Have to disagree to a certain degree. The chain places abroad are run by whoever's in charge there. It's up to them. I'd say it's more likely to be clean in a nice family restaurant where they put some effort into it as opposed to just another McDonald's run by some guy who's just running a McDonald's. But there really isn't any good way of knowing.

Exactly. Iceberg lettuce= evil

i've buried most of the experience in my subconscious, but the one part that surfaces is how i myself for the rest of the night.

My wife had a thing for Olive Garden for a brief spell. Intrigued, I finally went with her for lunch one day and ended up dropping $80 for two tiny 5oz glasses of wine, one lame half-liter, one appetizer and two entrees so generic and forgettable that if you'd asked me at dinner what I'd had for lunch I would've been stumped.

The only thing I think I remember, and to be honest I'm not a hundred percent on it, is that they had good breadsticks. But then again, how can you fuck up breadsticks?

We sell £2 samosas in our tube stations? I use the Underground most days and I've never come across that. What station was it at? I want to change my commute so I go through there, veggie samosas are awesome.

I'm quite jealous of your awesome samosa-finding powers.

oh man! absolutely. im also travelling all the time to different countries and seeking out the local cuisine. of course, italy is easy to find good food (but NY/EastCoast pizza is till the best in the world). Poland had really good local dishes readily available. Germany, not so much, but German food is really good. English fast food is disgusting but delicious! Im a fan of cooking too, so i love picking up new recipes.
Also +1 on the In-N-Out. And Olive Garden blows! I love Fried Chicken, but KFC is an abomination.

I went to an Olive Garden once and wasn't impressed at all.

My mom, who was born in Italy, raised on that land's native cooking, and has cooked it herself (very well, I might add) all her life, now loves Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill (another equally offensive chain restaurant). Most of the mom & pop Italian places in Detroit (where she lives) have gone by the wayside, and have been replaced by Olive Garden and others of its ilk. I guess in some areas it's a matter of convenience, which so many people crave over taste anyways.

I was sad. Mom's street cred went way down when I learned this. Next time I visit, I'm gonna do all the cooking in order to hopefully get her back on track.

I love Chain restaurants. Not every meal has to be a fucking event. Sometimes you just want something ordinary that you know is going to be decent.

I think "I hate chain restaurants" is the new "I don't own a television".

We went to an Olive Garden the other night... the recommended wine was Beringer White Zinfandel.

as bad as it may sound, i think the same applies to eating at teppanyaki around here, but dammit, they're still so much better than murder king.

also, i can't help but go to waffle house whenever i venture south. is this a less pronounced case of seeking better local food (even though it IS a chain?) because one can only eat biscuits and gravy at alice's diner so many times. wait. maybe i just answered my own question. sweet. this is just like therapy! thanks, scott! the check i sin the mail.

Amen to that, I too refuse to accept the fact that you go out to eat and get the exact same thing you'd have made at home, or go to a mexican restaurant abroad? Fuck no, that doesn't work at all.

And some of the best meals I've had have come from choosing the little restaurant that's run by mom & pop over the established franchise or fast food joint.

I'm a food snob. I'd rather stay home most of the time and cook my own food, 'cause I know it's going to be better than the food I get out at restaurants 90% of the time. That being said, Olive Garden's baked ziti is pretty damn good (it's the only thing I'll get there). Also, I think Olive Garden is probably the best chain out there. The only thing I'll ever get at Applebees, TGI Fridays, or Chile's is fajitas, but that's not saying a whole lot. It's hard to fuck up grilled chicken, but damn it still happens. I dunno. I guess I'm probably spoiled, I grew up in Bethesda Maryland where they have authentic cuisine from probably every country under the sun, and my dad loved eating out. Imagine going out to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant when you're 6 years old or going to little Italy in Baltimore. Yum...


Oh yeah, please, please write more food columns. I've been waiting for SG to get around to this. Maybe highlight a new dish we can practice at home. That'd be the shit.

Peace.