I suppose what I’m really talking about are establishments whose fame and reputation far exceed the quality their actual food.
For my city, DC, it has to be Ben’s Chili Bowl. Yes, I am aware that its fame has little to nothing to do with the food itself, but if the food was all you had to go on there are hotdog carts that serve comparable food to Ben’s, IMO.
What’s yours?
I, too, live in DC, but rather than Ben’s I nominate Buck’s Fishing And Camping which routinely gets rave reviews and is picked for “Best of…” lists (mainly I think because it has a snooty owner/shef). I have been eating out in restaurants in DC for 45 years, an average of once or twice a week. That’s about 4,500 meals in restaurants. Undoubtedly, the worse dining experience of the lot was at Buck’s.
My wife and I were celebrating our wedding aniversary and since we had heard such good things about Buck’s, we decided to dine there. I called up a week before and made reservation, but when we got there I was told that Buck’s doesn’t take reservations and we could wait in the bar until a table opened up. After a 15 minute wait we were taken to a table. But it wasn’t a private table, it was a long communal table. Informality is one thing, but sitting next to us was what appeared to be a co-ed softball team that looked, smelled, and acted like they had just won a double-header. The waiter gave us a menu which only had a few items on it and informed us that two of them were out. When our food did arrive, it was “blah”. And very small, artsy, portions. During the entire meal the waiter never came by to see if we were enjoying the meal or to see if we wanted anything else. Our water glasses were never refilled. After a while I stopped trying to get the waiter’s attention to get another drink; we had to make do with our original order. At the end of the meal when I finally got our waiters attention to ask about dessert, we were told there was only one dessert available. I forget what it was, but we passed.
A thoroughly dismal experience!
Well, not a locally-owned restaurant, but we recently got a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and I was so not impressed. I mean, it was fine, but there are a dozen local places that have a steak just as good for a whole lot less money.
I’ve got a two-fer: Gino’s East and Giordano’s. We only ever go there when we have out of town guests who request them. They’re not terrible food, but neither deserves their reputation, and there are far better Chicago Deep Dish pizza joints, even chains. (Lou Malnati’s is superior, and Chicago’s does a very nice stuffed AND has a gluten free crust option…even on their online ordering system!)
If a non fancy place can overrated, let me nominate Peter’s Drive In in Calgary. I think its success is based on people who grew up in NW Calgary and remember it fondly from their childhoods.
I have no idea why there are 30 - 50 cars lined up there on any given evening (esp. in summer). The burgers are dipped in some sort of nasty sauce, the fries are soggy, the milkshakes so-so.
Bleh.
The Caucus Room in DC. Massively overpriced, and the beef just sucks. Why they think wet aged rather than dry aged is a selling point I will never know. Capitol Grille is much better, and that is by far the best steak house in town.
Interesting, as I wasn’t impressed by Lou Malnati’s when I was there two years ago, and was looking forward to giving Gino’s East a try the next time I was in Chicago. Where else would you recommend for deep dish?
As far as overrated restaurants, in Houston, may I humbly suggest Goode Company Barbecue? I’ve no idea why they’ve such acclaim; they’re overpriced and have indifferently smoked meat. You can do much better in Houston: Pierson’s, Thelma’s (for lunch only—and I hope you like crowds), Smokin’ Mikes.
Let’s wait for **pulykamell **or **MikeG **to come into the thread and argue with me. They’re both Chicago foodies with encyclopedic knowledge of awesome Chicago restaurants. Pizza is a pretty subjective experience, and if you don’t like Lou’s, then we don’t have similar tastes. 
My favorite is Gulliver’s on the north side, but I was trying to keep it to chains for the comparison.
There is a Mexican place here in Salt Lake called the Red Iguana, which has been featured on several cooking/travel shows and is probably the single most well-known restaurant in the state of Utah. (admittedly Utah is not well known for it’s cusine in general, but the Red Iguana is the darling of any foodies who come to ski or are visiting for the Sundance Film Festival).
There is usually at least an hour wait, (often MUCH longer) outside, as there is no bar to sit in while killing time, and the neighborhood is a sketchy one at that. Once inside, the food is alright, but no better (and in many cases not as good) than any of the multitude of authentic Mexican places that are located in the Salt Lake area.
Salt Lake does not have a huge variety of ethnic restaurants in general, but due to our geography, the one cuisine that is well represented is Mexican food. We have some AMAZING local places, from upscale regional places (Sonoran, Oaxacan) to little burrito shacks, some among the best Mexican food I have ever eaten. (I have spent a fair bit of time in Mexico, and eaten many meals in San Diego, Austin, Houston, Tuscon, etc.).
Why the Red Iguana is so fawned over is a mystery to me, as you could just pick a restaurant at random out of the phone book and get a meal that is every bit as good, at half the price and with none of the hassle.
Vancouver restaurateur Umberto Menghi’s Il Giardinois often held up as the city’s go-to fine-dining experience, and I have no idea how it even manages to stay open.
Can’t say a word against the ambience. The food isn’t terrible, but you can get as good (and often much better) at any middling Italian restaurant; it is priced way above its quality. I am generally easy to please when it comes to service, but over the last ten years or so I came away from Il Giardino repeatedly disappointed before giving up on it altogether.
I still hear people gushing about it from time to time, though.
If I’m in the mood for Italian, I always have a much better time at Osteria Napoli. It doesn’t have a prestigious address, but its atmosphere is cozy and intimate without being pretentious. More importantly, the menu is considerably better than Il Giardino, and the service is much better. And, expect to pay half or less than what you might be charged for shabby service and so-so food (in admittedly attractive surroundings) at Il Giardino.
They still hype the hell out of that joint – it beats the hell out of me why.
First of all, every chain restaurant is overrated. I just waited an hour for a table at Cracker Barrel while I know some mom and pop places aren’t getting any customers this morning.
As for the smaller guys: there’s a place called Oregano’s in Scottsdale that wins all sorts of awards every year and people rave about it. It’s alright, but overpriced and possibly the worst service this side of Dick’s Last Resort. I’m actually pretty sure they stuff the ballots in all the awards that get voted on, because one year they won “best quick lunch,” which just about made me fall out of my chair laughing. My last job eventually had to ban us from going there for lunch, because it’s impossible to get out the door in less than 2 hours.
Arthur’s Steakhouse in Hoboken. People always talk it up, but I think the place is dirty and the food not so great.
Peter Lugars in Brooklyn. I still don’t see what all the hype is about.
Blue Water Grill in Manhattan. Too touristy ever since it was in an episode of Sex and the City or something.
I have a few in the DC area, but I will start with Central (pronounced in an appropriately French manner). It is run by Michael Richard, who I am sure is a fine chef, but like many celebrity chefs is much more busy doing things other than cooking. The service is indifferent at best and I have had several bad to mediocre meals.
They overcooked my skate to shoe leather and slather everything in butter, which isn’t normally a complaint, but richness is mistaken for quality of cooking. I will concede that the reviews continue to be good, but I am done with the place.
Yeah, Lou’s is my standard recommendation for somebody wanting a baseline Chicago deep dish pizza. I also think both Pizzerias Uno and Due are worthwhile. Uno’s, after all, is where this style of pizza started, and you can’t go wrong visiting the progenitor of the style, even if it may not be considered fashionable.
My favorite deep dishes, though, are the ones from Burt’s in Morton Grove and Pequod’s in Chicago. Gulliver’s is great, too. And the one thing they have in common is that Burt Katz owned them at one time or another. (I believe he started all three.) The style at Burt’s and Pequod’s is a little different than the standard Chicago deep dish: it’s kind of between pan pizza and deep dish and has a charred cheese crust.
The pizza place around here I can’t fathom the attraction for is Connie’s. Hate that place.
I’ve noticed this about Cracker Barrel as well. The food is fine, I’ve never had a bad meal there but I’ve also never had anything unique or spectacular there either.
I don’t know Arthur’s. Peter Luger’s? I think it’s spectacular. But allow me to recommend Keens, in Manhattan. It’s just as good, they have a much bigger menu, and you can get a mutton chop there, which is really wonderful. On the other hand, Wolfgang’s is totally overrated.
I’m with you 100% on Blue Water Grill. Total waste of time, unless it’s really important that you eat in a fashionable restaurant. If you want fish, Blue Ribbon is still the place to go.
Sorry, but no one has mentioned Domku in DC, unbearably pretenious and over priced, but the Post loves it.
There is a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco (right where Chinatown and North Beach meet) called the House Of Nanking.
It is one of those places that was all the rage among the in-the-know hipsters back a few years ago, with a wait for a table out the door often over two hours long.
The food was OK but not anything of note, and the kicker was that there are literally 30 or 40 other Chinese restaurants within a five minute walk from the Nanking, most of them at least as good, and many much better, that you could almost always waltz right into and practically have run of the joint, with no waiting and no attitude from the staff. (House Of Nanking’s owner is known for being gruff and abrasive with diners. Supposedly many find this charming)
I was always amused by how many people would wait in line for hours for the chance to go to a mediocre restaurant when there were so many better choices only steps away…
We have a Keg here in town, so that. I have never had a meal at the Keg that wasn’t a disappointment. Upper medium prices for Ponderosa quality.
i’m going to have to disagree with the Chili Bowl. Sure the dogs aren’t GOURMET or anything but then again, it’s not really priced as such. I guess the hoopla between Obama visits and Cosby patronage does overhype it a bit, but the food itself, the wait, the pricing, the entire experience is not what i would call… “overrated”.
georgetown cupcakes, OTOH… cripes.