You can eat nothing but food from 5 chain restaurants for the rest of your life

[KSRBEvans]

Not local chains (like Giovannis in WV/eastern KY, or El Nopal in the Louisville area), but ones with a large footprint.

Who you got?

[Catfan73]

My kid would say El Nopal first lol.

How about…Carraba’s, Chik fil A, KFC, Outback, and Starbucks. Not a big fan of chain restaurants.

[blueboss]

Ruth’s Chris for one, hunk of cow on the cheap, Texas Roadhouse.
Bonefish Grille
Famous Dave’s because most other really good BBQ joints aren’t large chains
Pizza I’d go with Marcos
Italian I guess I’d go with Olive Garden, can’t think of any other chain Italian joints


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[Darrell KSR]

Free or I have to pay?

Ruth's Chris OR Fleming's. You pick.
Bonefish Grill
PF Changs
Carrabas
Meh... Olive Garden, I guess. Their salads might make it for me.

Edit - take out Olive Garden, put in Cheesecake Factory.

[Darrell KSR]

Ruth’s Chris for one, hunk of cow on the cheap, Texas Roadhouse.
Bonefish Grille
Famous Dave’s because most other really good BBQ joints aren’t large chains
Pizza I’d go with Marcos
Italian I guess I’d go with Olive Garden, can’t think of any other chain Italian joints


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I didn't look at anyone's, and couldn't think of a BBQ place that worked. Thought about Jim N Nicks BBQ, but wasn't sure if that qualified.

Marco's is solid for a pizza chain. Didn't think about them.

[blueboss]

I didn't look at anyone's, and couldn't think of a BBQ place that worked. Thought about Jim N Nicks BBQ, but wasn't sure if that qualified.

Marco's is solid for a pizza chain. Didn't think about them.

Same here with Jim n Nicks…

Can’t think of any good chain Italian joints, I do like like Olive Gardens shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta… of course I wouldn’t recommend it for you…at least without an epi pen


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[KentuckyWildcat]

Chick Fil A
Culver’s
Cheddars
El Bracero’s
Olive Garden

Not necessarily my favorites but gives me several safe options to choose from. Except OG. I’d save that for days I wish to suffer and risk my life lol


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[kingcat]

Zaxbys
Texas Roadhouse (Decent pulled pork sandwich by the way)
Culvers (tasty fish sandwiches too)
Hardees (Steak and egg biscuits rock..angus burgers are good)
DQ (Decent breakfast and desserts)

[Catfan73]

I’ve never thought of Ruth’s Chris as a chain. If you guys are eating there I’ll be damned if I’m going to Outback or Texas Roadhouse.

[dan_bgblue]

Waffle House twice a day, evening meals with the family, Bonefish, PF Changs, Outback, Olive Garden, (Only Italian joint that is a chain that I can think of) If it did not have to be a chain it would be Snappys Italian and Pizza in Maggie Valley, NC. (I have eaten Italian in cities large and small all over the country, and that little place is the best of them all)

Have to add Cracker Barrel cause my grand daughter will not eat at any other restaurant if it is going to be a sit down meal with a wait staff involved. Also add Smokey Bones Barbque east of the Mississippi river. Really good Q for a chain.

[blueboss]

I’ve never thought of Ruth’s Chris as a chain. If you guys are eating there I’ll be damned if I’m going to Outback or Texas Roadhouse.

I’ve eaten at them in five different states from Fl to Pennsylvania so I figured they could be included. I think they’re now in 30+ states.

…but, I do like Texas Roadhouse’s 14oz ribeye


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[Darrell KSR]

I’ve never thought of Ruth’s Chris as a chain. If you guys are eating there I’ll be damned if I’m going to Outback or Texas Roadhouse.

They have over 100 Ruth's Chris restaurants. May not be as many as other chains, but surely that qualifies, no?


(My other high end choice was Fleming's. They have 63 restaurants, so if Ruth's Chris fails, Fleming's does too).

[MickintheHam]

If I eat in a chain restaurant 3 times a month, that’s a lot.

Raising Cane
Flemings
Culvers
Chicken Salad Chick
Walk-ons

[Catfan73]

They have over 100 Ruth's Chris restaurants. May not be as many as other chains, but surely that qualifies, no?


(My other high end choice was Fleming's. They have 63 restaurants, so if Ruth's Chris fails, Fleming's does too).

Good enough for me. Editing my choices to
Ruth’s Chris
Carraba’s
Bonefish Grill (also owned by the Outback boys)
Chick fil A (best service anywhere)
Starbux

I had forgotten about Bonefish. I thought of Mitchell’s Fish Market but I think they only have a handful of locations. Hey, Malone’s is in Louisville now. Does that make them a chain?

[suncat05]

Culvers
Marcos
Chick-Fil-A
Cracker Barrel
Little Italy (don't think you guys have them there in KY, but there are several of them down here in FL) Excellent veal & chicken parmigiana, good cannoli pastry, very good meatballs

[VirginiaCat]

This is a good question.

Steak:
As most have said Ruth Chris jumps out but really only a presence in large cities do I do not want to have a good Steak only when I visit...so I would go with LongHorn Steakhouse. (Logans would have been my 2nd Choice)

Italian
Carrabas. Best overall in my opinion.

Mexican/Tex Mex
I would go with Chipolte but I want alcohol...so Chili's

Burger
Five Guys. And it is not close

Seafood
Bonefish. Not a lot of chain options here. I will miss the cheddar biscuits from Red Lobster....

[KentuckyWildcat]

Chicken Salad Chick

What do you get there? Ate there once, was not impressed.

[MickintheHam]

What do you get there? Ate there once, was not impressed.

First choice is fruity fran on wheat toast with baked chips. Anything with grapes and or pecans is good. I like to mix in the version with apple chunks and pineapple.

All of the varieties of chicken salad are fresh made and I find it easy to control the calories.

[DanISSELisdaman]

Texas Roadhouse.
Cracker Barrel.
La Esperanza.
Cheddar's.
Pizza Hut.

[CitizenBBN]

I know Crack House (Cracker Barrel) is on the list. They have a varied menu, like eating at my grandmother's by and large, and I sure managed to eat there a lot growing up with no complaints.

Thinking about the others. Cheddar's is a good choice. The old TGI Friday's had a really varied menu too, hard to get bored with it, but they're defunct now.

[dan_bgblue]

Applebees is another chain, in moat all states, sitdown that serves a varied menu of stuff. Food is pretty good at most locations

[KSRBEvans]

For me, I'm thinking types of food:

--Cracker Barrel for the country cooking and versatility (burger, breakfast, etc.)

--Chik Fil A for travel food; it's our go-to when we're on a road trip

--PF Changs for Asian (hard to pick a good Asian chain; it's probably this or Panda Express, which is basically the equivalent of McDonalds)

--Chuys for Tex Mex (same)

--Olive Garden for Italian (same--I'd like to pick Giovanni's--if you know, you know--but it's just a regional chain)

Hard to leave off a BBQ place and a steak place--Cracker Barrel will have to do, I guess.

[CitizenBBN]

Applebees is another chain, in moat all states, sitdown that serves a varied menu of stuff. Food is pretty good at most locations

I liked the original Applebees menu but they changed some years ago and I didn't care for it. They may have changed again, haven't been to one in years.

[blueboss]

I might think about adding Crapper Barrel for their breakfast menu. The place is consistent, and clean, unlike Waffle Steak joints. I’ve been in a few of those that your shoes stuck to the floor and I was afraid to lean on the counter.


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[CitizenBBN]

Cracker Barrel makes its bones with me for being consistent, basic food. When I was on the road a lot years ago it was a go to spot b/c you knew it would be solid and consistent. It's basically everything my grandmother cooked, the cornbread is nearly identical to hers, so that worked great for me.

I've never eaten at Chang's. I assume it's tolerable Asian food. I"m kinda picky about Asian food in general, I love it more authentic versus more American takeout, but I can eat the takeout.

[suncat05]

P.F. Chang's is okay. If you're eating at Panda Express you're getting cheated. Myself, and just like the Mom & Pop Italian & Mexican places, the local Mom & Pop Asian places are way better than the chain joints. JMHO. We all like what we like, so.........

[Catfan73]

Now where do you actually go? We still really aren’t dining out but we do carryout a LOT.

El Nopal (Mexican, not TexMex)
Tea Station Bistro (Chinese)
Drake’s (burger & fries)
Chik fil A (pretty much the only fast food we ever eat)
Tony Boombozz (pizza)

[Darrell KSR]

Where do we actually eat these days?

Like you, we're almost exclusively carry out right now, with some minor exceptions. We're more into local chain types -- for example, tonight we're going to have PJ's (Pat James') Full Moon BBQ (former UK football player under Bear Bryant, one of the Texas A&M coaches for the Junction Boys). We'll hit Jim-N-Nicks on occasion. For Mexican food, we'll eat Las Trojas or Pablos pretty regularly (although Las Trojas is about to price themselves out of my market. Got carryout for 4 last week, and it cost the same as a sit-down dinner we had for my daughter's graduation at another Mexican restaurant for 8, including drinks, outside of Auburn. We were traveling back to B'ham so no alcohol, but still).

For Chinese, local place, China Doll 2. There is no China Doll 1, as far as I know, so the name always intrigues me. We've had Panda Express, it's ok, in a Food Court fast food kinda way, and we will do that again if we're in a Food Court type of situation.

We travel semi-frequently (and will do more as the summer/fall arrives) on the road, and the go-to drive-through is Chick-Fil-A, with a backup of Popeye's.

We have eaten Marco's Pizza 2 or 3 times recently.

Don't really do hamburger places, but when we do, it's Five Guys. Just too easy to make burgers at home that are better, and if I'm going to have to go to the trouble of going to Five Guys, I might as well just grill.

[Darrell KSR]

It's funny, like Suncat said, everybody likes what they like. For me, I've been underwhelmed at Cracker Barrel, and have had the same experience at many of them. Food is just sorta meh (to me). The one thing I've really liked there is their turkey or chicken and dressing. Now, that I can enjoy. If I have a meat loaf or fish dish, I regret it. Chicken is ok. Chicken fried steak is meh. Nothing is bad, don't get me wrong, just if I'm spending money to eat, I like to enjoy it more. I do like the biscuits and cornbread.

[Catfan73]

I’m not a big Cracker Barrel fan.

There had to have been a China Doll before China Doll 2!