Your Local Restaurant Chains That Do It Better

[Fiddle_Peghead]

@silenus

The Hat and In-N-Out both make better burgers than the Clown, the King or the Other Clown.

I know who the Clown is, but who is the Other Clown?

[silenus]

Ronald McDonald and Jack-In-The-Box.

[badbadrubberpiggy]

@RealityChuck

I love Five Guys, but I’d hardly call them local – they’re growing across the east coast.

And in the midwest, we have 3 or 4 in the St. Louis, MO area - and they are, in fact, awesome.

[Snickers]

Erbert’s & Gerbert’s is fantastic. A Jimmy John’s just opened near my work, but E&G’s is way better. I’m going there for lunch today, matter of fact.

[Beware_of_Doug]

@typoink

… the best cheese fries I’ve ever had (especially if you ask them to top 'em with giardanera.

I’m gonna assume that’s giardiniera, an Italian relish, and not some exotic intestinal disorder.

[dangermom]

Burger Hut. Mmmmm.

[villa]

@Sister_Vigilante

Another place is Five Guys Burgers and Fries. That’s all they sell, burgers and fries. Lots of topping choices and the “regular” is actually a double; you have to order a “small” get only one patty. Obama likes them, you can google youtube for it.

The best plug I cna give Five Guys is that I don’t think of them as a competition for the chains. Going to Five Guys is a pleasurable experience with food I enjoy - it just is different to stopping at McDonalds or BK, which I would only ever do out of necessity rather than choice.

While they are pretty quick, they aren’t “fast food.”

[pulykamell]

@Beware_of_Doug

I like Culver’s enough to eat there several times a month. It’s a Wisconsin-based burger & ice cream place that is a cut or two above Burger King and McD’s, yet doesn’t attract near the business because it’s not constantly marketing limited-time menu items, prizes and other crap. In fact, despite the quality of food, a lot of Culver’s customers seem to be pretty down-market folks, in contrast to the wide demographic of the national chains. I only hope they can keep doing what they do the way they do it.

I’ll second Culver’s. Local chains I enjoy include Portillos (for hot dogs and Italian beef, although those items don’t really compete with any other national chain’s major items) and Aurelio’s Pizza (for thin crust) and Lou Malnati’s (for deep dish.)

[teela_brown]

Here in the bay area there’s a two or three restaurant chain called Pizza Antica, and they make thin, crisp Neopolitan style pizzas that are my very favorites.

We also have Super Taqueria, which is a fast, delicious, inexpensive taco joint chain. Damn, they make good carne asada super tacos.

Then there’s the chain of burger places called The Counter. I looked just now and was surprised to see that there are perhaps two dozen of them across the U.S. I thought they were local to California only. I love their burgers! The meat is top quality, they build them how you like them, and their fries as classic shoestring cut, crisp and hot.

[Huerta88]

[hijack]After reading thisarticle about the amoniated “pink slime,” I – not normally a food alarmist – have been put a bit off of my feed about that stuff. As a number of posts here have been for burger joints – any idea how to determine who doesn’t use this stuff? I know In-n-Out freshly grinds their meat. Any other chains or mini-chains?[/]

[Leiko]

@Chefguy

Color me completely unimpressed with this outfit. The burger I had was thin, dry and tasteless.

Burgerville isn’t the best place for burgers, but I think it’s one of the best for sides. The specialty milkshakes are awesome. I love their version of sweet potato fries most of all, except for the bit where you’ll probably want to sprinkle on some salt, since Burgerville likes to pretend they’re healthy and don’t salt the fries enough.

[Alice_The_Goon]

@Bosstone

In the sub sandwich vein, Tucson has eegee’s. They make a damn good sub, although their menu is a little more limited than Subway’s, but their main attractions are two things: instead of wimpy little bags of chips, they serve honest-to-Og fries, and they are absolutely fantastic. They’re most known for their italian ice-style confection called eegees, but I’m not a fan, preferring to go there for the subs and fries instead.

Losing access to eegee’s was the biggest regret I had in moving from Tucson to Phoenix, and I make it a point to go there whenever I’m in town.

I like the eegees frozen concoctions, but I find the sandwiches too bready and stingy with the meat. My coworkers and I will bring in a big bucket of eegees when it’s 110 out, and it’s divine. Their fries are good, true. But the fountain soda at the one on Tanque Verde is nasty.

[3_20_59_or_bust]

Kidd Valley in the Puget Sound area.

Just greasy, good food.

[Winnie]

@fruitbat

In the Washington DC area there is a chain of restuarants run under the brand “Great American Restaurants”. They occupy a dining niche above Chilis and the like, but not fine dining. They are just a marvel to watch. I know they don’t fit the OP because they quite simply do everything better from a restaurant management standpoint that anyone else.

I am always fascinated trying to figure out how their servers get the food from the kitchen to the diners as soon as the food gets done. You don’t have one waiter, but roving teams of waiters that seamlessly serve, clear and refill. When you arrive you get the typical buzzer thing as you wait, but in dozens of visits they have never been more than five minutes past the wait they gave me when I got there. They are a private company, but I chatted with one of the founders a few months ago and their revenue numbers are just astounding for such a saturated industry.

I second this. They are truly masters at restaurant management. They turn out consistantly good food at every location and never ever fail to have every table filled every night of the week. They are opening an Italian restaurant in Fairfax Corner sometime this year. Only one I don’t love is Jackson’s in Reston. It’s always extremely crowded and the menu is a hodgepodge of things from all the other restaurants instead of coming up with new and original dishes. Plus as a weird random menu item they have sushi rolls. SUSHI ROLLS??!!??

[Huerta88]

@Winnie

Plus as a weird random menu item they have sushi rolls. SUSHI ROLLS??!!??

Oh, that’s one of the most common signs of a restaurant that’s lost its way and has just decided that sushi is a nice high-margin item that people tend to like, or think they like enough to order it at a completely-not-sushi-qualified place. A good half of the Chinese and Thai joints around me have shoehorned crappy sushi onto their menu – you know, our eyes are slanty, that qualifies us to make sushi! Anyone who orders accepting that rationale deserves the low quality they will likely get . . . .

[typoink]

@Beware_of_Doug

I’m gonna assume that’s giardiniera, an Italian relish, and not some exotic intestinal disorder.

Indeed – 'twas a quick stab at the spelling while in too big a rush to Google. To be extra clear, I’m referring to the Chicago-style giardiniera which is spicy and composed of little crunchy bits, as opposed to the Italian-style stuff which is understand is vinegary and bigger.

[kenobi_65]

@Beware_of_Doug

I like Culver’s enough to eat there several times a month. It’s a Wisconsin-based burger & ice cream place that is a cut or two above Burger King and McD’s, yet doesn’t attract near the business because it’s not constantly marketing limited-time menu items, prizes and other crap. In fact, despite the quality of food, a lot of Culver’s customers seem to be pretty down-market folks, in contrast to the wide demographic of the national chains. I only hope they can keep doing what they do the way they do it.

I’m a big Culver’s fan. (They’re known, in part, for their frozen custard, which I don’t partake in.) Late last year, they opened a Culver’s about 2 miles from my house…I’m thrilled!