Chain Restaurants in Large Cities: Who goes there....seriously?

I love to travel and I love to eat...which are two pastimes that go well together. While I'm an adventurous eater, I wouldn't go toe to toe with Andrew Zimmern.

When walking around my favorite cities, I'm not exactly shocked to see chain restaurants like TGI Friday's, or Macaroni Grill. What makes my jaw slack with wonder...is that they are usually packed with people. I think to myself "Tourists and business lunches can only make up SO many of the customers here. Can Tourists & business lunches really fill these places day in & out?"

Take a city like Philadelphia...a city with a very rich Italian heritage. Who, in their right mind, would go to The Olive Garden (read: McDonalds for Italian Food) when you have your choice of literally HUNDREDS of authentic Italian restaurants to choose from....in a city that has AN ITALIAN SECTION, for Pete's sake!

This past week I spent four days in Boston. I stopped at a little soup stand to buy some New England clam chowder (read: CHOWDAH!)...because what ELSE should you eat for lunch in New England? Amazed....I looked to my left...only to see a long line at the adjacent Sbarro's (read: McDonalds of pizza)

I'm not a food snob. I'm not above a greasy fast-food burger on occasion. I have, at times, grunted gleefully while consuming an order of General Tso's chicken from a Chinese restaurant of questionable hygiene. I'm also aware that in some places...these are the ONLY restaurants available. I'm willing to bet that Boise, ID does not have an extensive selection of authentic Italian restaurants*. So, I wouldn't condemn smaller city diners for visiting chains......but really...in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles.....you have no excuse!

* By "bet" I mean that I already checked Google Maps and verified this for myself...so you can go ahead and bet me...but you'll lose.

you'd be surprised at how many city dwellers don't actually know much about their city. Pittsburgh at least has the excuse of being a college town--a big chunk of our population is kids who have lived here for a year or less.

When I lived in NYC, my family came to visit. They wanted Italian food. No problem. Their suggestion? Olive Garden.
I actually had to kill them. (Or take them to a *real* Italian restaurant, I don't remember.)

Um, excuuuuse me, but Pizza Hut, maybe Papa John's, is the McDonald's of pizza. Sbarro is more the Captain D's of pizza.

I have no idea what Captain D's is.

The southern california equivalent is people going to taco bell for mexican food, when you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a killer cheap, fresh, authentic taco joint.

...or people in Philly getting a "cheesesteak" from Subway.

no, no, no. Morons.

W.T.F., over?

Sometimes people don't want an authentic taste. Taco Bell doesn't taste like authentic tacos, and it isn't supposed to. It tastes like a Taco Bell taco, and sometimes that's what people have the urge for.

Same with Subway, same with Sbarro, same with pretty much everything else.

I admit that I eat Taco Bell on a fairly regular basis. But I don't consider it Mexican food. If I feel like eating actual Mexican food, there are a few places I can go for that.

Believe it or not, to some of us food isn't really a big deal. "Genuine" Italian food or Ragu, I really couldn't care less.

It's all about familiarity and the comfort yielded by not straying from it.

I think that's one of the saddest things I've ever read.

Not every meal has to be some big adventure. Sometimes you just need something cheap and easy to keep you from keeling over.

Why?

It's sad because the difference between genuine Italian food...and a jar of Ragu' is like the difference between making love to a beautiful woman...and getting hit in the face with a bottle by a crackhead.

If someone is poor and cannot afford to eat out....or has limited options due to location, mobility...whatever....I can see it. You go with what you can get.

When you have the disposable income...and can't see the difference between The Olive Garden & a locally owned Italian restaurant....or refuse to see the difference through ignorance...that's sad.

I am sad because I don't really have many choices . . . although, there is a new sushi place that just opened and is quite good . . . run by a guy from Hong Kong and his Scottish assistant.

I never said "every meal has to be some big adventure". I said I can't see how, when given an equal opportunity, someone could choose a chain over an authentic, locally owned restaurant.

It's not like Friday's or Applebee's is going to be insanely cheap, while the local place is going to be astronomically expensive.

Lasagna at the Philly Olive Garden is $13.25 Source

Lasagna at Portofino (which is 3 blocks away and a 35 year old business) is $18.00 Source.

That's 2 minutes worth of research...on one dish...in a three block walk...for a whopping difference of $4.75

Well I can't believe I'm sorta going to defend the chains but... they had to start somewhere and then they took their success on to other cities, but you're right about the larger cities and yes they do fill up on weekdays and weekends with tourists and quick lunch people.
Also some people feel comfort in being in a strange place, new environment and eating at a chain especially if you don't know the local restaurants.

I prefer local restaurants mostly but for $5.50 a Little Ceasers pizza can't be beat.

There's a third option: I don't much care about the difference. Eating good things is not something that brings me a conspicuous amount of pleasure. Sure, I enjoy some foods more than others. I'll splurge on good ice cream, and I make my own meatballs from scratch because I really like how I make them, but overall, food isn't something that turns me on like it does some people. On the other hand, I'd spend a lot of money and energy to go to New York to see a show by Richard Foreman. I'd spend $100 to see Tom Waits or Beck in concert. I'll read Foucault's Pendulum for hours and hours.

I don't think it's any sadder than some people not being very into movies or the theatre or books or playing football or any of the other millions of things that some people enjoy and some don't.

Besides, you like Garden State. Which one of us is sad now?

One thing I really hate about where I live now is that I pretty much have to go to a chain restaurant if I want to eat out. When I lived in Seattle, the only "chain" that I ate at was Taco Del Mar, and they're mostly confined to the Pacific Northwest. All my other regular haunts were locally owned and operated. I won't even start on how unavailable vegetarian food is here.

Yeah, I've heard that from a lot of people. That's why you get a pass if it's your ONLY option.

That was my point from the beginning....which is why I said I found that very sad. Failure to take joy in good food is to miss something in life.

I would have to say, even in small towns, you can do better than chain restaurants. My town has about 30,000 people (when college is in session) and there are many non-chain places to choose from.

Tex's Cafe: A local greasy spoon that has been around longer than I've been alive. It has a daily crowd of regulars.

Thunderhead Brewery: They keep winning beer competitions, and do a brick-oven pizza that is simply wonderful.

Grandpa's Steakhouse: I'm in the middle of beef country. What do you expect?

The French Cafe: It's not really French, and they only do lunches, but they have a marvelous coffeecake, great quiches, and everything is made from scratch.

A couple of authentic Mexican places (and my authentic, I mean Grandma supervises the kitchen and babysits while the rest of the family cooks and serves).

So it isn't fair to say that small towns are limited to crappy chain restaurants. We have an Applebee's, and I manage to avoid going there more than twice per year.

Psh. Sentimental twaddle.

So is failure to take joy in music, literature, theatre, physical activity, geography, astronomy, creating art, etc. etc. etc.

Don't you find it a bit egocentric to think the things that you particularly enjoy in the world are the more important things?

Yeah, that's the flip side to this: When I travel through some rural areas, the local indie food can be downright awful. As much as I bag on Starbucks coffee for being burned, it's still far better than the food-service grade brown water I've gotten in, say, rural Georgia. Ironically, that same town had a no-name gas station that made some of the best fried chicken I've ever had in my life.

You win some, you lose some.

Hardly. Eating is universal in a way nothing you mention is. You don't go to the theater every day nor do you have to partake in astronomy to survive, but you do have to eat.