What's your Most Overated Place to eat...

[R8RFAN]

Ruby Tuesdays
And Japanese restaurants where you sit around the stainless steel grill...

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Groves

It's not only plausible, but true. There are some good documentaries on the subject.

One thing I'll add is the rise of the chain.

Back when travelers were searching for good grub (being away from their home kitchen and all) it wasn't uncommon to get stung by a place that had not only unappetizing food, but unhealthy.

Unhealthy as in sickness and death, not as in 6packs going to 2packs.

The rise of the chain restaurant was fueled by the wary public eager for a place they knew and trusted (not to give them botulism, for instance.)

Golden arches. Plaster Shoney's man. They're not simply marketing "I'm a restaurant", but "I won't have you hurling like Bob's Unknown-to-you Restaurant over there".

We bit on it. Local dives suffered.

On another note, sometimes another way to say "suffered" is "became uncrowded enough to finally eat there regularly", which is a good thing.

Moral of the story: Find people who know good food when they eat it, and find out where they eat.

Of course, there's also the possibility that some restaurants serve good food and provide good service so they grow into a chain. I would love to open a Free State Brewery, for example.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

And you know this because....

Because he tried Dunkin Donuts recently.

[Micjones]

Applebee's
Chick-fil-A

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by Dave

White Castle is complete shit.

I don't know how people eat that stuff.

About 15 years ago a WC opened up about 5 miles from my house. It was ridiculous the amount of people they pulled in... for about six months. I tried it once and that was enough. Grease-soaked bread with onions and something that was supposed to be beef. That store lasted about two years and it was gone. It's been a Boston Market ever since.

[WV]

Originally Posted by Start Croyle

Hooters! The food is extremely overpriced and the wait staff do not live up to the reputation!

Agreed but their jarred sauce is pretty good.

[bevischief]

Ihop and Hooters.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Groves

It's not only plausible, but true. There are some good documentaries on the subject.

One thing I'll add is the rise of the chain.

Back when travelers were searching for good grub (being away from their home kitchen and all) it wasn't uncommon to get stung by a place that had not only unappetizing food, but unhealthy.

Unhealthy as in sickness and death, not as in 6packs going to 2packs.

The rise of the chain restaurant was fueled by the wary public eager for a place they knew and trusted (not to give them botulism, for instance.)

Golden arches. Plaster Shoney's man. They're not simply marketing "I'm a restaurant", but "I won't have you hurling like Bob's Unknown-to-you Restaurant over there".

We bit on it. Local dives suffered.

On another note, sometimes another way to say "suffered" is "became uncrowded enough to finally eat there regularly", which is a good thing.

Moral of the story: Find people who know good food when they eat it, and find out where they eat.

Interesting. I figured the chains became popular because of a desire to eliminate risk when traveling, but I would've guessed it was risk from a flavor perspective, not a health perspective. But that makes sense.

A movie that I really enjoyed was Memphis Belle. I can't remember who was in it other than Harry Connick, Jr., but at one point two guys were having a conversation about what they'd do after the war. One of them talked about the concept of opening a chain of restaurants, without knowing what it was, and the other guy was roundly dismissing it. "Why would people want to eat at the same restaurant in different cities?" I thought it was kind of funny.

I need to go re-watch that movie and see if I still like it. I haven't seen it in years.

[RockChalk]

A friend (23 y.o female) just posted this on facebook:

To KC for dinner tonight. Olive Garden with the roomies. So excited!!!

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by RockChalk

A friend (23 y.o female) just posted this on facebook:

****, i wish we had a damned Olive Garden where i live. Being Mexican, Italian food at all is hard to come by. lol

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by Dave

Still better than Krispy Kreme

Nah Krispy Kreme is better.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Tried Cheddar's for lunch today, had "New Orleans Pasta" which had shrimp, chicken and sausage. Spicy. Not bad, lunch with a salad was like $11 and tax.

Our Cheddars went out of business, but their chicken fingers were awesome.

[KCUnited]

Ponak's

/thread

[Old Dog]

Chef Mavro and to a lesser extent Ruth's Chris
They're good, but not near worth what the prices suggest they should be.

[Dragonocho]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

All of this is just a theory, so anyone can feel free to refute it or expand on it.

Sounds about right. Damn cars.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Old Dog

Chef Mavro and to a lesser extent Ruth's Chris
They're good, but not near worth what the prices suggest they should be.

Those steakhouse places serve a good steak, but the prices are ludicrous.

This got me thinking. My wife and I used to eat at restaurants a lot, like 3 or 4 nights per week. The past few years we've settled down and probably only do it once or twice per week, but if you figure that maybe we're averaging $60 per visit with tip, that comes out to about $500 per month on average.

Actually, we charge most of our restaurant meals, so I just went and looked at our annual statement summaries. In 2011, we charged $7,440 for "dining". Now, some of that is meals and vacation and some of it is social lunches and stuff, so actually $500 per month sounds about right.

I was wondering if we spent enough to afford a cook to come over once or twice a week and cook us a gourmet dinner at home, but I'm not sure that's enough. Roughly $110 per week over the course of the year - by the time you spend $30 or so on the food, that would be about $70 per week for labor. Would a person come over twice a week and cook us a meal and clean up for roughly $300 per month? Eh, I guess it's possible.