Do you eat at chain restaurants?

Momma9

Momma9

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Missouri - USA
I guess it is kind of a pet peeve of mine, but I do not like chain restaurants! It seems weird to me to get the exact same plate or package of food at a restaurant in different places, KWIM? And it seems the food would is more processed than at a locally owned place. Not to mention that your money is going to some big corporation somewhere, at least in part. When you eat local you fully support your local community.

It is so sad watching good, locally owned restaurants go out of business and more chain restaurants open up. IHOP is the latest here, yuk! Not long ago my car broke down and the only place to eat breakfast nearby was Cracker Barrel. I got only food for my small children and a cup of coffee and it was $15 plus a tip! My local place has great food, bigger portions, and I could have fed all of us for that price.

I find the food at our local places is much superior to chain food! I love our local Thai and Japanese restaurants. I feel fortunate to be able to get their yummy food in a rural area of midwest USA. We also have a local truck-stop type homecooking restaurant that is excellent. Real mashed potatoes, fried chicken cooked in cast iron skillets, and most everything homemade and reasonable prices. I just do not see how anyone can go to a chain restaurant!
 
I do like chain restaurants. They got to be chains for a reason. Usually their food is pretty good. However, I agree with you about them being over priced. However, I don't think most people are going out to eat to save money. It is usually just for a fun and relaxing experience. Not everyone is big on cooking and for those who work outside the home going to a restaurant that can make all of the food for them quickly and easily is something they choose to do. In this area, most but not all of the local restaurants are not that great,,so, I kind of prefer a chain most of the time..so I have some idea of what I am getting.
 
I agree with you @Momma9 - and I never eat in chain restaurants. But people like consistency and security and I think they are comforted knowing that if they go into a Nando's (for example) in Maidstone, the food will taste the same if they go to Birmingham! I don't feel like that at all... I like a bit of adventure and I prefer to eat somewhere with a chef cooking rather than somewhere where the food is brought in pre-prepared and cooked according to rote by unskilled kitchen staff. Perhaps I'm being unfair, but a few of my son's friends work in the kitchens of chains here in Maidstone and I know that even they would admit they really don't know anything much about cooking!
 
I do on occasion eat at them but I prefer to eat at the local family owned businesses that serve home cooked meals. We have a few really good ones around here. I like to support local business as much as I can.
 
We have KFC and Pizza Hut in our city, however, I have never dined in these international chain restaurants. However, I have dined in a local chain restaurant called Bakery Cafe. Actually Bakery Cafe is the best restaurant in the city, still I don't dine in this chain restaurant much because it is very expensive. Apart from paying high price for the food, we also have to pay 13 percent VAT and 10 percent service. Thus, I avoid dining in the Bakery Cafe.
 
@Momma9, I do eat at them on the odd occasion and whenever I do, I feel like I have committed some sort of sin - a forgivable sin. I know what you mean about seeing other businesses with better, healthier food failing because they simply cannot compete with these big food chains. I find it all quite sad.
 
I eat at chain restaurants every once in a while, but prefer to eat at small and local restaurants that are off the beaten path. The food is made with love and tastes so much better than the mass produced food that is made at chain restaurants.
 
Rosyrain said:
I eat at chain restaurants every once in a while, but prefer to eat at small and local restaurants that are off the beaten path. The food is made with love and tastes so much better than the mass produced food that is made at chain restaurants.
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Totally agree with that. However, last week we found ourselves at breakfast time in a part of town where Frankie and Bennies was the only option. The eggs benedict were divine. £13 for two breakfasts and unlimited teas, what's not to like? I do puzzle over the American approach to fast food. I must admit an addiction to DDD on the Food Network, which portrays a nation of family owned independent food joints turning out lovingly created, albeit oversize meals - here in the UK we are dominated by big chains.
 
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Used to eat at Wetherspoons, working in Halifax at Leeds. Cheaper than the subsididse canteen and the food was better.
Works canteen had most of the food on display for a few hours, meaning it wasn't the warmest.
Also got me out of the building for a short while.

"The Big Three", I'm likely to do a Falling Down. They never look the same.
 
My lads like the chains so we do a mixture of both but prefer time spent independents, the craft bar revolution is running wild in the U.K. And I have one I go to and the food is cooked out side and I love the whole atmos is just great
 
I used to eat at it since my parents do and I had no choice really. Chain restaurants are more popular since people seem to like the fact that they are thriving. I myself have eaten at a few chain restaurants lately and I have found that they are horribly inconsistent. They have such terrible customer service, although this depends on which one you go to. Lately, I prefer to dine at home. If we go out, we try to support the local restaurants. They tend to usually be more of a homebody kind of meal places, home cooked meals make with local ingredients that taste great.
 
I do eat at chain restaurants - but here in Japan I think they're of a better quality than I've experienced living other places. My preference though is always for family owned type small restaurants rather than chains - I like being able to support small businesses.
 
In the Philippines, we used to have the so called home cooking restaurants where you can sample the dishes of the owner's grandma or mother. Most of the food in the menu are native dishes like porridge and stews. But when the chain restaurants arrived in the country, Filipinos seemed to love them. My patriotic nature said it's not good to be invaded so I continued patronizing those small native restaurants. However, in most cases, we would be dining in those small native restaurants and be disappointed with the food so unlike in chain restaurants where you know the taste already which is standard. So instead of dining in the Fried Rice corner for breakfast, I prefer the chain of Pancake where the burger steak is good... and always good.
 
Corzhens said:
In the Philippines, we used to have the so called home cooking restaurants where you can sample the dishes of the owner's grandma or mother. Most of the food in the menu are native dishes like porridge and stews. But when the chain restaurants arrived in the country, Filipinos seemed to love them. My patriotic nature said it's not good to be invaded so I continued patronizing those small native restaurants. However, in most cases, we would be dining in those small native restaurants and be disappointed with the food so unlike in chain restaurants where you know the taste already which is standard. So instead of dining in the Fried Rice corner for breakfast, I prefer the chain of Pancake where the burger steak is good... and always good.
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I'm starting to think what you mentioned happens in most countries. We have since lost so many of the home style restaurants that cook true Jamaican meals, instead all these chain restaurants bring in all the fast food that isn't good for you and not nutritionally good either.
 
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