Spinoff: Worst Chain Restaurants

[cluvsdisney]

I don't like Applebee's, Olive Garden, KFC, 5 Guys, Wendy's, TGI Fridays and others I am sure but can't think of right now.

Chili's. The food is decent, but I always get crappy service.

This times 100! We are served the appetizers (if we're lucky) and two minutes later the entree is dumped on the table then we don't see the server again. When we order entrees when the apps are served, they either come out right away or in 20 minutes. They do (or did) have that nice 2 for 1 beer special at the bar though.


I only go to Cracker Barrel once every year or two for pancakes nothing else looks appealing to me.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We aren't big fans of Chilis, but do eat there occasionally because people seem to give us gift cards to there quite a bit.

Red Lobster is a place we have stopped eating, but not because the food is particularly bad, but because the portion sizes have shrunk considerably and the prices have gone up, up, up.

 

[maxiesmom]

Steak and Shake.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Steak and Shake is ok, good milkshakes...but horrible service. At every one we've been to.

Salsas (a chain here) The food was just so...bland. When the tastiest thing on the plate is the tomato and the cheese, it's not a good thing; and the enchilada sauce tasted canned.

Red Lobster is ok, but I don't hold it to high standards; same with Olive Garden.

No more KFC for us, as the last 2 times we stopped to get some, we ended up with raw chicken...golden brown on the outside, raw meat on the inside. No thanks.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

I am not a fan of IHOP just terrible food. Cracker Barrel as many have mentioned up thread. Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Chilis, Applebee's, Salsarita's. They are all just meh.... I can make the same food and better so I would prefer not to eat there. I do like PF Changs occasionally as well as Five Guys. Don't eat there often though so its a decent treat for me. I can also say Bob Evans - food not great and too pricey just like OG, RL and IHOP - so expensive for crappy food.

 

[RangerPooh]

We eat at many of the places listed, some we like, others its for the convenience.

KFC- just refuse to eat there.
McD- tolerate but usually manage to avoid unless on a road trip.
Subway- overpriced for such little meat, and a sandwich that I only have to reassemble myself because it's thrown together.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Interesting. I've found the Chick-fil-A is cheaper than other fast food places around here (or at least comparable). Their chicken actually tastes like chicken, compared to the McDonald's chicken sandwich I ate last week out of desperation and felt like I was biting into rubber. And I've always found their employees super friendly.

We always spend WAY more at Chik-Fil-A than any other FF place. We can feed the whole family at Taco Bell for $12-15. I've never spent less than $30 at Chik-Fil-A.

 

[melanielll]

Chili's - even the salads there are greasy.

 

[smiths02]

I'm really not that picky, but I've had lots of chain restaurant meals that just weren't worth it...like I would rather have just eaten at a fast food restaurant or gotten something prepared from the supermarket.

The ones that I don't get are the "American" ones like Applebee's, Chili's, Ruby Tuesday...what is special there? I'm not understanding why I would pay that much for an entree there unless I was on a road trip or on vacation and just needed a place to eat something.

 

[Wendy31]

We usually will choose local restaurants over chain restaurants. I think most chain restaurants over-salt their food to compensate for the mediocre food. Plus, service has gone downhill over the past years while the prices have gone up. We're willing to pay more at better restaurants for better food & better service.

We'll eat at Cracker Barrel maybe once every 6 months or so when we're in the mood for a big, traditional, country breakfast. I can't remember the last time we ordered from their lunch/dinner menu.

We do like PF Chang's & Tupelo Honey Cafe.

And we'll still sometimes eat w/ my parents at chain restaurants like Olive Garden or O'Charley's - my parents invited us to dinner at Olive Garden for DH's birthday. My parents also like Cheddar's. DH's parents used to really like O'Charley's. I think the older generations like the familiarity of the chain restaurants.

Growing up & even into my young adult years, Red Lobster used to be one of my favorite restaurants, but, now, just no. We don't live in a fresh seafood area since we're relatively landlocked (except for the river & lakes), but we'll still wait until we're in a beach town for seafood as opposed to eating at Red Lobster. After a few years of not eating there, on a whim, we went there about a year ago, & I was SHOCKED at the price increases & the food that was, at best, just okay. It'd be one thing if you were paying for fresh seafood and/or interesting dishes, but the food is very obviously microwaved & just not that great. I ordered some kind of shrimp dish, & I had to laugh at how tiny the shrimp were. We also have a local, upscale seafood restaurant that "partners" w/ a restaurant in Florida & has fresh seafood shipped in, & we'll eat there 50 times before we even think about Red Lobster.

I can't even remember the last time we ate at Applebees or Chili's or Outback.

For fast food, we'll eat Five Guys & Chick-Fil-A. Our younger DS's absolute most favorite restaurant is Jersey Mike's, for whatever reason. We'll do Arby's & Wendy's & Zaxby's occasionally too.

We really like Maple Street Biscuit Company, and, while I like Panera okay, lately, the inside of our local Panera has seemed a little dirty & unkempt to me. We also eat at Salsarita's.

Anyway, in answer to the original question, for us, the absolute worst chain restaurants would be Applebee's & Red Lobster. The worst fast food restaurants would probably be Burger King and McDonald's.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Cracker Barrel, tasteless and disgusting.
Taco Bell, just plain nasty. You will need some immodium when you leave the local ones.
Applebee's, the one's near me have terrible service but I did eat at one in another state and it was pretty good and great service.

 

[melanielll]

Taco Bell, just plain nasty. You will need some immodium when you leave the local ones.

My sister claims that just sitting in the drive-up line at Taco Bell makes her intestines cramp up. That's some powerful food.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We do not eat out much - maybe order in once a month and eat out once a month. Therefore often its years in between visits to restaurants so hard for us to have a love/hate list.

Fast food we don't get often. The teens probably do when they are out with friends.
I don't think there are any fast food places that we hate for the rare time we pick up. I love McDonald's coffee so will pick up a coffee from there once in awhile.

We did try Cracker Barrel once when in the USA because someone I know raved about it. It was not good. Very disappointed in it.
Also my kid really wanted to try In and Out when we were in California and it was horrible. Dirty, busy, tiny burgers. So not impressed. One and done with that place.

My kids love 5 Guys as do husband and I. We go there once or twice a year.
Last time we were in Florida we tried a Steak and Shake and LOVED it!!! We'll have to go a 2nd time.

Ruby Tuesday is okay. We have ate there a few times while in the US.

Red Lobster and The Olive Garden is okay. We eat at each of them maybe once every 5 years if that. Not our first choice.

Never tried a Chick-fil-A and we don't have them up here. When I drive by them I just think about the stuff I've heard of them being anti-gay so doubt I would bother going inside.

The Canadian chain I don't get is Tim Horton's. To me it really is not anything special. I much prefer McDonald's coffee. None of my family are big donut eaters. Their other lunch stuff like soups and sandwiches are okay but nothing special. I don't get all the love. I just don't. My kid actually hates the place.

 

[Albort]

That's interesting, where I live, we have tons of mom and pop Italian American restaurants (because everyone is Italian American). The only chain Italian American restaurant I've liked was maggianos (Philadelphia). Olive Garden has a weird menu.

I just saw someone who posed an entree from applebees on Facebook, a chicken caprese salad on mashed potatoes. What?!

most of the mom and pop Italian places are expensive here. I do frequent one sometimes, but they dont got olive garden's salad...

 

[aristocatz]

I'm not sure what happened to Chili's over the years, but eww.....

 

[star72232]

East Side Mario's. Poor quality food and (our local restaurant at least) has terrible service.

 

[Kae]

Long John Silvers..ew. Cracker Barrell, I'll eat a BLT and Chicken Noodle soup there-when DS traveled for Soccer a lot of times we ate there because other families loved it.

Kae

 

[dreiwhit]

Taco Bell, just plain nasty. You will need some immodium when you leave the local ones.

My doctor said that Taco Bell is one of two restaurants he won't eat at, and he tells his patients not to eat there. Which is a shame because I loved their chipolte burritos.

Applebee's is the worst restaurant around here. The service is bad, the menu isn't appealing and the food is awful. My father in law wanted to go to our local Applebee's for his birthday a couple of months ago. It was the worst tasting food that i've ever eaten! To rub salt in the wound, it cost me over $40 for three people.

Our local Pizza Hut was bad, but that was just because the people who worked there didn't care. The pizzas were poorly made, with spots that had no cheese, and/or burned on the bottom.

Ryan's buffets. I would get sick every time I ate there.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I think a lot of it is geographic. I live just outside of Chicago so seafood is very, very hard to come by here. There are a few really ritzy places in Chicago that will set you back a fortune.

Don't know where you are, but have you tried Bob Chinn's Crab House? Not so much for the atmosphere, but the food is wonderful.

 

[DLgal]

I just don't get why our local Olive Garden puts hot peppers in the salad. Well, I "get" it - we're in Southern California and "that's what people want". Um....no.

I wish it was a passing fad, but it's been around for years......

They all do this. I've eaten at OG in several states. Those are just Pepperoncini...pretty common in Mediterranean cuisine.