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@PerkyMac: Whenever we write a blog post about chains, our goal isn't to bash. That's not our style.* When we do write something negative, we try to back up what we say. Just this week, I'd point out that all the Ruby Tuesday stuff we talked about bashed the marketing campaign and not the chain itself (and I even favorably reviewed its burgers). I really don't like reflexive corporate/chain bashing, so I try to watch out for in anything we publish to the blog portion of SE.

*My one exception might be pizza chains, which, as a pizza freak, I cannot resist sticking it to. :-/

@Adam ~ So, you are saying steak freaks can't take that same position???

@Perk~ DH and I only go to Morton's for chain restaurants. I get a real thrill when I go there. I won't eat at any other chain. I love their steakhouse side dishes! I generally cook a wicked good steak at home, but they have never let me down when I make it totally clear it needs to be Pittsburgh Rare! I also should add, we only go there when it is a special occasion.

I'd probably opt for the local Ruth's Chris over the local Morton's, but YMMV. I have had wretched meals at P.F. Chang's, Fleming's (same ownership, I found out later, as Chang's), and the Cheesecake Factory. And let's not even go there when it comes to Olive Garden, Denny's and IHOP. When travelling, about the only chain sign I look for is Popeye's.

Should follow that up with a chain food horror story-----went to a Chili's about a year ago because it was late and convenient. We had CRICKETS in our food and under our table, and after politely giving a head's up to the waitress, she offered to give us a free dessert. Still get the goosebumps.

@lemons ~ Our Ruth's Chris restaurants here in the Philadelphia area are not so good. The Proprietor has also opened a signature restaurant in New Hope and I won't go there either. I had a great dinner at Ruth's Chris on vacation in Palm Beach.

@nichole ~ I would LOVE me a $2 Margarita. Went out for girl's night last weekend and those bad boys were $10!!

For chain restaurant's, I've enjoyed consistently good food at Legal Seafoods various branches.

Question - At what point does a restaurant go from having more than one location to being a chain?

@Perky -- I don't think Adam was chastising you so much as giving an explanation of the SE editorial position with the bonus side effect of giving everyone a heads-up -- baseless bashing likely won't get posted.

@itzaryt -- I think Adam was being sarcastic with the pizza exception.

Face it -- there are some topics that seem to always turn into a game of merciless bashing and one-upping the previous snarky remark e.g. any thread about everyone's favorite culinary broadcaster and any discussion of their favorite (tongue firmly in cheek here) blonde hostess.

And frankly, it does get tiresome.

As for chains -- Friendly's Restaurant, but they seemed to be disappearing at an alarming rate last time I was back home. We would go there every time we went home for a visit - mainly for dessert. Not because the food is great -- it's just average burgers and such -- but the Reeses Pieces Sundae's are my husband's favorite :-)

ooh, almost forgot one of my newer favorites:

Oregano's. It's an Arizona pizza bistro that is just really, really good. The atmosphere is a little gaudy for my personal taste, but the food is worth it and I often even just avoid it by ordering take out (especially since it gets really crowded).

Panera Bread has okay soup, and the stores smell really good.

I go to Panera when there is no other options. What I really hate most about the Olive Garden, besides the food, is the fact where I live in Central NJ there are literally a zillon great Italian places, one of which is cheap, run by Neapolitan immigrants but just because it is in an unprepossessing strip mall, my family insists on going to the Olive Garden. And oh, yeah, when I went out with them in NYC they kept saying wistfully how 'you can get bigger portions and cheaper at the Olive Garden.'

Re: Friendly's--I used to go sometimes with friends (ha) in high school. I'd get the smaller Reeces peanut butter cup sundae, but I remember the Reeces Pieces and Snicker Sundaes were so huge that the tall, skinny girls would bet some of the football playing guys that they could finish them and engage in eating contests.

From time to time, I like going to McDonald's and eating a couple of cheeseburgers with an order of fries. Yes fries, and I used to live in Brussels. MacD's fries are the best of the US chains, IMO.

I second joyyy's recommendation of Taco Cabana, and raise Taco Tote, for Texas. Both strive to be more than chain MEX joints. But because I'm on the border, neither is as good as a hole-in-the-wall, formica-table-top dive joint.

In El Paso, Texas, there are "local chains" that are tasty. For Mexican food, Carnitas Queretara serves up good pork dishes, which are a rarity in beef-dominant Chihuahua and Sonora states; Ciro's is all over town and uses the same menu card (but with enough variations from place to place to generate enthusiastic discussion by locals).

@ TikPundit - Taco Tote is what I was going for, but I know they are of similar goodness. Any rec's for east El Paso specifically?

I really like Panera/Atlanta Bread Company/Boudin (I lump them together because their menus are very close, and all have generally good quality and products). As for Mexican food chains, Rubio's fish tacos are the best.

The Other loves the Firecracker Chicken wraps from Longhorn; so much so that nearly every special occasion is celebrated there. I like Longhorn just fine. Most of them that I've been to can cook and season a steak correctly, and, really, that's all I want out of a steakhouse.

Personally, I travel a few times a month, so I eat at chains pretty frequently. I like Cracker Barrel, because it's one of the few chains I know of that is almost completely MSG free (Steak and Shake being the other). I wish they offered a little more in the realm of fresh vegetables than iceberg salads, but I grew up in the South, and thus, used to overcooked veggies.

Well, when you live in a rural area, chains are generally what you get when you want to take the kids out someplace that's not a bar with a fish fry. :-) Our number one criteria is family friendly, since we never go out to eat without kids. If the kids don't like it, we won't be back. Our favorite place to go when traveling, because our kids always eat well there is Ruby Tuesday's. For breakfasts if there is a Cracker Barrel nearby when traveling, that's our go-to spot.

Locally we've been known to hit up Red Robin for burgers, and more recently discovered that Old Chicago has great pizza. Again though, here in the sticks, there is no such thing as great pizza- the choice is Pizza Hut or Dominos, so to find a restaurant with great deep dish pizza is nice. How I define great is that the vegetables taste like vegetables, the sauce tastes fresh and tomatoey, and the cheese does not taste like it just came off the back of a Sysco truck- as is the case at most pizza places around here.

about the only chain i will eat at is Atlanta Bread, not because the quality is so great but because its possible to get a reasonable sized portion, they offer a 1/2 sandwich with soup or salad and as long as you request thinly sliced bread, it's pretty good. on a side note, I got all excited that we finally got a PF Chang's in the area, hey its Alabama bbq we've got, good chinese no, anyway it took 3 days to get a reservation that wasn't at 9pm. when SO and I finally went I was heartbroken, the app was wonderful a light tasty crab wanton with truly huge chunks of fresh crab. However the meal went down hill fast when they served the soup, i always order egg drop soup the first time in a chinese rest. cause i figure its one of the simplest things to prepare and gives you an idea of what the rest of the meal will be like. My egg drop soup, which should have been a lovely golden color was GRAY! I kid you not! it quite litterally tasted like someone ran a chicken through a pan of dirty dish water then heated it and thickened it with cornstarch. NEVER AGAIN!

i love le pain quotidien. they seem to be taking over new york, though.

I like Longhorn because of their consistency, they accommodate requests, and their service is generally above average, especially for the price. They don't add salt or butter to my food, and I get my steak as rare as they can legally cook (or not cook?) it -- not Kansas rare.

Blue Canyon is a great place because their food is fun and delicious, and it's comfortable. They also accommodate serving size with the # of people in the party.

The main issue I have with a lot of chain restaurants is with boring dishes and lack of consistent QC, e.g., sub-par ingredients, poor control of doneness. Another layer is service and atmosphere.

This is why I refuse to go to Bennigan's (lol), Cheesecake Factory, TGI Friday's, Chili's, Macaroni Grill, PF Chang's, Brio, Abuelo, Buca di Beppo, and a host of other similar places.

Chili's food was mediocre, but what made me definitely not want to return after eating their twice ~8 years ago, was because they charged me ~$10 more that what I signed off on. I always shred my receipts, especially dinner receipts, when I get home so I don't have scraps of paper all over the place.

At Abuelo, my husband had a food stained cloth napkin. Not merely discoloration, but chunks of dried refried beans inside his napkin after he unrolled his utensils. Of course, he asked for another. When he unrolled the next napkin for his utensils, there was dried salsa caked into the napkins. He asked for a third napkin. The server was getting visibly ticked off and haphazardly dropped it off on the table and grabbed the salsa encrusted napkin/utensils away. When he unrolled his 3rd set, it was discolored with yellow splotches, but he was so fed up, that he kept the napkin. No apologies by the staff. It was the first and last time we we've gone there.

@ joyy: I don't really know the East Side as I'm in the Upper Valley. I have heard there is a good restaurant near the Socorro mission... you can't miss it if you're going to the mission, as it looks like an adobe house and is well-advertised. Sorry I don't know more.

I've been once to each of the following:

*Cheesecake factory - hated it! It felt like er, a factory. Too many people, too much noise, way too much stuff on the menu. But the cheesecake I had was excellent;

*Ruby Tuesday's - was daft enough to order crabcakes, won't go there again;

*TGI Friday's - same as Ruby Tuesday's, but again, I had a very good cheesecake there. Still not enough to make me want to come back.

The one chain restaurant that I do like is Charlie Brown's. I love their salad bar (much better than Ruby Tuesday's) and they have a nice menu, I can always find something to my liking there. the service is usually excellent, too.

We also like Joshua Huddy's, which used to be a part of Ground Round chain and still has pretty much the same menu. Their wings are good, as well as their kebabs, and my Other Half loves their burgers.

We have an Atlanta Bread Company shop right next to us (a 5-minute walk away), and their bread is excellent, but I've never eaten there, most likely because I can always have a "soup & sandwich" combo at home and it seems silly to specifically go there for it. However, if I ever need to have a lunch out and come across their shop someplace else, I'm more than willing to give them a try.

@wookie ~ I am very aware of that. Again, the question of why was a tad sarcastic on my part. If it was a quality chain restaurant, they wouldn't have gone bankrupt, IMO.

Coming from a suburban mid west background, I lived on chain restaurants!! Red Lobster was a favorite and in college, Bennigans became my best friend (the reuben sandwich and brownie bottom pie used to make my day)

Now that I'm in Philly, I try not to go to chains, there's so many other places I could go! But, I love Corner Bakery and Au Bon Pain for lunch!!

@all ~~~~~~~~
Thanks so much for the informative responses. I must admit, there are many chains listed that I have never heard of and some I have yet to try, but definitely will now. If I'm on the road, I now have a list of some to watch for. SE community is just so GREAT!

@nade to the chiff ~ (nod to the chef!) LOL @ Pig's Knuckle, Arkansas. And good point regarding consistency, although I'm sure the diligence of each manager has a lot to do with that.

Forgot to add, I worked in the biz for a long time and I've had my own bad experiences - so I've seen a fair share of critters and stuff in the food. It doesn't deter me from eating there unless it happened more than once because I know it didn't happen on purpose.

Springboarding off Tara Tot

Ruby Tuesday's has the best turkey burgers.
Cheddar's - OMG...I ate that artie dip for weeks (until I figured out how many calories I was chowing).
PF Chang's - Lettuce Wraps rule!!
Carrabba's - Cozze en Bianco (don't touch the bowl even if there are no mussels. As long as I have bread and you want to keep your arm, back off!)
Longhorn - I love that I can get a plain baked sweet potato as a side.
Cheesecake Factory - Like some dishes but do NOT like the cheesecake - it's way too whipped and fluffy for me.

@ Tara Tot - You can find the recipe for Chili's southwestern eggrolls online. Shout if you want it.

regarding original pancake house. I live about 5 min. from the original in Portland oregon. i can honestly say after eating at about 6 others in nevada, arizona,washington and califorinia, this is one chain that fails to live up to the original. every other one i have been too is just mediocre, through away meals of typical breakfast fare! the orginal original is an institution in portland and has always been very consistant and tasty!

I like Chili's but not because the food is spectacular. I usually go there because my daughter and I can have the black bean patties substituted on our burgers and the meat eaters in the house can have their meat.

I do like the Olive Garden, also because their are items my daughter and I can eat without asking them to "hold" the meat.