I’m going to throw my lot to Baja Fresh. Washington DC is a cesspool of bad Mexican food, and it’s the best we can get around here.
Almost every chain mentioned in the “worst” food list is on my “good” list. Suffice to say I am not a picky eater 
Jack in the Box? Good.
Olive Garden? Goood.
Denny’s? Gooood.
Red Robin? Goooood.
Only restaurant I don’t care much for is McDonalds, but every now and then, I like me some McNuggets.
I love food. However, I also love things labelled as “food” and served to me in a cardboard box. My younger brother and I once made the startling and mildly disturbing discovery that neither of us liked “home made” food that much - we preferred boxed, frozen, deep fried, limp burger, chain-restaurant foods. shrug
I do try to eat as healthy as I can, though, lest you think I’m rotting away somewhere eating Jack in the Box Pannidos by the dozen. I just like the taste of garbage more than I like good, proper foods.
Fast food: Wendy’s for burgers, KFC for chicken. I’ve never tried Chic-fil-A, but may do so based on the number of compliments here.
Let’s pretend we’re a real restaurant: drawing something of a blank here. I doln’t eat at many chain places these days. I used to love the Bob’s Big Boy chain for the burger/salad bar combo, but they’re long gone. There’s a spotless, well-run Denny’s near my office, but I’ve had so many horrible meals at other Denny’s locations that I can’t really give them a nod, not to mention they’ve taken my favorite item, the Patty Melt, off the menu. Seems like TGI Fridays was actually not bad once upon a time but ever since they went into full expansion mode, and after watching Office Space a few times, I can’t hack going back. Oh well, PF Chang’s, then. I guess I’ll check out Macaroni’s, too, since everyone here seems to like them.
Add’l Notes: Unlike most of the folks in the other thread, I quite like Jack in the Box and Carl’s Jr/Hardee’s. And, God help me, Boston Market. Go figure.
I’m really fairly amused at how seriously pissed off some posters are about people listing the joints they don’t like in that other thread. Try not to take it personally, folks.
It’s a bit far of a drive for you, but I know there’s a Chik-Fil-A buried inside the food court at the Del Amo Fashion Center.
I’d have to go with Ruth’s Chris for steak and Quizno’s for sandwiches, though I think Quizno’s is a franchise, not a chain.
Adam
Oh, and Macaroni Grill for Italian.
Macaroni Grill is my new favorite. I’m a sucker for Applebee’s smothered grilled chicken. I don’t care enough about steak or seafood to care about those. I’ll eat Taco Bell three times a week without complaint.
I checked the official Red Robin website (I don’t recommend it: it’s one of the most annoying blinky-beepy Flash sites I’ve seen in a while), and they’ve expanded a lot since the last time I was paying attention. They did used to be West Coast only; they started in Seattle, in fact, down by the waterfront. Here, at least, they’re mostly a reliably good chain restaurant. Don’t know about the national presence.
Another one to add to the list: I like going to Taco Del Mar, which is definitely a western outfit. The fish tacos are yummy.
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
I stopped going to KFC and Churches when Boston Market came out. Didn’t seem to be a point.
Great chicken, FRESH side dishes (this is important) and great seasonings.
The various chain steak houses tend to be pretty good, if a little expensive. I seem to recall Longhorn being the cheapest of them, though I’m not particularly sure of that.
For fast food, it’s Chic-fil-a and not even particularly close. I like Wendy’s best of the various burger places, though there is something disgustingly satisfying about Burger King. For breakfast, IHOP isn’t the most amazing thing in the world, but I’ve never had a bad experience there.
I don’t really get the people who are crazy for Subway, the bread is pretty good (and it smells SO tantalizing when I walk by the Subway on the way to campus every day) but the deli meats always seem lower quality to me than, like, actual deli meats. Quizno’s is definitely tastier.
All of the “American Food” places (Applebees, Ruby’s Friday’s, etc etc etc) are the same to me… something nice to eat at once in a while, probably a little too expensive, but I know what I’m getting into. Add or subtract points from Ruby’s depending if a salad bar is the greatest invention ever, or if it’s insulting to be expected to graze at a “sit-down” restaurant. Incidentally, I love the barbecue sauce at Applebee’s.
I don’t know which chinese restaurants are chain, but they have better food than any steakhouse, italian, mexican or any other restaurant.
El Rodeo is a really good chain restaurant.
we have two red robin’s here in omaha.
being from omaha, i found ruth’s chris food not too bad but priced about triple what a comparable steak dinner would cost at almost anyplace in town. (warren buffet and i frequent he same family owned italian steak house. when in omaha, try the steaks at gorat’s)
favorite chain: carraba’s italian. the sirlion marsala is like sin on a plate.
i like ruby tuesday’s salad bar/baked potato combo for lunch
As chains go, Carrabba’s Italian Grill is very good. WAAAAY better than Olive Garden (I know, faint praise!).
I like McDonalds for consistancy. Taco Bell and Whataburger come close. Church’s Fried Chicken is good too (especially if they have livers and okra on the menu). Fast food chains are about the only chain restraunts that I eat at frequently enough to opine on.
*formerly Machetero
Carrabba’s is nice, but it’s basically a Macaroni Grill clone. There wasn’t a single thing on the menu when I went (granted, this was some time ago) that wasn’t on the Macaroni Grill menu, too, though under a different name.
As for Macaroni Grill—they used to be really good. I have several friends who worked at the one in Tulsa (I worked there, myself, for about a month) and I used to hang out there a lot. Back then, they made everything from scratch. Now, they get their sauces shipped to them pre-prepared in a can or a bag or something. So, the quality’s gone down, but the prices have gone up. Not good.
There used to actually be quite a bit of variance between the Macaroni Grill restaurants, even though the menus were the same. A couple of my friends were developers, meaning they travelled to other cities to open new restaurants, and they said that the same dish might have noticable differences at different restaurants. I guess the owners thought it was best to sacrifice quality for uniformity. Sad.
Anyone know what happened to the bad chain food thread?
Sandwiches and bread: Panera Bread. No argument, case closed, discussion over.
Not too pricy, either.
One word: Sizzlers. If it wasn’t for the clam chowder (for me) and the Malibu lemon chicken (for my wife), we’d never set foot in there. I have no idea what part of the cow they get their “steaks” from…
The only Chinese chains I know of are Panda Express (passably decent and low priced), PF Changs (overpriced fool-de-Ammerukins cuisine), and Pick Up Stix (no idea). Oh, and the various “$1 Chinese Food” places, about which the less said the better.
Far as I know, most Chinese restaurants are individual “mom and pop” affairs.
I vote for Backyard Burger as well. Logan’s Roadhouse is good too. I finally went there a few weeks ago. The Olive Garden here in town isn’t bad, and the closest Popeye’s isn’t anywhere near close enough for my taste.
Are you in DC proper? The bext mexican food I’ve ever had on the east coast was a little place called El Azteca in Clarksville, MD, just outside of Columbia. A mid-sized family run operation in a tiny strip mall next to a High’s Dairy Store. They do incredible ‘traditional’ and authentic Pacific Coast/Baja dishes. Best mole I’ve ever had outside of the southwest. And it’s cheap, like a mexican joint should be.
For another really good one, try La Gringada on US 1 between College Park and Laurel, MD.
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