my house I drive past 3 McDonalds before coming to the first non-Mc eating establishment, and I do.
I don’t boycott any restaurants. I counter-boycott Domino’s, and if I had a Chik-n-Fil-A here, I’d do the same. I like Domino’s pizza anyway and its pro-life reputation makes it even tastier.
I don’t care for Taco Bell but it has its moment.
I do think for the most part Denny’s gets unfairly hit on those lawsuits. Anyone who walks through the door of a Denny’s has a 10% chance of being treated like shit, insulted, or forgotten. They’re not racist, they just have utterly incompetant manegment and generally suck.
Shiftless, oddly enough, in my area no less than three McDonald’s have just disappeared (one a local franchise that I could tell several horror stories about). So it’s actually hard to find one nearby. Makes my ‘boycott’ much easier!
the last time i went into a dennys was like the bloody twilight zone. i got a horrible table, they forgot half of what was supposed to be in my food, and the urban kids that popped in after me complained to the management because they “didnt want no white waitress”. i am sooo glad i’m almost never in that part of town.
Oh man, but Blake’s in Albuquerque had an awesome green chile cheeseburger.
Not boycotts, but tastebud defense and stress reducers:
AppleBee’s – just disgusting food. I’ve never had a good meal here, and son of a bitch, I’ve tried it at least 10 times (there was one right down the street from where I used to work).
**Domino’s Pizza **-- are you fucking kidding me? SALTY SALTY SALTY horrible pizza. If I’m starving AND dying for pizza, I still won’t touch Domino’s. I’ve tried it several times in different cities. Never again.
Pizza Hut in Herndon, VA – I like my pizza with sauce, and after getting it 3 times the exact same way, even though I specifically ask for extra sauce, I won’t order it again.
Any restaurant that puts up front line people (drive thru order-takers, cashiers, etc.) who do not speak English. This is a big problem in Northern Virginia. Look, if you’re going to give an illegal immigrant a job, fine, but don’t put them in a position where they have to deal with an English-speaking public. Because you’re so fucking clueless on basic business principles, you do not deserve my money. No matter how hungry I am.
Red Lobster – it’s already been said.
TGI Friday’s – I try to avoid this place and can’t seem to stop mixing them up with Applebee’s. Exactly what is different between these chains?
I’ll be a BIT more impressed whenI hear of somebody “boycotting” a restaurant they actually LIKE.
Where are the people who LOVE Domino’s pizza, but don’t buy it because of the founder’s political/religious beliefs?
Where are the people who LOVE Cracker Barrel, but shun it because they’re supposedly anti-gay?
A “boycott” is supposed to represent a sacrifice on your part. People who LIKED grapes and lettuce stopped buying them, in support of Cesar Chavez. People who LIKED diamonds stopped buying them, in support of Nelson Mandela.
Let’s hear about somebody shunning a restaurant that he/she WANTS to eat at! There’s nothing particularly admirable about vegans shunning McDonalds’s, or people who hate greasy food avoiding KFC.
I only ever went to Denny’s late at night, but I used to find the service to be quite good, even at 2 a.m. That started to slip dramatically somewhere during the '90s.
In 2000, after a late evening on Beale street, I stepped into a Memphis Denny’s while walking back to my hotel. I’d gotten separated from my friends and was alone, and boy, a grand slam sounded good right then.
I was one of only a handful of customers in the place. The others apparently had been previously served. A waitress took my order and went into the kitchen, never to return. Nor did any other employee appear in the dining room for at least 15 minutes. And this wasn’t the first time I’d had a similar experience at Denny’s. A friend and I were ignored in Milwaukee earlier that same year.
I finished my complimentary cup of coffe and left, vowing never to set foot in a Denny’s again. And so far I haven’t.
Apparently that one’s no longer true.
I loved McDonald’s french fries, but corporate misrepresented their fries as vegetarian. :mad: Between that and the McLibel incident, at this point I wouldn’t go back to them even if they took out the beef broth.
Let me guess: The one on Union across from the DoubleTree, down the street from the Peabody?
That sounds right - though it was a while ago. (I may even have been staying at the Doubletree, in fact.)
If I recall correctly, you have to go down some stairs to get in… but there’s a good chance I don’t recall correctly.
My wife and I occasionally eat at Hooters. Here at home it is convenient for when we have some communal sports watching we want to do. In Vegas, their casino isn’t bad for cheaper gambling. So far I’ve yet to have one of the waitresses act dissimilar to a waitress at any other establishment. I’ve of course seen it at other tables but apparently if we don’t treat them like show animals they’re more than happy to just take our orders and bring our food and otherwise leave us alone.
I love any restaurant where you can get a meal with “3 vegetable sides” and not one of them is actually a vegetable (“for sides I’ll have the macaroni and cheese, the fried lard nuggets, and the steamed cinnamon apples”). But I still mostly avoid eating there (the opportunity only arises on road trips anyway) because I’m not convinced they’re as reformed as they say they are.
Similarly, the three times I’ve eaten at Bucca di Beppo the food was perfectly fine (better than most mid-level Italian chains, not as good as a good Italian restaurant) but two of the three times the service was so abominable that we actively refuse to return (and it has come up through social occasions).
I live across the street from an Applebee’s and have never eaten there. Don’t know why I despise them above all other similar chains (TGI Fridays, Chili’s, Tony Roma’s).
Chick-fil-a does make a very tasty chicken sandwich, and their products are more visually appealing than KFC’s. That’s about the only good thing I can say for them though.
I am the OP! You are hereby allowed to list restaurants you just don’t like and never visit just because the food or service sucks! Really it’s okay and was part of my Original Intent!