Favorite "bad" chain restaurants

[Anonymous]

Fried chicken livers from Cracker Barrel

Bean soup or the pot roast hash from Bob Evans

Denny's has surprisingly good hamburgers

Beans and rice from Popeyes

Biscuit from Roy Rogers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shake shack is good. Everything else you guys mentioned is disgusting. This is why I hate road trips. Because the food sucks.

I don't understand people who have this complaint, or people who say "McDonald's is great for road trips because otherwise you don't know what you're getting."

Do none of you have smartphones? Google Maps? You can open an app and literally in seconds bring up a map of nearby restaurants with reviews, menus, and even photos of the food to confirm it's good, then get turn by turn directions there and back to the highway. You can filter by rating, cuisine, even exclude restaurants that are aren't currently open, and all this takes less than a minute.

"I hate road trips because the food sucks" actually means "I'm too lazy or inept to spend 90 seconds finding somewhere good."

For road trips we almost never stop at sit-down restaurants. Fast food is easy to eat while driving. No utensils needed, cleans up easy. But I’m also not one of those people who complain about it. I love my road trip McDonald’s!

Not to mention, PP is being a little optimistic about the quality of the non-chain restaurants in most of the US. Diners in the middle of nowhere are often totally gross. Probably more fun and interesting that McD drive through, but the quality of the food is definitely not any better.

+1. I have eaten at some terrible local yokel small-town diners over the years. I think younger people don't understand that before we had smartphones, road trip food was frequently not good because you couldn't check out yelp reviews ahead of time. Better off just stopping at a McDonalds or something because at least you knew what you were getting.

[Anonymous]

I LOVE Silver Diner! It is one of my favorite places to eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every few months or so I get a night to myself and my guilty pleasure is door-dashing dinner from one of these 'bad' chains. It's gonna be either
Chili's appetizer sampler
Red Lobster for cheddar biscuits, caesar salad, and the combo plate with shrimp scampi, shrimp albedo and mashed potatoes
Outback for the brown bread and a filet with loaded fries
Cheesecake Factor also for the brown bread and chicken madeira

Chicken Madeira is so awesome! I can look at CF's extensive menu and still end up ordering Chicken Madeira.

Also agree with Outback and Red Lobster. I love the stuffed mushrooms at RL.

I don't do door dash or other delivery because I fear it will not taste fresh enough or hot enough. Am I wrong about that?

[Anonymous]

Outback bloomin onion. So terrible for you but so good

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eww none of these.

I could eat a bloomin onion at outback or maybe some salad at Olive Garden but everything else mentioned here just sounds disgusting to me. I remember people talking up red lobster cheddar biscuits once. Got them when we randomly had a gift card to there. Inedible.

Also once went to Chili’s w a gift card. Everything we got was so gross.

Been to Cracker Barrel, Denny’s, ihop, Bob evans many times as a kid on family road trips and even as a kid thought they were garbage. I don’t see how anyone eats this stuff.

Okay, high and mighty. We asked for favorite bad restaurants. If you can't contribute, please leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Outback bloomin onion. So terrible for you but so good

Even more terrible for you since they fry in lard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cracker Barrel is better than people make it out to be. Just basic decent food, if you stay away from obvious calorie bombs.

Went once, will never return. Everything swimming in fat and salt (is their a weight requirement of 300 lbs to let you in? We felt like outsiders, and I am not a skinny-minny). But I digress.

On road trips for us, for a quick sit-down meal, it's Denny's, Bob Evan's, IHOP or Waffle House. But there's no vacation road trip that we don't stop at Dairy Queen for Blizzards! Chock-fill of chemicals and junk food, and delicious.

Based on your list I assume you are 300 pounds. Cracker Barrel is at least one star above Denny's and IHOP.

[Anonymous]

Culvers!
Steak n Shake!
Love me a Wendy's Frosty with fries dunked.
Oh Dunkin Donuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outback bloomin onion. So terrible for you but so good

Even more terrible for you since they fry in lard

Maybe thats why it is so good! I haven't been in about 15 yrs

[Anonymous]

iHop
Friday's
Benihana
Red Robin

All good "bad" restaurants in moderation and on road trips.

[Anonymous]

Uncle Julio’s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shake Shack is truly spectacular.

And a well-run Chipotle is a terrific value. Unfortunately it’s hit or miss because they suffer from staffing issues, which kills the food at certain locations.

I love Shake Shack.

[Anonymous]

Everything I've had at Bahama Breeze is amazing.

[Anonymous]

I really don't like sit-down chains, with the exceptions of the late Romano's Macaroni Grill (R.I.P.)

Now, for some reason, I'm not nearly as big of a snob about fast food. Maybe because it's less of a time/money investment? I'm down with:

Taco Bell
Jersey Mike's
McD's and BK occasionally
Subway
Shake Shack