For these purposes “casual dining restaurants” will be defined as: a moderately-priced restaurant where you are sat at a table and served by a waitstaff in a casual atmosphere; alcohol is generally available but not required.
I’m trying to compile a list of large casual-dining chains, large meaning at least a hundred locations in more than one state.
So far I’ve got:
Applebee’s
Bennigan’s
Big Boy
Bob Evans
California Pizza Kitchen
Carino’s Italian Grill
Carrabba’s Italian Grill
Cheesecake Factory
Chili’s
Cracker Barrel
Denny’s
Fuddruckers
Hard Rock Cafe
Hooters
IHOP
Lone Star Steakhouse
O’Charley’s
Olive Garden
On the Border Mexican Grill
Outback Steakhouse
PF Chang’s
Ponderosa Steakhouse
Red Lobster
Red Robin
Romano’s Macaroni Grill
Ruby Tuesday
Shoney’s
Sizzler
Texas Roadhouse
TGI Friday’s
Tony Roma’s
Uno Chicago Grill
Waffle House
Have any additions or think one on the current list doesn’t qualify according to the rules I’ve set out? Bear in mind a smaller, more concise list is preferable to an exhaustive one.
I work in advertising; I had a major CDR chain as a client for a number of years.
In the industry, they make a distinction between true CDRs and “family dining restaurants”. The latter tend to:
Have slightly lower prices than “true CDRs”
Serve breakfast, often all day (very few “true CDRs” serve breakfast, other than perhaps Sunday brunch)
Not serve alcohol
On your list, the “family restaurants” would include places like Bob Evans, Cracker Barrel, Denny’s, IHOP, Shoney’s, and Waffle House. (Big Boy might be on that list, too;) In short, if if feels more like a diner than a bar-and-grill, it’s probably not a “true CDR”.
It’s your list, include what you want. Just know that, in the industry, they’re seen as two different sorts of restaurants.
Other CDRs which you could include on the list (and which I can think of off the top of my head):
Houlihan’s
Longhorn Steakhouse
I was originally not going to include the family restaurants but added them at the last minute. Now I’m thinking I will excise them from the list and amend my definition of a CDR. Plus I can’t imagine anybody ever boiling down their dining plans to a choice between Outback or IHOP. That would just be weird.
Even though Steak n Shake got mentioned in the fast food thread, it more properly belongs on a list of “family dining restuarants.” So, arguably, does Pizza Hut.
I wonder if it makes sense to further subdivide the list (so that, for example, steakhouses have their own category).
I’m considering that but the problem is there’s lot of menu overlap between most of these places; I’m not sure it’s all that clearcut where the line would be drawn.
Pizza places sort of live in their own little space within the restaurant industry. Some of them serve alcohol (or at least, beer or wine), and many of them have a broader Italian-focused menu.
In the industry, moderately-priced steakhouses (such as Outback and Lone Star) are definitely seen as being part of the CDR category, though, somewhere above that price level, you start to get into what are referred to as “white tablecloth” restaurants (the Brazilian steakhouses, as well as places like Ruth’s Chris, are in that space).
The other major groupings of CDRs, beyond the steakhouses, are the “bar and grills” (Applebee’s, TGI Friday’s, Bennigan’s, etc.) and the focused menu places (often on an ethnic or type of food theme, such as Red Lobster and Olive Garden).
The Ryan’s we used to have here in town was a steakhouse with an extensive food bar, along roughly the same model as a Ponderosa, Bonanza, or Maverick. A few years ago, they closed that location and opened a new one as a buffet restaurant, along the same lines as Golden Corral.
Just know that, in the industry, they’re seen as two different sorts of restaurants.