# Worst Chain Restaurant **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389 "2012-08-23T15:45:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/101 "2012-08-24T15:11:30Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > 91 posts and not a single mention of the horror that is\*\* Waffle House\*\*? :eek: > > I’ll just assume it was a given… Huddle House is even worse; the name invariably gives me the impression of a bunch of filthy smelly football players hunched over their burgers after a game played in a driving mudstorm. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/102 "2012-08-24T15:18:16Z")
> [@Enuma\_Elish](#): > > My vote for worst goes to: Boston Market, because they gave me the nastiest food-poisoning of my life. It happened 10 years ago and to this day hearing the words ‘Boston Market’ makes my stomach urp a little. That’s really unfortunate. I always thought they were pretty good, but I did hve one bad experience with them. GF and I decided to get a full meal. We decided on ham. (This was right when they changed from Chicken to Market, and started offering more than just chicken.) I walked all the way up there – about a 20 minute walk – in a blinding blizzard. I ordered and then waited for the food. When I got it, it looked an awful lot like chicken. (Ham was $4 more and that’s what I paid.) I asked the counter girl, and she insisted that it was ham. I asked if she was sure, and she insisted she was. She was downright rude about it, in fact. When I got home, I opened the package. Sure enough, it was chicken. So I went back. That was a total of about 80 minutes of trudging around in a blizzard. When we finally sat down to eat, a commercial for BM (good name!) came on. Buy a full meal, and get a free pie! They never offered me no damn pie! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/103 "2012-08-24T15:24:51Z")
Years ago I went to Zippy’s in Honolulu and it was the the worst restaurant meal I’ve ever had. Looking at the online reviews now and seeing 3-star plus ratings, I wonder what I missed. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/104 "2012-08-24T16:35:52Z")
> [@Bass\_Chick](#): > > If you like soggy and salty gobs of fried batter, I highly recommend these: > > - Captain D’s Seafood > - Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken > \*\* > Edited to add: \*\*Golden Corral because they have the buffet where too many grimy hands can touch the food. Kids and chocolate fountains should be outlawed. I would like to add The Mayflower to that list…they deep-fry everything but the Pepsi. Their restaurants smell absolutely horrific. The chocolate fountain is nasty not just because of the dirty child hands…apparently you have to add a lot of oil to make the chocolate flow properly. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_G7subs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rich\_G7subs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_G7subs)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/105 "2012-08-24T16:45:19Z")
Long John Silvers is BY FAR the worst fast food. I had a fish sandwich there once that actually GUSHED oil when I bit into it. ::Shudder:: Sit down places: Friendlys… the ice cream is great, but the food…ugh, heavy, greasy and salty. My kids loved it though! Question: Does Chuck E Cheese’s actually count as a restaurant or is it more of a gameroom that kinda serves food? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/106 "2012-08-24T17:12:52Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I don’t understand the hate for Cracker Barrel. We almost exclusively get the breakfast, though. They had some pancakes with granola in them or something one time and they were fantastic. Oh and I forgot! I went there once for Thanksgiving (long story) and it was great! Maybe they’re better in the South? I know- I worked at a CB several years ago, and at least back then, their food was really good. I think it was because they only used good, brand-name ingredients, like Kraft cheese and Blue Lake green beans. So I don’t know if things have changed or they are better in the south, but you can take me out to a Cracker Barrel any day. My nomination: Applebee’s. I used to go there, but then I realized that I was disappointed, if not angry, every single time, so I quit them. Also, TGIFriday’s- the thing that makes them even worse than Chili’s, et al is that they have the nerve to be expensive. Over $10 for a crappy entree- fuck that. (Although their deep fried green beans with wasabi dressing are so good. Fortunately, you can make them at home.) ---
**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:** [August 24, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/107 "2012-08-24T17:15:45Z")
> [@Rich\_G7subs](#): > > Long John Silvers is BY FAR the worst fast food. I had a fish sandwich there once that actually GUSHED oil when I bit into it. ::Shudder:: Wow. Either it’s really gone downhill, or it’s extremely variable, like Waffle House. I’ve had nothing but good experiences there (well, except for the fried langostines or lobster bites or whatever it is they were offering five years ago). Meaty fish, light tempura-like batter, perfectly crisp, not greasy. If I have a complaint, it’s that it is a bit on the salty side. Also, you have to eat it right away. Like any good deep fried food, it loses quality in transit. ---
**Author:** ![Whiteknight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whiteknight/32/4962_2.png) [@Whiteknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiteknight)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/108 "2012-08-24T17:25:43Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > My take: > -Dead Lobster: everything tastes like old grease > -Long Jon Silver: it may be fish, but tastes like grease > -Chipotle: enormous quantity of tasteless rice and beans > -Taco Hell: I can only say -ugh! > Now the good places: > -Waffle House (and its imitator Huddle House): damn good breakfast and excellent fresh coffee > -Olive Garden: salad and sop is excellent, watch the salt though. They used to have excellent veal parmigiano-but stopped offering it (cost?) > -Cheesecake Factory: excellent steak diane-as good as I’ve ever had I am being whooshed by the juxtaposition of Chipotle with Waffle House and Olive Garden? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/109 "2012-08-24T18:26:28Z")
Taco Bell or Burger King. Both just plain unappetizing. All the BKs around here just seem dirty. Well same with the Taco Bell kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/110 "2012-08-24T18:36:01Z")
> [@Diamonds02](#): > > I think 85% of chain restaurants should be nuked from orbit. They make bland dishes created for people with underdeveloped palates. > > I think the worst of all chain restaunts is Red Lobster. One of the reasons it’s so bad is because there are certain people who consider it as a fancy restaurant. You will seriously see some people dressing up to eat at this shithole. The decor is awful, it looks like some unsophisticated meth-head drummed up some theme he thinks that looks like a real nautical getaway. > > The food is so not fresh. When you walk in, the smell of a umkept lass with BV hits you right in the face. The salmon, the salmon! It’s farm-raised and drowned in some marinade that tastes like bull-semen and lemon pledge. > > Yet my grandma loves it. :smack: Well, at least the cheddar biscuits are good! > > What do you consider as the worst chain restaurant? As far as Red Lobster is concerned, in case you didn’t know, it is owned by Pepsi and they bought it to increase Pepsi’s share of the market. There are several chains that are owned by soft drink companies or potato chip companies or others that just own them to sell their crap. I have never yet found any of them that were any good. They are all just awful. They pander to the least educated dumbest segment of the population. People who are willing to dress up to eat at some piece of shit restaurant because it has a fancy name or some other real stupid reason. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/111 "2012-08-24T18:42:22Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > That’s really unfortunate. > > I always thought they were pretty good, but I did hve one bad experience with them. > > GF and I decided to get a full meal. We decided on ham. (This was right when they changed from Chicken to Market, and started offering more than just chicken.) I walked all the way up there – about a 20 minute walk – in a blinding blizzard. I ordered and then waited for the food. > > When I got it, it looked an awful lot like chicken. (Ham was $4 more and that’s what I paid.) I asked the counter girl, and she insisted that it was ham. I asked if she was sure, and she insisted she was. She was downright rude about it, in fact. > > When I got home, I opened the package. Sure enough, it was chicken. So I went back. That was a total of about 80 minutes of trudging around in a blizzard. > > When we finally sat down to eat, a commercial for BM (good name!) came on. Buy a full meal, and get a free pie! They never offered me no damn pie! If you contact the Better Business Bureau in your city, they will almost always get the offending company to make it right and apologize too. It’s worth a phone call. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/112 "2012-08-24T18:42:23Z")
> [@Lazlo Hapsburg](#): > > As far as Red Lobster is concerned, in case you didn’t know, it is owned by Pepsi and they bought it to increase Pepsi’s share of the market. According to Wikipedia, Red Lobster is owned by Darden Restaurants (who also own Olive Garden). ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/113 "2012-08-24T18:43:15Z")
Lot’s of YMMV in this thread… maybe I’m just lucky in my neck of the woods but I haven’t had bad experiences with lots of the places mentioned here. Love Chili’s, like Olive Garden (whenever I can get to one, none nearby now), and all the fast food like McD’s, BK, Jack, Wendy’s, etc. My vote would be for **Subway** - I’ve been to lots of different ones in various cities and it’s always the same. Bread is stale, lettuce is brown, tomatoes are green, onions are tasteless… blargh. Unfortunately Quizno’s has been making a downward slide to their level. Guess they were happy enough to reach market penetration, now they’re going to cut corners. No good fast food sandwich places anymore. > [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Biggest downhill slide: Wendy’s. They used to have good burgers and OK fries. The new burgers are not quite as good, and the new fries are terrible (and saltier than, say, a salt lick.) I blame Arby’s for buying them and bringing them down to their level. I’m glad I’m not the only one. Wendy’s was my most favorite fast food burger place for awhile. Loved their burgers and fries. New fries are crap (too salty, don’t like the skin, not as “fluffy”), and the burgers are probably a bit worse. Very sad. On the other hand, BK improved their fries, so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/114 "2012-08-24T19:08:22Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > 91 posts and not a single mention of the horror that is\*\* Waffle House\*\*? :eek: > > I’ll just assume it was a given… Waffle House isn’t a restaurant. It’s a tradition. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/115 "2012-08-24T19:38:37Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > Unfortunately Quizno’s has been making a downward slide to their level. Guess they were happy enough to reach market penetration, now they’re going to cut corners. No good fast food sandwich places anymore. [Firehouse Subs](http://www.firehousesubs.com/) recently opened a few locations in our town; they’re quite good. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/116 "2012-08-24T19:48:52Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > > [@Lazlo Hapsburg](#): > > > > As far as Red Lobster is concerned, in case you didn’t know, it is owned by Pepsi and they bought it to increase Pepsi’s share of the market. > > According to Wikipedia, Red Lobster is owned by Darden Restaurants (who also own Olive Garden). Perhaps you were thinking of Long John Silver’s, which used to be owned by Yum! Brands, formerly the division of Pepsi that owns restaurants. The story I heard is that Pepsi soda salespeople were having difficulty selling to other chain restaurants because the restaurant owners didn’t want to stock the product of a competitor, so Pepsi spun off the restaurant business into Yum! Brands (admittedly a stupid name). ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/117 "2012-08-24T20:03:11Z")
I live where Long John Silver’s originated and it’s appalling how far downhill they’ve gone. I used to love to eat there! The last time I went was probably four years ago, and I had the same squirting-grease problem. :eek: Gah, it still makes me nauseous to think about. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/118 "2012-08-24T20:06:18Z")
Like anywhere, the food at Panda depends on who’s cooking and when. If you hit a buffet-styled place at 2 PM, expect to find food that’s been on the steam table since 12:45. The Panda Express near my office in San Francisco amusingly seemed to be 100% staffed with Latino guys doing the cooking, and at lunchtime, the line was out the door. Around here, Latinos are scarce, and the two Pandas that I’ve tried are just awful. The smell of Subway - yeah, there is something about them. I think it’s the raw bread dough. I’ve never met anyone who’d willingly eat at Awful House when sober - it’s apparently great stuff after a night of drinking, but I’ve never tried that. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/119 "2012-08-24T20:40:03Z")
I am probably the last person this thread is aimed at, as I am no doubt the exact client chain restaurants are trying to snag. “Predictable mediocrity” is my middle name when it somes to food in general(great phrase, by the way). As far as _Red Lobster_, I shunned them for years simply because I’m not a fan of seafood. Never mind the “low class , white trash” image or whatever, there was just never any reason for me to go there. Today, this is probably my favorite place to go for a steak. The NUBMATE and I have been to every steakhouse in the surrounding counties and we both agree that we never have a better steak dinner than at RL. As far as people thinking it’s fancy . . . that is so utterly not the case around here. I’m sure it’s more a case of some people dressing like slobs no matter where they go, but we always marvel at how the people at RL are usually particularly trashy looking. For worst chain, my vote goes to _Cracker Barrel_. I am not a fan of The South and all it encompasses, and that place is the embodiment. No offense intended to southern dopers; I like individuals, just not stereotypical “southern” . . . stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389/120 "2012-08-24T21:15:41Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > The Panda Express near my office in San Francisco amusingly seemed to be 100% staffed with Latino guys doing the cooking, and at lunchtime, the line was out the door. Around here, Latinos are scarce, and the two Pandas that I’ve tried are just awful. The Asians must have been working the Taco Bell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-chain-restaurant/632389.md?page=7)