chain vs vs independent restaurants

[purbeast0]

I'd hardly call a restaurant with 3 or 4 locations a chain... although technically they probably are.

I would eat at any of those restaurants you linked. :thumbsup: I might have to check out Matchbox next time I'm in Palm Springs.

well that is why i'm wondering what constitutes "chain". i know the guy who is one of the 3 owners of cava and it was just 1 restaurant for a couple years and they expanded. and now they even have a chipotle type of fast food joint too with their brand.

http://cavagrill.com/locations/

i remember when they only had 1 of those too, and now they have 5.

if we're talking about national chains, most national chains are middle of the pack restaurants, so they aren't supposed to compete with higher end non-chain restaurants. so it wouldn't be surprising that non-chains are preferred.

EDIT:

i believe i recall you are in san diego. i remember i ate at Azul Steakhouse in La Jolla when i was there and thought that place was one of the best meals i've ever had.

 

[zinfamous]

Independent for the most part, except P F Changs, which is the best restaurant anywhere.

 

[purbeast0]

i would personally rather have panda express at the mall than pf changs. that place is totally overrated to me. they have a sister "faster food" place called pei wei, which i'd MUCH prefer to eat at than pf changs.

 

[JulesMaximus]

well that is why i'm wondering what constitutes "chain". i know the guy who is one of the 3 owners of cava and it was just 1 restaurant for a couple years and they expanded. and now they even have a chipotle type of fast food joint too with their brand.

http://cavagrill.com/locations/

i remember when they only had 1 of those too, and now they have 5.

if we're talking about national chains, most national chains are middle of the pack restaurants, so they aren't supposed to compete with higher end non-chain restaurants. so it wouldn't be surprising that non-chains are preferred.

EDIT:

i believe i recall you are in san diego. i remember i ate at Azul Steakhouse in La Jolla when i was there and thought that place was one of the best meals i've ever had.

I've eaten there and it is fantastic. :thumbsup: By the way, Azul is owned by the Brigantine, a small local chain (3-4 restaurants) and they are also excellent. They are known for their fish tacos which are fantastic.

So many great restaurants here.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Independent for the most part, except P F Changs, which is the best restaurant anywhere.

:thumbsup: It really is the best Chinese food evar! :wub:

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I'd hardly call a restaurant with 3 or 4 locations a chain... although technically they probably are.

Yeah, I understood "chain" to mean "national chain." There are a lot of successful restaurateurs in my area who achieve success in one restaurant and use it to open new locations or spin-off joints, but I would never consider it a "chain restaurant" like I would with Applebees or Olive Garden or what have you. Andy Ricker may have a handful of Pok-Poks and Whiskey Soda Lounges in Portland and New York, but I wouldn't call it "chain restaurant food."

 

[Gooberlx2]

Chains are successful because they're good in the first place....or at least there's value for the price. However, there's a substantial measure of quality, flexibility and creativity that has to be sacrificed for the sake of being consistent across all the restaurants.

IME, the average independent place is worse than the average chain. Meanwhile the good chains generally can't compete on quality with the good independent places..

 

[purbeast0]

Yeah, I understood "chain" to mean "national chain." There are a lot of successful restaurateurs in my area who achieve success in one restaurant and use it to open new locations or spin-off joints, but I would never consider it a "chain restaurant" like I would with Applebees or Olive Garden or what have you. Andy Ricker may have a handful of Pok-Poks and Whiskey Soda Lounges in Portland and New York, but I wouldn't call it "chain restaurant food."

well comparing applebees, olive garden, cheesecake factory, etc, to a non-chain higher end restaurant isn't even fair. those aren's supposed to be the greatest food out there like the other ones. and if you are comparing them to middle of the pack mom/pop restaurants, there are also plenty of those that suck as well.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

well comparing applebees, olive garden, cheesecake factory, etc, to a non-chain higher end restaurant isn't even fair. those aren's supposed to be the greatest food out there like the other ones. and if you are comparing them to middle of the pack mom/pop restaurants, there are also plenty of those that suck as well.

I think I must just live in a good city. There are lots of good restaurants to choose from, and even those that are of lesser quality are still vastly superior to anything I've had from most national chains. Hell, you can't really even find the big national chains here until you hit the suburbs. I'm spoiled for choice. I suppose my answer might change if the only things near me were not markedly better than your average chain restaurant (which certainly do get marks for consistency).

 

[purbeast0]

I think I must just live in a good city. There are lots of good restaurants to choose from, and even those that are of lesser quality are still vastly superior to anything I've had from most national chains. Hell, you can't really even find the big national chains here until you hit the suburbs. I'm spoiled for choice. I suppose my answer might change if the only things near me were not markedly better than your average chain restaurant (which certainly do get marks for consistency).

im not saying you aren't right, its just retarded the hate that restaurants get here just because they are national chains. but then again, everyone on these forums hates anything popular so it doesn't surprise me.

 

[zinfamous]

I've eaten at a shitload of local spots, and the majority of them suck. Being a Mom & Pop diner doesn't automagically made it good. While some of the better places I've eaten at were local non chains, the ovwewhemling majority are shitty. If I'm in a city where I know the spots to eat I will go local if there are ones I've had. If I'm somewhere I've never been I will NEVER go to some hole in the wall on a whim.

I'd rather have a boring, but semi decent meal from a place like Applebees than take my chances at some 1 of a kind family owned establishment. If I was to estimate I'd say the 100 worst place I've eaten at in my life were all mom and pop places.

I do agree with a lot of this, but friends don't let friends eat at Applebee's. There are always better choices.

 

[JulesMaximus]

im not saying you aren't right, its just retarded the hate that restaurants get here just because they are national chains. but then again, everyone on these forums hates anything popular so it doesn't surprise me.

Let's see, a Rubio's fish taco especial costs about $3

Brigantine fish taco costs $3.75

Both places serve beer but the Brig has a much better selection of beer and the Brig fish tacos are fantastic. A Rubio's fish taco is mediocre at best and a soggy mess at worst. I feel embarrassed even mentioning Rubio's in the same post as the Brigantine because there is no comparison. If you tried both you would say the same thing... I guaran-fucking-tee it.

 

[waggy]

Chains are good in the fact that when we travel i know my kids will eat at them. If it's just me/wife we will try other places in town.

 

[Slew Foot]

i would personally rather have panda express at the mall than pf changs. that place is totally overrated to me. they have a sister "faster food" place called pei wei, which i'd MUCH prefer to eat at than pf changs.

Id rather eat shit out of a Taco Bell toilet than PF Changs. That place is disgusting.

 

[QueBert]

Yelp, Chowhound and this forum(when I went to LA) are your friends. Chain restaurant if I'm traveling on the road. Outside of that, I haven't been to a chain restaurant in years. Too many delicious local places to go to before thinking of a chain restaurant.

Yelp? LOL most Yelper's are morons who will give Chipotle a 4-4 1/2 rating. I trust Yelp about as much as a trust a Tweaker to watch my unlocked house while I go to the gym to exercise. And for the most part foodies seem to support unknown places over chains regardless of the quality. Food is like movies, I can't trust other peoples opinions. Suggestions from close friends who I know their tastes and such, absolutely. Strangers? absolutely not.

 

[Markbnj]

im the exact opposite of this. when i'm on vacation i like to try the local restaurants, whether they are high end or not. at home i do both.

I love finding little places when I travel as well, but I usually don't just pop in to one I see. It's typically recommended in some form or fashion, either by a local or by someone I know who previously ate there. If I'm traveling somewhere on business and have a choice of, say, Chili's on one side of the street and an unknown small tex-mex place on the other, I would probably go to Chili's.

 

[CraigRT]

Indie's without a doubt.
I did not have to even read anything in the thread to confirm this.
I spent a month and a half on Bloor street in Toronto this summer and I have never eaten so well in my life. Never once did I eat at a chain restaurant. I loved it.

I try to avoid chains as much as possible... There are so many good options out there for non chain, I don't even understand how so many garbage restaurants stay in business!

 

[Capt Caveman]

Yelp? LOL most Yelper's are morons who will give Chipotle a 4-4 1/2 rating. I trust Yelp about as much as a trust a Tweaker to watch my unlocked house while I go to the gym to exercise. And for the most part foodies seem to support unknown places over chains regardless of the quality. Food is like movies, I can't trust other peoples opinions. Suggestions from close friends who I know their tastes and such, absolutely. Strangers? absolutely not.

Need to read the reviews and weed out the garbage, not just go by the overall score. Aren't you the king of fastfood? You wouldn't know decent food if you ate it. If you only use recs from close friends, your options are going to be pretty limited.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Id rather eat shit out of a Taco Bell toilet than PF Changs. That place is disgusting.

I don't know what kind of PF Chang's you've been to but I had a wasabi encrusted Chilean sea bass at PF Chang's at the Irvine Spectrum that was absolutely wonderful.

One of the few chain restaurants I usually enjoy eating at. :wub:

 

[KeithTalent]

im the exact opposite of this. when i'm on vacation i like to try the local restaurants, whether they are high end or not. at home i do both.

Yeah this.

KT

 

[Pacfanweb]

I don't see what all the snobbishness is about towards chains.
Some are really good. Some are just good. Some aren't that good.

Same as anything else.

I will say this: I've yet to eat at an Italian restaurant that has better food than Carrabas or Macaroni Grill. Different? Yes, but not better.

How the hell do you get better? MG's chicken parm is ridiculously good. You can make it different, or just as good, but not better.

Carrabas' steak with marsala sauce is just sinful. No way in hell anyone's making it better...again, different, but not better.

Now if you're talking a good local Italian joint vs. Olive Garden....then yeah, you can beat them, easily. Olive Garden is the Red Lobster of Italian chain restaurants.

Is anyone going to seriously say that some mystical independent restaurant makes steaks better than Ruth's Chris? A steak can only be so well made....after you get to that point, it's really dependent on that particular cut of meat. You can go to each place 5 times, and one time everything will be just perfect and be better than the other 4.

Nothing wrong with a chain at all. And I love local places, too. As long as they're good.

 

[nanette1985]

All of the good restaurants I go to here locally are independent. I'm not a fan of chains. Except for Mitsuwa.

 

[yuchai]

Yelp? LOL most Yelper's are morons who will give Chipotle a 4-4 1/2 rating. I trust Yelp about as much as a trust a Tweaker to watch my unlocked house while I go to the gym to exercise. And for the most part foodies seem to support unknown places over chains regardless of the quality. Food is like movies, I can't trust other peoples opinions. Suggestions from close friends who I know their tastes and such, absolutely. Strangers? absolutely not.

Just because your tastes are different than yelpers/other review sites doesn't make them morons...

There is nothing wrong with giving a Chipotle a 4 rating, when you understand that the rating is being adjusted for price. For the price, going to Chipotle is usually not a bad choice compared to other options.

Back on topic, I frequent both chains and independents regularly. There are times and places for both. In general, my spendy meals are at independent places, while chains are usually for more casual/fast food type meals. One exception is Capital Grille. Have been there a few times and some of the stuff they serve is amazing (Kona crusted sirloin, lobster mac n' cheese for examples). Service is always excellent as well.

 

[mztykal]

Ruth's Chris, Cheesecake Factory, Romano's... Are all great chains that I'd pick over some of the inde places around here...

 

[ussfletcher]

Independent restaurants have a huge range of quality, some are really shitty, some are really awesome. I'd say that the best food comes from independent restaurants, but chains are more reliably edible in general.