Spinoff: Worst Chain Restaurants

[Julie's Haircut]

Cracker Barrel-Went to two different ones. Both times received absolute garbage food.

Olive Garden-The only good one was in Naples, FL. 7 or 8 others over the years were very disappointing.

Don Pablo's-Used to be somewhat decent, but has declined big time in quality.

Most mid-priced casual chains are mediocre at best anyway.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Applebee's and Wendy's never fail to disappoint - and that sucks, because I used to really like both. I really dislike McDonald's and always have.

 

[E&Cmom]

Red Lobster was a let down. So many better seafood places.

 

[Meriweather]

Applebees
PF Chang's
Outback
Denny's
5 Guys
Cracker Barrel

 

[tvguy]

Olive Garden, at least our local one. My wife got a meal there that was too spicy to eat. The manager said their customers prefer the spicy items. She complained to corporate and the response included a copy of the recipe, which did not any hot spices, and the note that their locations NEVER deviate from the corporate recipes. Given that the manager made it clear that they did, that was amusing. Haven't been back since.
But that is my general complaint the last 10 years with a lot of restaurants, too spicy. I can't wait until that fad passes.

 

[emer95]

We stopped going to chain restaurants years ago. We used to go to wherever there was a "kids eat free" night when our kids were little. Then they grew up and we started going to our local, independently owned places. So much better!
To answer the question though, I would have to say Friendlys or Red Lobster.

 

[emmybee]

PF Chang's has Really gone down hill! Famous Dave's was terrible! We only went once, but we were very amused by making fun of that awful bottle of BBQ sauce that they apparently hand out for free. Chili's has always been a salty nightmare. BJ's, the Cheesecake Factory....

 

[ronandannette]

Red Lobster was a let down. So many better seafood places.

Yeah, it ranges from not too good to downright awful. We only go there when a certain family member visits from out of town from a place that doesn't have one. And the prices are getting insulting - truly. It's a $50/pp meal even without liquor. Everytime we go, we say we'll never go again. Stupid us.

ETA: Where we live there aren't actually any other dedicated seafood places that I can think of (not including fried fish and chip places).

 

[low-key]

I like most chain restaurants, but I will say Applebees only because I don't really like there menu

 

[rwdavis2]

We stopped going to chains years ago as there are plenty of local places that blow them away. But some lousy meals we have had have been Cheesecake Factory, Cracker Barrel to name a couple. PF Changs is OK but horribly overpriced.

A friend used to be a banker that worked with local restaurants where he lived. The one 'seafood' place he had as a client had banks of microwaves and all the seafood was pre-cooked, frozen, then reheated at the restaurant. I would assume Red Lobster works the same way.

 

[E&Cmom]

ETA: Where we live there aren't actually any other dedicated seafood places that I can think of (not including fried fish and chip places).

I love on the West Coast so lots of seafood places here.

 

[Hook326]

Applebees and Cracker Barrel are on our do not go to list.

 

[bcla]

I think I mentioned the decline of chain restaurants in another thread. Often they mess with the formula or it gets sold to another company that thinks they can do better or that is more about profits that they have no idea how to actually run a restaurant chain.

I did take my in-laws to Cheesecake Factory once. They'd never been there, and what they did during the meal was complain about how salty everything was.

And again, I don't get the love for Chick-Fil-A. Maybe not worst, but the unconditional love seems to defy any rational explanation. It's relatively expensive and the service I got was kind of meh.

I've been pleasantly surprised at some chain restaurants, like the time we went to Bubba Gump for happy hour. They called them sliders, but for $5 we got two burgers about as good as you'd find at Red Robin. The nachos were also a good value.

 

[Sabeking]

Applebee's
Chuckie Cheese ( not only dirty and nasty...this is where the local knife fights happen)

 

[RedAngie]

I don't think I've ever had a good meal at these. Not that they were horrible, just blah. I'm generally not a fan of casual chain places.

Cracker Barrel
Applebee's
Olive Garden

Many of the breakfast-centric places, IHOP, Denny's, Bob Evans, etc. are inconsistent from location to location. Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

 

[ols386]

PF Chang's has Really gone down hill! Famous Dave's was terrible! We only went once, but we were very amused by making fun of that awful bottle of BBQ sauce that they apparently hand out for free. Chili's has always been a salty nightmare. BJ's, the Cheesecake Factory....

That's a shame about Changs. It used to be one of my favorites. Famous Dave's I don't care for either. I guess that's why they were 'giving' away their bottles of BBQ sauce...because it was so good. Haha

Chili's used to be good with the deep fried chicken and honey mustard. Not anymore.

I don't like Wendy's anymore either. Back in the 70s they had some really good commercials though, with "where's the beef?" And "we're sorry that our hamburgers are so juicy that it runs down your chin." Lol

 

[ols386]

Applebees
PF Chang's
Outback
Denny's
5 Guys
Cracker Barrel

Outback is the biggest disappointment for me. I used to love Alice Springs Chicken. These days it's a tiny piece of chicken. And if you get a side salad, it's a separate charge.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Arby's
Captain D's

 

[melissapealo]

We stopped going to chains years ago as there are plenty of local places that blow them away. But some lousy meals we have had have been Cheesecake Factory, Cracker Barrel to name a couple. PF Changs is OK but horribly overpriced.

A friend used to be a banker that worked with local restaurants where he lived. The one 'seafood' place he had as a client had banks of microwaves and all the seafood was pre-cooked, frozen, then reheated at the restaurant. I would assume Red Lobster works the same way.

I know someone that worked for Red Lobster and they do things the same way. Also was there once and specifically asked about the mac and cheese for my ds. He was about 5 at the time and only ate homemade mac and cheese. Was assured by the server that it was homemade and then received box mac and cheese which was sent back. Was told they are instructed to tell customers it's homemade which doesn't make sense to me since it is obvious with one look at it. The manager told the same story. That is the last time we ever went to Red Lobster and my ds is now 17. I refuse to go to a place and over pay for precooked meals especially when being lied to.

Red Lobster
Cracker Barrel
Denny's (very inconsistent in quality here)

 

[aprilgail]

Red Lobster (though I LOVE the biscuits so sometimes we order them take out and just pick those up!)
Applebees- I hate
5 guys is garbage
ihop
TGI Fridays


Unlike others here I love Cracker Barrel- when we went on our road trip we ate at SO many cracker barrels in different states!