# What fast food/restaurant commercials are wasted in your area? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561 "2017-02-11T17:37:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/41 "2017-02-20T18:13:22Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > It’s been quite a while since I checked because I never liked the food but aren’t the two locations in Murfreesboro still open?? I’m not sure where they even are. The one in Smyrna is overgrown, the one in Madison has been torn down, several in Nashville have closed and the one in Lebanon is in the process of closing. I was ok with the food when they offered salads, but they took them off the menu and I haven’t been back. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/42 "2017-02-20T18:26:39Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Chuck-E Cheese, closest one is 1 1/2 hours away > Sonic, the one we had closed years ago, closest on is 50 minutes away > Ponderosa steak house, I have no idea where one might be in the entire state > Captain Nemo’s seafood buffet, yea its what? only like 3 hours away? > Long John Silvers, closest is like 57 miles away I thought Ponderosa’s had closed years ago, I guess not. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/43 "2017-02-20T18:42:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You know-the chain restaurants and fast food places that you see ads for and maybe look good to you…but are nowhere _near_ where you live. > For me, there’s Sonic. The ads are funny, the food looks good, and there seems to be wide variety to choose from, but there are none available where I live. No Sonics near here, for maybe a hours drive. Food is Ok, my wife does love Tater tots. Hardees, whatever they are. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/44 "2017-02-20T19:44:25Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > There is an upscale Dave and Buster’s north of Dallas that is fairly posh. I have taken my kids there but it is clearly geared more towards adults. It certainly isn’t a Chuck E Cheese. It is more like a Las Vegas casino where you have no hope of winning any money (OK, mostly just like a Las Vegas casino). In any case, the food and bar are decent and the games are fun. It isn’t a bad way to spend an evening every now and then. Actually, I"d describe Dave & Busters as “Chuck E. Cheese” for grownups, without the animatronics, and with booze, more (and better) food than pizza and not entirely overrun with children. Same basic idea- you go eat, and then you go play video games, whack-a-mole, skeeball, etc… There are quite a few in the Dallas area (they started here). For this area, I would have said Carl’s Jr. commercials are wasted, as the only ones I know about are co-located with truck-stops on the interstates, but apparently there is a handful of locations elsewhere. Same for Firehouse Subs and Red Robin- I hear the commercials all the time, but don’t actually know where one is, although the map shows a handful of locations out in the far suburbs where I rarely go. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/45 "2017-02-21T00:08:20Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Sonic. I get ads for this and so do my parents. The nearest sonic to my parents is 30 miles away, for me where I live it is a 25 minute drive. All of our fast food/chain restaurants are a 25-minute drive. 🙂 Many commercials are wasted on us, and worse, some make me wail “When will we get a \ here??!!!” Most notably Olive Garden Outback Steakhouse Carraba’s Cheesecake Factory Sonic . . . ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/46 "2017-02-21T00:20:52Z")
Carl’s Jr. There are two in all of Australia - one in Newcastle (about eight hour’s drive away in a different state) and the other is at Brisbane airport, on the other side of the Security Theatre. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/47 "2017-02-21T01:49:49Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > All of our fast food/chain restaurants are a 25-minute drive. 🙂 > > Many commercials are wasted on us, and worse, some make me wail “When will we get a \ here??!!!” Most notably > > Olive Garden > Outback Steakhouse > Carraba’s > Cheesecake Factory > Sonic > . > . > . Olive garden is bad. Outback can be quite good. Cheesecake Factory: not bad food, over priced. But the company has a policy of deliberately making it’s customers wait so as to create a illusion of high demand. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/48 "2017-02-21T02:20:42Z")
All commercials, excepting McDonald’s, Arby’s, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Culver’s and Subway are wasted here. There are no other chains, fast or otherwise, within 50 miles in any direction. And a few local communities have made it clear that they don’t want even these. Of the 15 municipalities in this county, only one has all those restaurants; the rest have none, and they like it that way. They’d much rather have people pay much higher prices for slow food and the government makes sure they do. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/49 "2017-02-21T02:59:26Z")
Yet another Sonic, also Arby’s - neither of them are within twenty miles of me. I’d be perfectly happy _trying_ Sonic ( I never have ), but hell if I’m going to drive 20+ miles for what is probably your standard mediocre fast food. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/50 "2017-02-21T04:57:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > In the case of Sonic (which was, originally, a chain concentrated in the South and West), they viewed running ads on national TV (mostly cable) as (a) being cheaper than buying “spot” ads in the individual markets where they actually had restaurants, and (b) building awareness of the chain in northern markets, where they were planning to eventually expand. Years ago, I saw an episode of _Mad Money_ where Jim Cramer recommended Sonic as a good investment, because they had so much expansion potential in the northern states. I thought that was nuts—did he think people in cold states are going to eat in their cars in the winter? Apparently Cramer was right, because Sonic is doing exactly that. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/51 "2017-02-21T05:45:01Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > … on the other side of the Security Theatre. I’m in the States, and have never heard this term, but, yeah, “Theatre” pretty much sums it up, don’t it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/52 "2017-02-21T06:35:05Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I’m in the States, and have never heard this term, but, yeah, “Theatre” pretty much sums it up, don’t it? 😃 I don’t doubt some of it is legitimately useful, but when people have to take their shoes and belts off it’s gotten beyond silly IMO. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/53 "2017-02-21T08:16:10Z")
Where I live, it’s the previously mentioned Dave & Buster’s and Chick-fil-A. The closest locations are in the Portland, OR area (Dave & Buster’s) and Bellevue (Chick-fil-A). ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/54 "2017-02-21T14:08:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > For me, there’s Sonic. **The ads are funny** , the food looks good, and there seems to be wide variety to choose from, but there are none available where I live. There’s a Sonic two blocks from my house and I’ve never been thanks to those ads. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/55 "2017-02-21T14:53:01Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Olive garden is bad. I and everyone I know would kill for an Olive Garden. To each his own. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/56 "2017-02-22T01:30:31Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I and everyone I know would kill for an Olive Garden. To each his own. Olive Garden is like the Taco Bell of Mexican food. It’s not real, and if you want Italian you’re going to be mega-disappointed. But damn, when you’re in the mood for Olive Garden, it’s not bad stuff. Pretty much exactly what you can say about Taco Bell, except people sometimes “dress up” to go to Olive Garden for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/57 "2017-02-22T01:48:41Z")
cicis pizza we just about have anything else in either palmdale or Lancaster …I wish the new golden corral would move back …the steakhouse version closed 20 years ago and the mcdonalds of pizza little caesars even made a reappearance ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/58 "2017-02-22T22:37:35Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Olive Garden is like the Taco Bell of Mexican food. It’s not real, and if you want Italian you’re going to be mega-disappointed. But damn, when you’re in the mood for Olive Garden, it’s not bad stuff. Pretty much exactly what you can say about Taco Bell, except people sometimes “dress up” to go to Olive Garden for some reason. I’d say that the only thing that Olive Garden has going for them is the unlimited soup & salad deal. That’s a pretty good meal, and not so terrible for you. But the rest of their food? Relentlessly mediocre. Not bad, just not anything special in the least bit. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/59 "2017-02-22T23:21:36Z")
Here in Hawaii, we’ve always seen commercials for: Sonic Long John Silvers Panera Bread Boston Market Cici’s Pizza Chick-Fil-A Dunkin Donuts Krispy Kreme Culver’s Olive Garden Joes Crab Shack Red Robin Golden Corral Cracker Barrel We’ve had rumors of most of the above, but still not here. Sonic and Dunkin Donuts had articles just last year. A new mall was supposed to feature Olive Garden and Panera, but the mall has opened and nada. There’s a Krispy Kreme on Maui. I do understand there are some logistical issues in the middle of the Pacific. And buffets like Cici’s and Golden Corral would not work with Hawaiians, who are said to eat until they’re tired, not until they’re full 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561/60 "2017-02-22T23:47:59Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’d say that the only thing that Olive Garden has going for them is the unlimited soup & salad deal. And breadsticks! Don’t forget the breadsticks! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fast-food-restaurant-commercials-are-wasted-in-your-area/779561.md?page=4)