Red Lobster. No matter what I order there, it all has the same strange flavor.
Outback and The Keg…wwwaaay overpriced and the service is a little too much, sit down, order your food, get your bill, bye bye. The Keg is what my hubby calls “The McDonalds of the steak world”.
I prefer a couple of little privately owned places in town.
The few times I’ve eaten at Applebee’s I’ve been amazed at how bad it was. Even compared to similar chain restaurants (TGIFriday’s, Chili’s, etc.) the food was simply terrible. I don’t understand how they’re still in business.
All the Applebee’s I’ve been to are very good. Have you tried the Bourbon Street Steak?
I suppose that’s the major reason why the Hilltop in my general area closed down last month 
I haven’t been to the Saugus one in ages, but considering it’s the flagship, I’d like to think it’s the same as it’s always been, which isn’t half bad.
Outback? Meh. I wasn’t impressed.
I hate both Applebee’s and Olive Garden with the fury of 1,000,000 suns. I’ve gotten sick (food poisoning?) the few times I’ve been to both.
Red Lobster? Please. I can understand liking it if you live in a landlocked area, but from where I’m from, it’s faux seafood in its glory. Spiny lobster tails aren’t real lobster tails. Neither are those itty-bitty shrimp. Give me Legal Seafoods anytime.
I ended up in a Ruby Tuesdays in Winchester, VA. It was ghastly. The food was horrible, and the place was as dirty as a sports bar. Made TGI Fridays look good, and that takes a lot.
I really dislike Carrabas. The one near me is the noisiest place I’ve ever eaten (and I kinda like bustling restaurants); I can’t taste the food for the noise. Supposedly there’s another one around that’s quiet, but who cares?
I worked in an Olive Garden for a few months as a college student. That was enough for me. They weren’t dirty, it was just so poorly managed that I have bad associations with it. I also completely avoid most buffet restaurants. I can do warmed over food at home, thanks. (Sweet Tomatoes is excluded from this buffet hate.)
I’ve just given up on getting steak at any chain restaurant. they’ve all gone to these nasty, tough, 1/2 inch affairs that are totally dry unless you order them still bleeding, which could explain why there isn’t a broiler cook left in America that can cook a steak without undercooking it.
We made the mistake of going to On the Border, a Mexican restaurant which I think is a chain, though I have never seen any other locations elsewhere. Their menu should have included only two items, bland or salty. There’s also a place called Whitewater Pizza & Pasta, which may or may not be a chain. They should accentuate the pasta and subordinate the pizza in their name as the pasta is much better. The pasta is great, but the pizza is bland and leaves much to be desired.
Heh. I spent Saturday in Grand Junction, and all three meals, I left food on my plate. Perhaps my seven-year-old cousin’s suggestion of Old Chicago for dinner should have been accepted.
Still, I prefer to avoid chains, especially in places I am in often, as then I have opportunity to eventually find good restaurants. Even when I do choose chains - for the “known quantity” value - I won’t eat at Olive Garden or Burger King.
I was going to post something similar Kiz, I grew up in the town that Hilltop is located in. My cousin waitressed there throughout her high school and college years and I never knew what the local fuss was about. The grocery store attached? Gross.
tdn, as you drive down rte 3 past the site you can see the empty cactus sign that is now a gravemarker, it would lift your spirits I bet.
Plus, it’s on GROSSMAN drive. That says plenty (although Grossman’s wasn’t such a bad hardware store, IIRC).
Not a personal attack, but just a couple of innocent bystander observations…
Did this Outback have the TV issue on your first visit or were they installed between? If they were there on your initial trip and that kind of thing bothers you, why the return trip? Kind of a well, you knew what you were getting into situation. I haven’t been into an Outback for quite a while but I don’t recall TV screens in the dining area. Could it have been you were eating in the bar area during a sporting event (which would explain the loud crowd)? Like I said, it’s been awhile since my last Outback visit, but I don’t recall it being a sports bar atmosphere. If this has changed is it just for this location or Outbacks everywhere - in case I get the urge some day.
Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. In San Francisco I ordered salmon and was served this almost white piece of fish. Here in the northwest salmon has always been pink. I was told it was fresh farm raised Atlantic salmon. This from a restaurant only a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. The next time was the Hollywood restaurant. I ordered halibut and was served 2 golf ball sized pieces of fish and they had the nerve to charge $22 for it. Then the group at the next table ordered a couple of buckets of the shrimp and start tossing the shells at each other. Besides hitting each other with them, they managed to hit other diner’s too. Finally someone had enough of it and told them to knock it off. Management asked the guy to leave rather than the shell tossers. There was about 15 in that group so they were expecting a pretty good tip is the only reason I could see for letting people getting away with having a food fight in a restaurant.
After getting poor service and even worse food, I haven’t eaten in a Denny’s in years. Don’t plan of ever going in one again.
Regarding chain restaurants- on my first visit to the states a decade ago I was taken on a road trip from Indiana to Houston. I was hoping for some good road food and seriously disappointed that it was chain after chain. Finally we pulled up at a place with a big, ugly sign consisting of yellow rectangles with big black block letters. We went in, and the interior was kind of shabby -it really looked like design had crawled off there to die. The staff were brusque and the food was standard diner stuff with divine hash browns. “Finally,” I said to my host. “This place is so uniquely ugly it just can’t be a chain.”
I have since come to learn to love the Waffle House. Mostly we do try to eat in non-chain restaurants though. Thank goodness for robust local cuisine in Boston.
Ah, Grossman’s. That’s where we bought most of our hardware when I was a kid. However, it’s a lot more fun poking around Borders or taking The Kidz to PetSmart 
I only shopped at the store for meat. Their prices weren’t any great bargain. The rest of the store? Ick.
I’m two towns over, btw.
When King Leonidas yelled to his Spartan army at Thermopylae, “Tonight we dine IN HELL!”, he was a few millennia too early for Waffle House. I like it too, though.
[hijack] I spent New Year’s Eve with my family once during a road trip in NC. That sounds nice right, except it was in a motherfucking Waffle House.:mad: Worst. New Years. Ever.[/hijack]
I hate Mister Donut in Japan. Japanese people wouldn’t know a good donut if it kancho’d them in the ass (haha).
I went to a Waffle House with a friend of mine on New Year’s Eve, I think two years ago. It was down close to International Drive, maybe near the Orange County Convention Center. We actually had fun, and most of the celebratory drunks there did too. The place was slammed – this was about 2 AM, and almost everyone was in a good mood and didn’t mind the wait. I just remember some poor schmuck ordered poached eggs (which take longer to cook), and the short-order cook roared “Who the FUCK ordered poached eggs on fucking New Year’s Eve?” The place erupted in howling laughter, but I don’t think anyone stepped forward. Good times.
Applebee’s, except after 10. Half-priced apps make everything better.
Ruby Tuesday – I just don’t get this place. Not cheap, and their menu’s all over the place. Aiming upscale-ish in downmarket places. Weird food mismatched with weirder decor.
Waffle House – I don’t need them, cause I got a local chain of all-night diners that are better and cheaper: The Egg Platter!
Hops – Look at the menu, there’s gotta be something here not terrible. Repeat 10x.
Red Lobster – I live on the coast; why would I buy Darden-brand centrally-distributed seafood product?
Burger King, Wendy’s, Whataburger, Arby’s, Long John Silver’s, KFC, and others: My fast food requirements are met solely by Taco Bell and McDonald’s. I couldn’t even name menu items from the others.
Chain restaurants I do like include Sweet Tomatoes, Chili’s, and Bennigan’s.
The mention of Sweet Tomatoes as a good restaurant (and I agree) reminded me that I won’t go near a Fresh Choice any more. There was one near us that was getting scuzzier and scuzzier. When the flies started waiting on line for trays, we were gone.
A slightly higher class of crap is Elephant Bar. Very average dishes given fancy names and jacked up in price. Not horrible, but a terrible value.
Don’t be so quick to dismiss a place in a strip mall. There happen to be a few very good ethnic places to be found in strip malls. Here, in the Chicago area, for example, the only Chinese place (that I know of) that actually makes its own noodles is located in a strip mall. (Katy’s Dumplings in Westmont, for those interested). You can find some unexpected treasures in strip malls. They’re not all Chop Suey/Chow Mein type places (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
As for the OP, I loathe both Taco Bell and Chipotle. I will only eat there out of politeness or no other convenient choice being nearby. I marginally prefer Chipotle, as it’s just overly bland crap, but Taco Bell is actively offensive to me. Even as a college student on a budget, I could not see its appeal. I understand many others like it, but to me it’s insultingly awful food.
As for chain sit-downs, I don’t like the Olive Garden, but no others I hate come to mind. I tend not to go to chains, but most of the ones I’ve visited have been competent, if nothing memorable.