I got addicted to Pret a Manger when I was in London. They have some of the best sandwiches and crisps I’ve ever had - especially the All Day Breakfast sandwich. The prices are more than reasonable, too. Unfortunately, the closest one to me is in NYC.
I’ve only heard good things about In N Out Burgers. It would be great to have one over here. Similarly, I love Krystal/White Castle and would like to have one in town.
Dairy Queen would also be terrific. They’re hamburgers and fries are decent, but I really dig their Blizzards.
I’d like to see a Baja Fresh open around here. I love their salsa and chile bar and their food is really fresh, as their name contends. A welcome alternative to Taco Hell.
Grew up in So. Cal., now living in DC, so there are a bunch of fast food places I miss.
Carl’s Jr.
Wienerschnitzel
Jack in the Box
Del Taco
Yoshinoya Beef Bowl
In N’ Out
Tommy’s
As well as all those generic burger places that seem to have the same menu, make their own wonderfully greasy onion rings, and wrap their burgers in that yellow paper.
A couple of folks have mentioned Sonic. I had a the chance to eat at one in Salt Lake City, not bad. If you are waiting for them to come, you may not have to wait too long. They are actually trying to go national. Thats part of the reason for the commercials nationwide. The need to build a brand. Quizno’s was doing the same thing for a while before they finally showed up in Philly.
Whether the business model works in some areas is another story.
I had wanted a Chipotle, but since Moe’s Southwest Grill and their all you can eat taco specials came to town. I don’t miss them anymore.
We need just about every chain you can think of. The only franchise restaurants we have here are fast food places or otherwise not very good: Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Arctic Circle, and Dairy Queen, with 4B’s the lone non-fast-food chain restaurant in town. Even an Applebee’s would improve things around here.
The chains I truly want, though, are In’n’Out, Fatburger, and HuHot. (Interestingly, the HuHot franchise started in Missoula, and I’ve been eating at the chain’s first restaurant since it was called Mongo’s.)
A purely local chain that I wish would set up shop here is Staggering Ox Sandwiches, a sandwich place with a somewhat unique definition of sandwich. They make huge bread ‘cans’ filled with meats, vegetables, and so on. So far, the chain only exists in Helena, Spokane, and Missoula.
I guess they’re technically a chain, even though they’re not nationwide. But I would crawl across a field of broken glass for a plate of their ribs. Smokey Bones, the Darden idea of a BBQ restaurant can’t even suck on the chewed bones.
I’d like to see a Harveys, Licks Burgers, Marche and Tim Hortons in my area in the US. I’d also like to get some candy and chocolate that I can’t find here.
I live in the chain restaurant capital of the world…we’ve given you Wendy’s, White Castle (OK - not originally, but the headquarters is here now), and Charley’s Steakery (one of the many steak sandwich chains) and others I’m forgetting. And even though it’s not food, Bath & Body Works is from here (well, technically just outside town, but still…) And somehow, we’re really attractive to all manner of chains. So really, I can’t complain, although I wouldn’t mind a couple more Mexican food alternatives similar to Baja Fresh.
On the whole, though, I’d also rather see independent locations. As appealing and convenient as it is to go somewhere and know what you’ll find when you go to your favorite chain, I’d really rather get to know something new. And the globalization of so many chains really gets to me. It pains me to go to Mexico City, for instance, and see the proliferation of American chains: McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, Papa John’s Pizza and dozens more I’m forgetting.
It pains me to see the chains, too, but if they gotta be chains, I want:
Asian Big Bowl - for their ginger soda, yummmm
L&L or other Hawaiian “local food” place. We went to one newly opened when we were in Phoenix. I almost cried, realizing we don’t get to Phoenix (or Hawaii) all that often.
Kenny Rogers Roasters - they closed years ago, not just in NY. But they did have the best rotisserie chicken. I wish someone would find a way to market the seasoning.
Nah, just the DD/B-R duo. The building used to house a Long John Silver’s, so the prevailing wisdom was that we were getting some kind of LJS/KFC/Pizza Hut dealie, but then the building was painted and its new, yummier tenants advertised.
Good riddance to the LJS. Their service sucked even by fast-food standards.
You forgot Donato’s Pizza and Buffalo Wild Wings (BW3).
When does a small local restaurant go to being just another chain in your mind though and no longer an independent place? After five or six locations? I enjoyed BW3 when I lived there and was pleasantly surprised to see them expanding around the US. I didn’t see them as some McDonald-esque place. Of course, in Atlanta or Minneapolis, the company is just another chain, but to me it was a decent local joint to go hang out and have a beer and wings after class.
