# Tell us about your local/regional restaurant chains **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 17, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392 "2022-10-17T22:46:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/161 "2024-09-08T08:50:10Z")
Menus and of course the whole experience may vary from one location to another, but although menus vary slightly my experiences in this area have been pretty consistent. Here’s the menu for the Lynnwood location (navigating their website is a pain!). Hope you have a good time if you go! > **[The Keg Steakhouse + Bar](https://thekeg.com/en/locations/lynnwood/menu)** > > The Keg Steakhouse + Bar is the perfect place to connect. Find a location near you, see our menus and join us to unwind with friends, create memories and indulge in mouth-watering prime rib and seafood. P.S.- Typical danged Americanized drinks menu – they don’t even have Caesars, pretty much their #1 drink at Canadian locations! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/162 "2024-09-08T17:30:16Z")
I got it mixed up then with all the other Brinker restaurants that they bought from somewhere else and then expanded to a national footprint. Maggiano’s, Bennigan’s, Corner Bakery, and Steak & Ale were all in that bucket. Tommy Romano did the same thing with another set- Romano’s Macaroni Grill (which ended up Brinker), Fuddruckers, and EatZi’s. Only reason I bring it up is because we have a pretty heavy chain restaurant footprint because so many are or have been headquartered here. It doesn’t leave as much room for local chains as in other nearby cities like Houston, Austin, or San Antonio, or that’s my belief anyway. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/163 "2024-09-08T18:08:57Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > A few years back a Rosati’s opened near me (northern Denver suburbs), and I was excited to get some proper Chicago pizza. Unfortunately it was really bad. It was all in the cooking. The ingredients seemed to be good, but the deep dish was a soggy, undercooked mess, that was a perfect example of everything people hate about Chicago style pizza. Huh. I didn’t even know Rosati’s made a deep dish. I’ve only ever had their thin crust, which is reasonable middle-of-the-road for that Chicago style, but there’s a lot better locally. And, no, deep dish isn’t supposed to be soggy, so I have no idea what’s up there. Meanwhile, I had visitors from Pennsiylania two days ago end up at Lou Malnati’s on their own accord and rave about the crust of that pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/164 "2024-09-08T18:13:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Huh. I didn’t even know Rosati’s made a deep dish Same. I like their thin crust well enough but never got a deep dish from them. I assumed they were like my local joint that just has a “stuffed” (which Rosati’s does have as well). Given that we don’t know about Rosati’s deep dish, I’m gonna guess it’s not especially noteworthy even if you get it from a Chicago-area location. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/165 "2024-09-08T18:22:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Meanwhile, I had visitors from Pennsiylania two days ago end up at Lou Malnati’s on their own accord and rave about the crust of that pizza. When my sister lived in the Chicago suburbs, she raved about Lou Malnati’s and couldn’t wait to take my family there. None of us were overly impressed. It was good, but not great IMO. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/166 "2024-09-08T18:41:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I didn’t even know Rosati’s made a deep dish It turns out there are two completely different Rosati’s near me. One is [Rosati’s Chicago pizza](https://www.rosatispizza.com/) and they other is [Rosati’s authentic Chicago pizza](https://myrosatis.com/). I thought trademarks existed for a reason? They’re both chains, and I think I’ve actually eaten at both. The “Chicago pizza” one is just a bit too far to conveniently grab a take out pizza. The “authentic Chicago pizza” is the one that did the very poorly cooked deep dish. Both have Chicago style deep dish on the menu. As long as we’re on a pizza diversion, the best pizza near here is the non-chain Original’s, which is New York style, but (in my opinion) the best pizza they have is their Sicilian, which is just a Detroit style pizza that they want to pretend is not actually a Detroit style pizza. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/167 "2024-09-08T19:17:26Z")
I don’t particularly like deep dish, but Lou’s is a solid example of one. If you don’t like it, you don’t like deep dish. 19 days out of 20 I’ll take Chicago tavern style over deep. Possibly even more than that. I can’t remember the last time I went out/ordered deep dish or stuffed. Maybe five years ago because some visiting family wanted to try some. But there are folks who live for the stuff. I hear lots of people who visit Chicago rave about Giordano’s stuffed, and that’s one of my least favorite local pizzas. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/168 "2024-09-08T19:21:17Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > It turns out there are two completely different Rosati’s near me. One is [Rosati’s Chicago pizza](https://www.rosatispizza.com/) and they other is [Rosati’s authentic Chicago pizza](https://myrosatis.com/). I thought trademarks existed for a reason? Wikipedia says, “There are two competing restaurant chains using the Rosati’s name as the result of ‘an unfortunate family quarrel’.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/169 "2024-09-08T19:24:02Z")
And that is a common theme in the Chicago restaurant scene. There are two sets of restaurants that use the name Vito and Nick’s . There was a grocery store/deli/prepared food place called Bobak’s that was run as two different entities at some point. (Now it’s just one sausage wholesaler). I think the Caputo’s supermarkets were also split with two with similar names, and I’m sure there are more I’m forgetting. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/170 "2024-09-08T19:26:45Z")
That’s nothing on the family dispute in New York City that resulted in _multiple_ Ray’s pizzerias. (Just kidding.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/171 "2024-09-08T19:28:23Z")
I do think, though, that Patsy’s and Grimaldi’s are of the same family, right? But the usual family squabbling happened? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/172 "2024-09-11T16:02:34Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [Keyhotea Cornfielded Posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyhotea-cornfielded-posts/1007125/20) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/173 "2024-09-08T20:39:04Z")
There is both a Shakey’s and an A&W within 10 miles of here. Haven’t been to either in years, but I notice they are still in business whenever I drive by. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/174 "2024-09-08T20:41:55Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1007125/20): > > A&W Root Beer/Hamburger stands also have been seen overseas. I’ve never seen an operating one in the US. I have had heard of them though. There are still about 500 of them in the U.S., though I think that’s far fewer than there used to be. > **[A&W Restaurants](https://awrestaurants.com/)** > > Looking for some hometown goodness? Take a look at what's going on at your local A&W, stop in and lets us know how we're doing! > **[A&W Restaurants | HasData](https://hasdata.com/brand-reports/aw-restaurants)** > > There are 506 A&W Restaurants locations in the USA. These locations are located in 36 states and territories and 394 cities. The state with the most A&W Restaurants locations is California, with 54 locations. This is about 11% of all A&W... ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/175 "2024-09-11T15:58:49Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [Keyhotea Cornfielded Posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyhotea-cornfielded-posts/1007125/19) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/176 "2024-09-08T21:17:29Z")
Many American restaurant chains have spread abroad to almost random places: > **[US fast food chains taking the world by storm](https://www.lovefood.com/gallerylist/226619/us-fast-food-chains-taking-the-world-by-storm)** > > We look at the brands exporting the American fast food dream to the rest of the world, one burger, sandwich or burrito at a time... ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/177 "2024-09-08T22:19:22Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1007125/20): > > > [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1007125/20): > > > > A&W Root Beer/Hamburger stands also have been seen overseas. I’ve never seen an operating one in the US. I have had heard of them though. > > There are still about 500 of them in the U.S., though I think that’s far fewer than there used to be. There was one about 2 miles from me, but it didn’t survive COVID whether from direct causes or general contraction in the market. But the store finder @kenobi_65 listed still show two in town. Personally, A&W is pretty far down my list of preferred Root Beers anyway, so I’ve only been to one ONCE, and that was in Denver, probably nearly two decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/178 "2024-09-08T23:01:06Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > There are still about 500 of them in the U.S. The closest one to me is not a drive-in like they used to be, but rather another fast-food joint. And, it’s also a Long John Silver’s. I have yet to pay a visit. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/179 "2024-09-08T23:16:13Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > The closest one to me is not a drive-in like they used to be, but rather another fast-food joint. It looks like A&W only has a handful of restaurants that still feature drive-in service; [this page on their website](https://awrestaurants.com/store-tags/drive), if accurate, shows only eight of them, mostly in Michigan and Wisconsin. > [@Railer13](#): > > And, it’s also a Long John Silver’s. When A&W, and Long John Silver’s, were owned by Yum! (2002-2011), they began to build quite a few of those co-branded restaurants: both A&W/LJS ones, as well as ones with one of those brands, and another of Yum!'s brands (Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut). When Yum! spun off A&W and LJS in 2011, the two were bought by different companies (and the new A&W owner is a consortium of A&W franchisees). As a result, and a lot of the co-branded restaurants that had A&W paired with a Yum! brand eventually changed, with A&W no longer being offered there. It sounds like, at least with your local A&W/LJS, the franchisee was able to keep both franchise agreements, despite the brands being part of two completely separate companies now. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392/180 "2024-09-08T23:46:49Z")
There’s one in my town that’s still an A&W co-branded with KFC. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-local-regional-restaurant-chains/973392.md?page=10)