Anonymous wrote:I went to Chuy's after reading this thread and it was SOOO good. It was 40 minutes away in Springfield but it was sooo good and loved being in "someplace new." Felt like I was on vacation. Staff was super nice. I got my TexMex fajitas I needed!

This makes me happy! There was another recent thread about where to find decent Tex-Mex/New Mexican food in the DMV, and as a native New Mexican, chuy’s has been my family’s go-to for a long time. I am pretty confident they make the green chili in house because the flavor is really good. Reminds me of some of the smaller, family owned chains around ABQ even though I think they are based in Texas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Chuy's after reading this thread and it was SOOO good. It was 40 minutes away in Springfield but it was sooo good and loved being in "someplace new." Felt like I was on vacation. Staff was super nice. I got my TexMex fajitas I needed!

Never heard of Chuy's until this thread.

I don't think Chuy's qualfies as "bad" -- it's actually pretty solid. I don't think Shake Shack counts as "bad" either.

I do think Pizzeria Uno counts as "bad" but I do sometimes crave that pizza -- it's so greasy and salty it's unbelievable, but sometimes that really hits the spot. (Until it hits you hours later.)
I love biscuits at so many "bad" places like Cracker Barrel or Shoney's (does that still exist?). Basically, I never like the meat at the "bad" restaurants, but the carbs that are laden down with fat are often just really delicious. Bob Evans also definitely has some meals in that category of fat-soaked-carbs (often encrusted in sugar). Yum. I can also totally go for a DQ softserve cone or sundae, pretty much whenever. We don't have a DQ near us anymore, which makes me sad. My dad used to take me because he had nostalgic DQ memories from the 1950s (and maybe earlier). Also anything like Auntie Annie's pretzels....so good. Or orange julius.

Anonymous wrote:My 2 cents
Hate Buffalo With or Wings with passion
Ones I like:
Red Lobster (worked there)
Waffle House (worked there) - kind to homeless
Roy Rogers (for roast beef sandwiches - had friend who worked there)
Cracker Barrel for road trips
Outback for good not great steak
Olive Garden as good choice for crowd & takeout
Sonic
Silver Diner or Moby Dick for local chains

We used to like Sonic on road trips, but quality and portions seem way down over the last couple years.

Anonymous wrote:Howard Johnson’s was our family fave back in the 60s when I was a kid. Great fried chicken, and their ice cream flavors and selections were the best. Sadly, they’re all gone now.

Yes! The tutti-frutti ice cream was so good.

And what about Friendly’s- are those in the DMV area? We loved it - also great ice cream and sundaes (and grilled cheese).

Howard Johnson’s was our family fave back in the 60s when I was a kid. Great fried chicken, and their ice cream flavors and selections were the best. Sadly, they’re all gone now.

Ooh I remember when Pizzeria Uno was fancy and exotic. Do they still have the spinoccoli pizza? I want that right now.

I grew up in a restaurant rich area outside of nyc and yet as a teen still loved TGI Friday’s and thought Legal Seafood was classy .

As an adult, I agree with a poster who said fast casual is fine, but I really don’t want to spend money on a bad restaurant meal with waitstaff. If I had to pick one, it would be California Pizza Kitchen or Pizzeria Uno.

DMV

Uncle Julios
Moby Dick
Kids love Popeyes, we don’t
First Watch

West Coast
Habit Burger
Mountain Mike’s Pizza, Roundtable Pizza

Anonymous wrote:I went to Chuy's after reading this thread and it was SOOO good. It was 40 minutes away in Springfield but it was sooo good and loved being in "someplace new." Felt like I was on vacation. Staff was super nice. I got my TexMex fajitas I needed!

Never heard of Chuy's until this thread.

My 2 cents
Hate Buffalo With or Wings with passion
Ones I like:
Red Lobster (worked there)
Waffle House (worked there) - kind to homeless
Roy Rogers (for roast beef sandwiches - had friend who worked there)
Cracker Barrel for road trips
Outback for good not great steak
Olive Garden as good choice for crowd & takeout
Sonic
Silver Diner or Moby Dick for local chains

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:California Pizza Kitchen is my guilty pleasure.

CPK is a "good" chain restaurant!

I used to like this place 20+ years ago. And I went to one recently and it was so so bad. The quality was terrible and the place just seemed tired and depressing. Are they all like this now or just the one I visited? Either I had really bad taste back then or this place has gone really downhill. Nothing seemed fresh at all. Disappointing.

TBH, I'm not sure. The one I go to is outside of LA and we go once a year when visiting family. It is still very good - fresh ingredients, simply prepared. Not food to table but actually quite decent and the space is nice.

I went to Chuy's after reading this thread and it was SOOO good. It was 40 minutes away in Springfield but it was sooo good and loved being in "someplace new." Felt like I was on vacation. Staff was super nice. I got my TexMex fajitas I needed!

I just found BWW medium sauce in my grocery store. I make great wings but didn’t ever find the perfect copycat sauce. Can’t wait!

I hadn't thought about Olive Garden in ages, but this thread inspired me to pick up take-out eggplant parmigiana. It was meltingly soft under the crunch, and that's hard to do -- often eggplant turns out woody or fibrous.

Not fine dining, but I was hungry and it was delicious.

Anonymous wrote:iHop
Friday's
Benihana
Red Robin

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

I recall loving Red Robin's chicken teriyaki sandwich.