Well, Dico’s has started selling donuts! I’m pretty sure it is a short term promotion, but they are reasonably good, at least to my western-food-deprived tastes. No cream though, just glazed.
YOu have to get out more to places with diverse immigrant populations. 
Try the Bay Area, especially the emergent Vietnamese restaurant scene in and around San Jose to see what happens when small and big(gish) are mixed. Might want to try Korean food around Santa Clara, Indian and Afghan food centered around Fremont, and much much more. Make a trip of it, forget the Golden Gate, go look for the best Pho for a week and see if you changed your mind
There was a Montana’s in Amherst, NY. It recently closed down, I think in the last month or so.
A couple blocks down from where it was is the only US Swiss Chalet I know of, and a ubiquitous Tim Horton’s is across the street from the shuttered restaurant. It’s like Canadian Restaurant Row. Buffalo also has the only US Jack Astor’s restaurants I know of.
Meanwhile, US chains either don’t come to Buffalo, or disappear without warning (Pizza Hut is the latest chain to scale back from here). Honestly, the rest of the US can keep them: we’ll just have to survive on Ted’s Hot Dogs, John’s Pizza and Subs, Anderson’s Frozen Custard, etc.
ETA: Apparently, there is another US Swiss Chalet…in Depew, NY. Laugh.
Yeah, but we’re talking about chain restaurants. Even white-bread Buffalo has several Vietnamese restaurants, not to mention a wide range of Indian places (even a southern Indian vegetarian place near UB), three or four Korean places, and a whole host of other cuisines…this in a place that is not supposed to be known for culinary creativity. And some of these places are near the equal of Vietnamese, Indian, or Korean places I frequented in LA or San Francisco when I lived on the Left Coast.
When it comes to chain restaurants, though, well…honestly, most places in the US don’t stray far from burgers, pizza, or sandwiches.
That’s because most Americans don’t, either. (Oh, and I’d add chicken to that short list.)
not_alice writes:
> YOu have to get out more to places with diverse immigrant populations.
That’s not what I mean by being merchandised. There are a lot of wonderful Mexican restaurants in the area three miles south of me (more or less in Riverdale Park, Maryland). These don’t even advertise themselves locally, let alone as part of a chain. Those Mexican restaurants are the sort of things that exist solely because of word of mouth, while the large chain restaurants in the U.S. exist mostly because they are advertised like crazy.
Incidentally, the Washington area does have a very diverse immigrant population. I eat out a lot, and it’s nearly always in ethnic restaurants. You need to get out more if you think that the Bay area is the only place with a diverse immigrant population.
I went and looked them up (curious much? well, yes I am!).
In Ireland, are soft drinks/soda pops/Pepsi/Coke called ‘minerals’? It’s what is seems, but I’ve never heard that expression used.
I thought Lotteria was South Korean. Hmmm not sure. I like their burgers ok… nothing great, but not too bad.
Yes they are. You regularly see on shop signs “Sweets, Newspapers, Minerals”. It’s a bit old fashioned nowadays but still common enough. I’ve wondered before if that wasn’t a genuine Irishism, I’ve not heard of it used elsewhere.
In the American South, carbonated beverages are referred to as “phosphates”.
Although not really fast food, another Japanese chain that has several restaurants in China is Watami.
Also, I’m just back from Korea and I noticed that Freshness Burger, another Japanese chain, has a quite a few stores over there too.
I think this is pretty common - if an idea catches on in one market it’ll quickly spread to others, if not through the original company then through other companies replicating the successful idea. The Barnes & Noble + Starbucks experience is pretty much exactly replicated by Exclusive Books + Seattle Coffee Company in South Africa, for example.
I think South African chains tend to spread quite aggressively to other countries in Africa. Steers, Debonairs (a South African pizza chain), etc all have an extensive presence in other African countries. I’m pleased that Nando’s is doing so well, I can’t wait until they expand into a US city I am living in
Honestly, that is one thing I miss: South African national chain pizza (Debonairs, St Elmos, etc) is far superior to American national chain pizza, although I think there is a better choice in America of smaller, regional chains.
Yep. If you’re visiting in 1932.
I simply must get the number of the your travel agent!
Buffalo also has outposts of Kelsey’s, Coffee Culture, and 2-4-1 Pizza. However, just like American chains, the one Canadian chain that has been rather aggressive in expanding in the US - Boston’s Pizza – is nowhere to be seen in Buffalo.
Buffalo is an odd city, food- and drink-wise Few chain restaurants (although that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a larger variety or higher quality of independents, and ethnic cuisine outside of the standard Italian, Chinese, Thai, Indian and Vietnamese is lacking), Pepsi is more popular than Coke, Burger King is more popular than McDonalds (with very few Wendy’s to be seen), Labatt’s and Molson is more popular than Budweiser/Miller/Coors, and so on.
When I was growing up in Quebec my parents would very occasionally takes us to Harvey’s as a treat. When I went back to go to school in Montreal I glutted a bit on it. There’s something about their pickles.
In general I find Canadian chains far superior to American chains.
At some point I’m going to have to go back to India so I can experience the McImbli. I will also admit to being curious about the chain restaurants that are starting up there now-my cousin married a guy who has now started a chain of subway-sammich-like shops in Mumbai.
anu-la1979, can you name for us some Canadian chains and some comparable American ones so we can understand why you find the Canadian ones to be better?
There are still some Wimpy Bars in the UK. Incidentally, they are named after Wellington Wimpy, the hamburger eater in Popeye.
Harvey’s…was always tastier than McDonald’s or Burger King. I think mainly because you got to choose the toppings, they were fresher, and they had a wider variety and I could stick a crapton of hot peppers on top of my sandwich. Also, my parents liked it because my sister always wanted a hamburger and I always wanted a hot dog and they didn’t have to arbitrate our arguments (I haven’t eaten red meat since I was about 12 but growing up in Quebec my parents left it up to us so we could fit in better with our classmates)
The coffee at Second Cup tasted better to me than Starbucks plain and simple (Starbucks tastes very burnt). Also at the time (97-2000), they had a wider variety of frou frou drinks than Starf*cks. My favourite was the Ristretto Creme Brulee.
The quality of the breakfast food at Chez Cora was far ahead of Denny’s/IHOP. I don’t know if it’s reheated but it doesn’t taste as bad.
Tim Horton’s and Dunkin Donuts are reasonably equivalent but TH’s coffee edges them out a wee bit. DD’s coffee is mighty tasty but it has a very tangy aftertaste that I don’t like.
Canadian Chain I never experienced: Smitty’s
Additional Benefit to American Chain Restaurants in Montreal: poutine is usually on the menu as a side order.
Those are the chains I liked when I was living in Montreal that I thought were tastier than equivalent American offerings. Of course, I didn’t eat at chain restaurants all the time since, you know, I living in the middle of Montreal with ample cash flow. And my parents are health food freaks and have been since the 80s so eating out when I was actually growing up in Canada was a very occasional indulgence for us or when my dad dragged us along somewhere on his business trips (international) and mostly then they made us eat things like dim sum or the native cuisine. I very vaguely remember Swiss Chalet from when I was a kid but I never ate there after I went back so I can’t really say much about it.
Also, the shopping (clothing) in Montreal was amazing. That’s really where I became something of a fashion hound.
American Chains I like: Zankou Chicken, Potbelly Sandwiches