Food Does this describe your choice in restaurants? It absolutely does mine.

i too was unimpresed w 5guys fries.
in tx and ohio i have discovered potbelly subs. warm n tasty. firehouse and penn station subs are similar. its getting tough to find cheap food that isnt greasy

 

I had been reading about a place called da Burg. It's a hawker stall but it serves very good hamburgers. Their motto is, Burgers aren't fast food.

I went there last night to get some takeaway burgers and, holy crap, those were some awesome burgers. If you are ever in Singapore and desperate for a burger of quality... go there.

 

My wife and I are reasonably good cooks. If we go out to eat, it's always about convenience.

With that in mind, we split about 50/50 between meals that are outside our cooking skills and just getting fed and out the door.

5 brothers and Outback are fine; but would qualify as getting fed and out the door. Most of the time, we'll choose a small ethnic restaurant if we have a choice. I'm always looking for new ideas to steal emulate in my own cooking.

 

I get fast food from time to time, but to be honest I'd usually just rather order take-out from a a little Thai place I know of. Way better food and about the same price. That said I'm in the mood for a greasy burger every now and again. Even with pizza there's a little place down the road that has way better pizza than any of the chains for a cheaper price.
As far as restaurants, I don't eat at restaurants all that often but when I do it's rarely to a chain because I'm usually hitting one of my three favorite restaurants if I'm the one choosing. There are a couple of local places that make great food. Depending on how much I want to spend really is the only factor in choosing where on a given night. One's good, but super cheap. One's better, but average priced. One's great but expensive.

 

I go to Applebees once in a while because my wife likes it and I've found a couple menu items I like. We also go to some non-chain restaurants around home.

If I'm traveling solo and on the road during the day I'll find a Burger King or a Quiznos because they are convenient and quick, I'll stop at McDonalds only as a very last resort.

At night I tend to find ethnic restaurants close to my hotel and which I'm sure I can find my way to/from and will stop at a chain only if I can't find anything else. Sometimes I find something good, other times it's a waste of money.

If I'm traveling with a bunch of guys for work I'll generally go where they do, which tends to be non-chain or upscale chain. Hardly ever the hotel restaurant.

What matters to me first, after food, where bland food is a no-no, is the atmosphere. I hate restaurants with what I think of as the sports bar atmosphere where I can't enjoy a peaceful dinner because the TV or music is quite loud.

 

I can't remember the last time I went into a chain. I can smell the local KFC at my house, but have never been in it, since I moved into this house (9 or 10 years).

I can make better food at home - if I'm going out for dinner I'm more likely to go somewhere upmarket. Fast food options is usually noodles or fish and chips. If I want a burger, I'll make it myself, or not go to a chain.

 

It's funny, in Asia, you want to eat in the hotel restaurants. Some of the best restaurants in town, will be associated with a large hotel (we are talking luxury hotel as opposed to Holiday Inn Select). Most of the big name chefs are in hotels (Ramsay, Roubochon, Tetsuya, Batali, Boulud, etc.).

 

I can't stand Friday's, everything on their menu tastes like salt. I only go to Applebees and other chains when I am away on business and I can't find a good local restaurant. When we go out for lunch at work we almost always end up at Chili's, which I also can't stand.

Chili's - what is the deal with the no mexican fare? Add some mexican food to the menu for god's sake. Yeah, I know there are a few items, but not really.

 

It is changing a little though. In the past few years there have been a small number of fine dining restaurants opening up that are not affiliated with hotels... but they are few and far between.

 

I'm not a fan of chains, as their food tends to be meh, and I don't enjoy the generic feel in general. Non-chain restaurants tend to have better food (though not always, of course) and a more interesting feel. Luckily there are a lot of of those around Seattle. Though I'll occasionally go to chains if I'm with others who are planning to go there.. It's just not as nice.

 

There is a site...I guess I could name it, (does this break any rules?) that runs on posts made by "supposedly" actual people, it rates all kinds of eating places...generally I like to see how many 5 stars vs 1 or 2 star ratings...it has been pretty accurate....but mostly P and I decide what to have for dinner and we share the cooking ( I shop for any items we don't have "in stock")...there are so many internet recipe sites that I gave away about 100 cookbooks.
As far as Pizza and Bagels, I still haven't found a really good one of either in south FL.
McD, well, I do like the $1.00 coffee best bargain around...
As an afterthought, Bonefish Grille usually has great mussels....

 

Cheap does not equal good

 

I'm not particularly against chain restaurants as long is the food and service are good but most of the placed i tend to frequent are local or small local chain type places. Many of the places I frequent offer not only better food than the same type of national chain but the owner/chef is someone I know either as a friend or acquaintance.

 

I am much more likely to go a local place (Dinners are the best)- the food, customer service, and wait are usually more than acceptable. However, I love a burger on the run and I like the food I get at Wendy's and BurgerKing. However, depending on which friends invited me out, I might end up at Red Lobster or a Steak House somewhere.
And while money has something to do with it, I find I like the food at dinners way better than anything I can get at a casual eatery.
And, since Five Guys seems to be popping up a lot in the thread, I'll add my two cents - I don't really like their food, they fall in the same group for me that Red Robin does - too my hype, not enough taste.)

 

I didn't realize how removed I was from chain restaurants until I visited Olympia, WA and our meals were at Olive Garden, Red Robin, and Dennys.

In my neck of the woods, there are tons of small local quick food places either of the american or mexican variety. Same thing with restaurants. I really have to go out of my way to get to a Red Lobster, Applebees, or Chili's. Once I learned how to make the cheddar bay biscuits at home, I had no reason to hit up those places when the same fare can be found closer and I am supporting a local business.

 

My wife and I are always at odds about this. She favors the Applebees, Olive Garden, chain stores. She's a very picky eater and usually knows what she's going to order before going in. I love food, and the first thing I look for on a menu is something that's new and interesting that I haven't tried before. I would much rather go to a place I've never heard of and see what it's like. I've found that a lot of hole in the wall, family owned restaurants have much better food, service, and not such a crowd. The downside is there's no guarantee she'll find something she likes. We compromise sometimes, but I usually give in when we're together. When I'm by myself or traveling for work I like to experiment.