Text 19493, 93 rader
Skriven 2009-01-11 07:55:46 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DALE SHIPP
Ärende: Re: Outback
===================
DSh> We think that Outback and their sister restaurant, Carraba's 
DSh> are pretty decent -- except for the long waiting lines to get 
DSh> in.

Diversity is America's strength.  Personally, I wouldn't wait
in a line to get into Outback even if the meals were free.


DSh> Other chains:
DSh> Red Robin:  Good Fish& chips, fair hamburger.

Don't mind their burgers, but found them overpriced.

DSh> Lonestar:   one visit was enough.

Never tried them.  We have another steakhouse chain called
"Longhorn Steak House" though, which is probably the worst
steak house I've ever eaten at. Don't understand how they
stay in business, because no one I've ever talked to who's
eaten there has liked it or gone back.  (Longhorn, I've found
out, is owned by Darden Restaurants - the same folks who
own Red Lobster and Olive Garden.  Hahahaha, no wonder they
suck.)

DSh> Olive Garden:  Yuck.

Agreed.

DSh> Red Lobster:  It seems to have gotten a bit better.  

My last experience there was over 5 years ago.  It was
mediocre.  Haven't been back.  I can sort of understand why
a RL would do well in, say, Iowa or Indiana.  Can't figure
out how they stay in business in New England, though.

DSh> Five Guys: pretty good hamburger -- nothing else.

Never been.

DSh> Wendy's:  used to be good, but not the same since Dave died.

I agree, but no fair calling in fast food. [g]

I'd add to the list a former member of the RL/OG family: Smokey Bones.
Worst barbecue restaurant I've ever been to - we should have
guessed when we were the only diners in the place on a Saturday
night and every other restaurant in town was packed.  LOL, it was
like being in the "before" scenes of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
Smokey Bones were so crappy that even Darden hated them - after 
closing almost half of the restaurants in the chain, they sold
the other half off to an investment group.  That was about a year
ago.  Now that they're not owned by Darden, perhaps I should give
them another try. 

Nah.


Also:

99 - Edible clam chowder, good burgers, good service. Maryanne and
     I often skip the line waiting for a table by sitting at the
     bar.

Friendly's - Hated them for decades, starting when they were bought
             by the Hershey Company.  Then Lynn started going there
             when she was in high school, because one of the local
             F's had become the after-concert hangout for her
             school's Music Dept.  Recently we've been to Friendly's
             several times; the burgers, while cooked a bit much
             for me, are still juicy and good, service is immeasurably
             better than it was, and their clam chowder is a few
             notches better than almost any other chain I've been
             to.  Hershey's came close to killing the restaurant
             and since divestiture, when founder Pres Blake returned
             to run the company again, they've closed a bunch of
             stores and slashed the menus to return more closely to
             their 1930's burger-and-ice-cream roots (with, of course,
             some modern tweaks.)  We no longer avoid them.

It occurs to me that we could start a whole new echo conference just
for discussion of bad chain restaurants. [g]




---
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Restaurant Reviews; If I post it here in NCE, you'll find it 
blogged with photos at Dave's Cupboard.

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(The extra shelf in Dave's Cupboard.
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)