Invisapeeps 2.0

EmmDee · Guru

Regional Food Chains that are all that

iluvsuomi1989 · Senior Member

I like Perkins. I love the fact that when you first sit down, they plop a pitcher of coffee on your table so you can pour yourself and not have to keep asking the server.

There are some White Castles near me, if I go over the NYS line into the Bronx. I've been to Waffle Houses when I traveled some down south.

I've never heard of Pot Belly, Whataburger, or Taco Cabana.

Riding in the WY Wind · ~Ride Free~ ~ Live Free~ (M)

Not a lot of unique or exciting places like those in my WY town, so I shall enjoy through all of your experiences

OpheliaDev1 · Guru

Jimmy Johns is AWESOME. Their bread is GREAT.

Waffle House is also amazing. My mom and I like to split a pecan waffle (extra pecans) and either cheese and ham hashbrowns or a grilled cheese sandwich.

We have a Whataburger near us, but I've never tried it.

EmmDee · Guru

We have Jimmy Johns but I have never been.

iluvsuomi1989 · Senior Member

Near me are mostly fast food national chains, like McDonald's, BK, Wendy's, KFC and Taco Bell's. A few family style national chain restaurants, like Friendly's, Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, PF Chengs, Chilis, and Outback. We also have the Legal Seafoods; I'm not sure it it's national or more in the Northeast. Oh, and Red Lobster, but I hear that chain is not doing well.

I still prefer eating at family-owned restaurants rather than chains, but with restaurants being so expensive to operate, it seems the chains are taking over. Definitely, if I'm traveling to another state/city, I want to eat at a place that I can't eat in when I'm home, so I do head for the one-of-a-kind places.

Balloon Animal · Guru

hmm I used to do Waffle House when I was young all the time. It was like my hang out for one Summer in college. We were there literally almost every night.

I go to Panera a lot. That is my go to place when it comes to getting people "meals". I get them gift cards from there or ask them what I can pick up there for them. I think it has something for everyone and lots of variety and it is more upscale fast food so its pretty decent.

I go to Moes a lot which is like a Chipotle where they make the giant burritos.

I also like O Charleys. Cheesy potato soup and the rolls. YUM!

We hit Mcdonalds up quite a bit because Robot and I love the fries.

I like Taco Bell but I am the only one in the family besides DD that likes it. Hip Hop likes the cinnamon twists.

We like Sonic too.

Oh and Cicis Pizza for a pizza buffet.

That is about the only places we hit up regularly.

Balloon Animal · Guru

OpheliaDev1 wrote:
Jimmy Johns is AWESOME. Their bread is GREAT.

Waffle House is also amazing. My mom and I like to split a pecan waffle (extra pecans) and either cheese and ham hashbrowns or a grilled cheese sandwich.

We have a Whataburger near us, but I've never tried it.

We just got a Jimmy Johns near us. I had had them once when we were downtown but they did not have one in the suburbs. But now they do.

OpheliaDev1 · Guru

I like Chipotle better than Moe's. Although I didn't try them for a long time b/c of the South Park "Chipotle-way" episode was sort of gross.

melonbird · Member

Eat n Park. Smiley cookies and grilled stickies! And an awesome breakfast buffet.

winds55 · Guru

Steak 'n Shake, which according to TMZ is going to be in Southern California soon. Perkins is good; I love places where I can have breakfast for supper. Same with Bob Evans. Cici's pizza is a step above Domino's, but the brownies are to die for.

I had In-n-Out in California; I wish they'd get one here.

White Castles are an acquired taste. My grandfather would always stop in Indy for a bag of them when we visited family. My aunt would get mad if I didn't bring some up when I visited home when I lived in Indy, even though she wasn't supposed to eat them. I keep thinking about getting some when I visit Indy, but I don't have an extra day to deal with the after-effects.

RichardInTN · I believe in I.D.I.C.

All the chains I'd like to go national... already are!

Now, that said... there are some that I'd like to have a location in my town so I could partake of their awesomeness more often than "next time we are in Knoxville we have to hit one of them for lunch!": I'd like to have a Firehouse Subs, I'd like to have a Benihana, I'd like to have an Olive Garden, I'd like to have a Steak 'n' Shake.

ladyloonatic · Senior Member

I like Perkins, one of the nice things about Perkins is that they are pretty consistent from location to location.

I would sooner starve than eat at White Castle. A lot of my friends are fanatics about White Castle, I think it's crazy. Must be more of a pop-cult-like thing (that's not the expression I was looking for, but I hope you know what I mean. Kind of like people who see the Rocky Horror Picture Show in costume and with all the props.)

I wish we had more of the popular chains. I'd like a Chipotle's. We just got a Buffalo Wild Wings, I was excited about it at first, but wasn't real impressed the time I went. I'll probably give it another shot.

I would like a Cracker Barrel (though I've never been to one, sounds like it would be good.)

Outback sounds good too. We used to have a Bonanza steakhouse that we went to a lot, don't know what happened to them.

OpheliaDev1 · Guru

I am currently IN LOVE with Olive Garden's crispy risotto bites.

genie · Veteran Member

Where does Perkins not exist? We have them in every significant western canadian city I'm aware of. It was our post-bar hangout in highschool/university. I haven't eaten there in years except for the occasional road trip where we're looking for food in the middle of the night. I've been to the Waffle House before when I was in the states and I thought it was pretty much indistinguishable from Perkins and other breakfast places.
I really like Taco Cabana and In-and-Out... I tried Whataburger and thought it was meh.

FrootLoop · Naturally Frootilicious

I miss Hot n Now, especially their olive burger. Gloriously messy deliciousness.

RichardInTN · I believe in I.D.I.C.

I've never had a "Hot n Now" burger... but I definitely agree on the "gloriously messy deliciousness" of burgers in general. I've never had an awesome burger that was also neat and clean.

There's just something wrong with a burger that's not dripping stuff out of it while you are trying to eat it. Messy burgers just taste better.

iluvsuomi1989 · Senior Member

genie wrote:
Where does Perkins not exist? We have them in every significant western canadian city I'm aware of. It was our post-bar hangout in highschool/university. I haven't eaten there in years except for the occasional road trip where we're looking for food in the middle of the night. I've been to the Waffle House before when I was in the states and I thought it was pretty much indistinguishable from Perkins and other breakfast places.
I really like Taco Cabana and In-and-Out... I tried Whataburger and thought it was meh.

Perkins are mostly down South and Mid-West, I believe. I've lived in the Northeast all my life and never was in one until I traveled to South Carolina for the first time. I now live in CT and have never seen one here.

Balloon Animal · Guru

Not many Perkins around where I live and its in the South. There used to be one in a large truck stop type gas station near my mom and I ate there a couple times. But it went out of business and became something else I believe.

Anyone ever ate at Cheddar's? They just built one in our city and I heard it is always crowded but someone said it was about like a Shoney's but another person said it was more like an O'Charleys.

EmmDee · Guru

genie wrote:
Where does Perkins not exist? We have them in every significant western canadian city I'm aware of. It was our post-bar hangout in highschool/university. I haven't eaten there in years except for the occasional road trip where we're looking for food in the middle of the night. I've been to the Waffle House before when I was in the states and I thought it was pretty much indistinguishable from Perkins and other breakfast places.
I really like Taco Cabana and In-and-Out... I tried Whataburger and thought it was meh.

I have only had Perkins in Minnesota and I believe Iowa. I never knew of them before my trip up there. Don't think there are any in Texas.

I won't hold your meh feelings about Whataburger against you. I wonder what you had there though.

Scooby · Newbie

We don't have a Perkins in south Georgia.

We have Waffle House, Whataburger, Steak N Shake and Zaxby's. All are awesome! You can't beat Zaxby's for chicken tenders. We have Chik Fil A which I think is still basically regional to the south. I love CFA food.

-- Edited by Scooby on Sunday 23rd of March 2014 09:18:00 PM

winds55 · Guru

Chik Fil A has made it up north. Closest one is 30 minutes away - if I have to be in that area for some reason (closest Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, and mall from hell) I usually hit their drive-thru after a debate between Five Guys, Chik-Fil-A, Red Robin and Outback.

Balloon Animal · Guru

Oh yeah Red Robin is the bomb! One of our favorites! Pretzel bites OMG! Unlimited fries! All kinds of yummy milkshakes and desserts and ****tails! Yes please!

we also have Steak and Shakes but I hate dining in because it always takes FOREVER no matter how busy they are.

winds55 · Guru

I've only had a problem once at Steak 'n' Shake - I love their chicken fingers and fries with honey mustard sauce.

Balloon Animal · Guru

Steak and Shake is delicious. They just take long in the drive through which is fine since they have to hand make everything but then they ignore the dine in people even more so to work drive through. So if you dine in, it takes a zillion years. Once just me and a girlfriend went there when it was fairly empty and it took 3 hours to eat. Because we waited an hour for our food. Then another time I went and my DD ordered a milk shake and they brought her the wrong type. By the time they brought her the replacement she was already done eating. It took that long. It could just be my particular Steak and Shake that has the issues. I pretty much only eat at this one for the most part. But that one just has serious issues with managing getting people their food in a timely manner.

flan327 · Senior Member

I cannot stand Subway or Jimmy Johns. Penn Station has great subs.

I prefer Noodles & Company to Panera, frankly, but like Panera's baked goods.

Boston Market has delicious fresh food. Their white meat turkey is my favorite.

Yes, Steak & Shake really can't be beat.

flan

Evil Stepmother · Guru

Perkins is my favorite chain for breakfast or brunch. We recently got a Chick Fil A, but I haven't ever been to one. It has been pretty crowded ever since it opened. My husband loves Cracker Barrel, so we eat there way more than I would like.

Desdenova · Motherhood: Sleep is for the weak!!

I finally thought of something to comment on here!

We have very few of your chain restaurants, I've been to chili's, applebes and Ihop and I love them all lol. They are on the expensive side for here around here but they have pretty good food.

Also I once eat at a popeye's in another state and I didn't like it.

And the times I've been on the US I've visited Outback and I love it!!!

winds55 · Guru

Outback is delicious - much better than Texas Roadhouse.

living revived · Senior Member

In N Out!

And Sonic.

EmmDee · Guru

I am not fond of Texas Roadhouse and don't understand why it has made it. It is just ok to me. If someone really wanted to go there, I would. I would never suggest it and I think I have only been there twice.

Riding in the WY Wind · ~Ride Free~ ~ Live Free~ (M)

we don't have a Texas Roadhouse in our town but two nearest towns 155 miles away have them and we enjoy it there, I reaslly like the side salad and the baked sweet potato minus the marshmellows and other sweet topping, just give me butter yumm

Evil Stepmother · Guru

We don't have texas roadhouse either, but we do have a Longhorn. It's good but kind of pricy. last time we were there we had an $80 lunch for the three of us. It was dh's birthday and luckily we had a gift from Christmas.

EmmDee · Guru

I haven't had bad experiences at TR, I just didn't find it worth the trouble of going out. I am pretty selective with where/what I eat out. I like to eat things that I do not know how to cook myself. Our last splurge was a very traditional German place out of town. It was the most authentic I have had since Germany. We ended up spending more than we planned but it was an experience as much as a meal.

Balloon Animal · Guru

we have a lot of steak places but we don't really go to them as that is not the kind of food the kids and I eat, DH likes them. We have Outback, Texas Roadhouse, Longhorn, Ryan's so several steak places. Trying to think of the other ones.....The Chop House

ana · Senior Member

We don't have a lot of the chains you have down there. We do have a Buffalo Wild Wings and it was the most horrible food I have ever had in my life! The carrots were slimy! Yup, really, really bad. I will never go back there.

Genie, we don't have a Perkins. I've never been there. We do have a Big Boy. It's not bad.

We used to have Outback and Olive Garden. They both closed. They were both always super busy but I think the profit margin is larger in the States due to lower taxes and wages.

Balloon Animal · Guru

We have Buffalo Wild Wings around here- two of them. They are actually super popular. Maybe yours is just bad. I don't know, but people seem to love the ones here.

ana · Senior Member

I didn't even like the setup BA. It was like eating in a cafeteria what with the paper dishes and the way the restaurant was laid out. I guess I expected a sitdown restaurant not a fast food place. And can you call yourself fast food if you have servers and take 1/2 hour to serve wings?

RichardInTN · I believe in I.D.I.C.

We had a Buffalo Wild Wings here... it closed some two-odd years ago. from what I heard the food was pretty disgusting (even for wings).

Balloon Animal · Guru

I think most people around here go for drinking and hook ups and playing the games.

RichardInTN · I believe in I.D.I.C.

LOL... well if that's the business model for BWW... I understand why it didn't survive here!

This is NOT a "go out and drink and party and hook-up" town. (not saying those are, in any way, bad things... just that this is NOT a town that would be a good business model to use).

ana · Senior Member

Really? Who wants to go to a cafeteria to hook up? Wouldn't a loud dimly lit bar be better?

EmmDee · Guru

We have a large "geek" population around here so there a numerous places that have a similar business model where they host a lot of trivia and game nights. It is a very common social thing around here and I bet there are a lot of people scoping out others for dates. I have a lot of friends who frequent these places even though I have never gotten into it.