Restaurant quality...

[labworm]

Think of Walmart, they show up and all the small independents disappear, the same goes for all the small family restaurants.

The chains don't really put the little guy out of business, we the consumers are the guilty ones.

We have a Texas Roadhouse, have eaten there a few times.
This does not apply to the one in your area only to the one I have been at. Steak very salty, tenderizer? The noise level is unbelievable, you actually have a hard time conversing with your guests. They are off my list, we still have many small family run businesses that put any of the chains to shame, they get all my cash.

 

[Marshwheeling]

I think of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area as a pretty good restaurant town. There are lots of good steak places; of course I have my favorites. There are always new trendy chef-driven places opening, some with a longer half-life than others. Some are so-so, the best are very good.

One of the best things to happen to these towns is the influx of immigrants over the last 40 years, especially Mexican and Asian, which means hundreds of ethnic restaurants.

Then there is my favorite Greek place, run by a Norwegian/Minnesota girl who married a Greek. It may not be the best restaurant in town, but she serves the best-tasting food.

Booze is typically available, sometimes just beer and wine, but often not at all at smaller ethnic places, where newness or neighborhood can make licensure an issue. Its presence or absence in a restaurant is no indicator one way or the other, except that "family" restaurants that are alcohol-free by choice tend toward the mediocre.

 

[RonJ]

I agree with labworm about Texas Roadhouse. Way too noisy, mediocre steaks and too small booths. The waitresses look unhappy and disinterested when they have to stop and do the stupid line dancing thing. Outback is way better.

 

[hatt]

Think of Walmart, they show up and all the small independents disappear, the same goes for all the small family restaurants.

The chains don't really put the little guy out of business, we the consumers are the guilty ones.

You can't really compare WM to chain restaurants. Local restaurants go out of business because they serve crappy food, have poor service, etc. Not because they can't compete on price and selection with Outback. There are always plenty of good local restaurants you can hardly get into and next door someone's boarding up the windows. You have good food, service, and value, people will come. One thing the chains are good at is providing something consistently decent. I've been in plenty of local places that think opening a can is like picking something off the vine. Pizza joints are a good example from what I've seen around here. I have a flat rule to never go back if you put canned mushrooms on my pizza. You know if they're skimping on something that cheap, that makes that much difference in taste, the whole place is a dump.

 

[labworm]

Who would ever think Guy Fieri is a member of the S&W forum.
You just never know who is sitting behind that screen name

 

[GatorFarmer]

I'm lucky I suppose. My wife never really learned to cook. Her only real baseline as to what food ought taste like as an adult is what the U.S. Navy serves up. Her attempts to make something (she won't let me cook, because I tend to just eat the same thing out of cans for weeks on end) generally turn out worse than anything the Navy would serve.

Thus I eat at Golden Corral a lot. Young kids eat free and the steak like meat product is edible.

I did spend a lot of time smoking unfiltered cigarettes and drinking bourbon from the bottle as well. This was time well spent, since I can generally choke most things down without getting a real "taste" of what I'm eating.

 

[rburg]

My wife's favorite restaurant around here is Longhorn. Primarily because they have the best filet. Neither of us like outback because of the outback sauce they dump their steaks in. Texas Roadhouse is a hamburger joint at best (not bad burgers, however.)

I agree the small family run places put themselves out of business. Or operate at a subsistence level until they go under. Food service is a tough business, and it must not only deliver objectively good food, its also got to account for variances in personal taste. Some of the snooty chef's think you should eat the creations they produce to their own personal expectations. Then they get offended when the customer (the guy paying) orders something without his slatherings of onions, garlic, or God forbid, anyting but bloody rare. So to show the heathens, he selects a poor cut of meat and then serves his customer (for the last time) the thing they order.

I guess I don't understand the theory that a customer must enjoy what the chef (or cook) feels is his favorite, or his masterpiece. If you don't like it, its your failure, not his. And you won't return, which is his fault. And he won't see it. And his joint will fail, and the blame will try to be put on everyone who doesn't deserve it. Its maybe why hiring anyone from a failed place may infect the new one and doom it.

I used to rate restaurants by looking at the salad and seeing if it contained radishes. I like them, but if it was still my system, none would pass my test.

At least at the chain's, you get a consistently good meal. Can't say that about the independent places. Chances aren't even good.

 

[27145]

No chain restaurants for me! Call me a snob, but I frequent "family" owned establishments.

Yes sometimes there is a cover charge and a two drink minimum, but the buffet is to die for, served between 1pm and 3pm. They really put their hearts into the preperation of pizza rolls and sandwiches.

Many times if the "server" likes you, they bring you to sit in a private booth. I usually select one or two things off the "menu",then finish up in enough time to greet the wife when she gets home from work.

 

[JcMack]

The last French restaurant around here(Jacque in zee Box) closed years ago. It's now a Leroy's barber shop n BBQ. A big night on the town around here is Macdonalds or Wendy's. A guy that really cares for his gal will supersize her.

 

[tripledipper]

Longhorn is a Darden restaurant (Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc.), therfore serving decent food with consistent quality, one of the best reasonable beef chains.

 

[NCTexan]

My problem with restaurants around here is a little different.

Many "mid-range" restaurants have gotten very pricy for anything more than a sandwich or burger. The dinner entrees are $15-$20 and are very below average in taste, imagination and presentation. Almost every time I'm forced into one of these I feel ripped off.

However, it's easy to find a much better value by going to a more upscale restaurant with a great entree in the range of $18-$25. I'd much rather go out a little less often but really enjoy it when I did.

 

[hatt]

My problem with restaurants around here is a little different.

Many "mid-range" restaurants have gotten very pricy for anything more than a sandwich or burger. The dinner entrees are $15-$20 and are very below average in taste, imagination and presentation. Almost every time I'm forced into one of these I feel ripped off.

However, it's easy to find a much better value by going to a more upscale restaurant with a great entree in the range of $18-$25. I'd much rather go out a little less often but really enjoy it when I did.

I think that's the same about everywhere. It doesn't cost much more to eat something good. It's one reason I don't go to the big chain steak houses. For a few $$ more you can usually find dry aged steaks cooked over wood. And they're usually bigger cuts to boot. I figure I can buy a fresh piece of meat and fry it or cook it over gas pretty easy myself, no use paying for someone to do it.