What restaurant groups or chains represent quality to you?

[mkarim]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

We have a great breakfast chain here called J. Christophers.

Yes, I like them.

 

[Agnacious]

Every so often I find myself at one of these places and think "why did I come here".

A few weeks ago I was at Mortons in fort lauderdale and really felt like leaving halfway though.
Ruth's Chris used to be good before the chicago firm bought it. It has gone down hill considerably since then.

I have a Trulux open across the street and ate there twice. I didn't die, but I wasn't blown away. They have a nice wine selection where they have many bottles in some vacuum dispensing thing which is good.

 

[slycedbred]

i think i have bad taste...but i was born that way, can't help it.

pei wei sounds better than any other restaurant i've been to that's mentioned in this thread. i also like it better than pf changs

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by Agnacious

Every so often I find myself at one of these places and think "why did I come here".

my reaction is usually "where was I? what did i just eat?". i'd almost always much rather take a chance on a small independent. that said, i do think chipotle's offer's really good value. in n out is good, but honestly does not live up to the hype.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by foodguy

my reaction is usually "where was I? what did i just eat?". i'd almost always much rather take a chance on a small independent. that said, i do think chipotle's offer's really good value. in n out is good, but honestly does not live up to the hype.

I agree on Chipotle. I grab a burrito from there 3-4 times a year, and am usually happy, although I think the portions are too large in general. One burrito from there lasts me 2 meals, and I'm fat.

 

[mordecai]

I usually enjoy what I eat at Versailles.

Originally Posted by foodguy

in n out is good, but honestly does not live up to the hype.
you're right, also feel this way about roscoe's.

 

[ramuman]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

Just curious...I've had good, consistent results at the following restaurants: Legal Sea Foods Capital Grille Morton's Longhorn Steakhouses The Palm
You might chastise me for saying this as a fellow Atlantian Fran, but I like Figo for lazy lunches. Longhorn service can be absolute **** in my experience for example. I dig Morton's though.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

I agree on Chipotle. I grab a burrito from there 3-4 times a year, and am usually happy, although I think the portions are too large in general. One burrito from there lasts me 2 meals, and I'm fat.
I agree...I don't mind them or Willy's (not sure if they're in Chicago). After or before a workout, I don't mind eating a ton of carbs and protein in a tidy package. Not sure how you can't eat a Chipotle burrito in a sitting though. I can easily do that if I'm coming off something taxing (not just working out). I think this thread is more about decent + consistency than anything else.

 

[itsstillmatt]

I prefer figa myself.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by ramuman

You might chastise me for saying this as a fellow Atlantian Fran, but I like Figo for lazy lunches. Longhorn service can be absolute **** in my experience.

DUDE. Totally. I assumed it was only the one that I had been to, but apparently not. My ex and I went into a longhorn in Indy about 18 months ago and we were seated on a moderately busy evening (the restaurant was almost full, but there was no wait for a table or anything). After sitting for 15 minutes without being acknowledged by anyone, we said ******* and left.

 

[ramuman]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

DUDE. Totally. I assumed it was only the one that I had been to, but apparently not. My ex and I went into a longhorn in Indy about 18 months ago and we were seated on a moderately busy evening (the restaurant was almost full, but there was no wait for a table or anything). After sitting for 15 minutes without being acknowledged by anyone, we said ******* and left.
Agreed, but I'd never take a date to a chain like Longhorn for that very reason of inconsistency. If I'm not trying to impress, I much prefer "local chains". Figo fits that bill perfectly here in Atlanta in my experience. 10-15 bucks for a meal. Decent pasta and paninis, owners that care, and generally happy staff. IMHO, the staff's attitude matters quite a bit for a dine-in experience. I'm not saying the food can suck, but the difference between OK insalata A and OK insalata B is the atmosphere and staff. I just came back from St. Louis and went to a place called Harvest. My friend is the sous chef and the staff treated us very well. The food was also good, but I'll remember how I was treated for longer than details about the steak I had.

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

I agree on Chipotle. I grab a burrito from there 3-4 times a year, and am usually happy, although I think the portions are too large in general. One burrito from there lasts me 2 meals, and I'm fat.

for sure! my wife and i usually split a burrito (and we're, well, not as thin as once we were). then we look around at people who have two of them on their plate! but the meat's good ... it tastes like what it is and the beans and rice are just fine.

 

[itsstillmatt]

My wife and I eat our own, and we eat chips and guacamole.

 

[gomestar]

I enjoy a Chipotle burrito every now and then (though it has been at least a year, mostly due to work habits), but I can't stand it when they do one spoon of beef and 7 spoons of rice - and then your first 10 bites are all rice and flour tortilla. I think there's a Chipotle near my office, if I have a free 30 minutes to deal with the line, I'll give it a go.

 

[mordecai]

Originally Posted by iammatt

My wife and I eat our own
i suspected as much.

 

[impolyt_one]

since this thread seems to be more about guilty pleasures

... I like this place in Japan, I have eaten it in Japan several times now, usually in lieu of a fast food meal when I'm down in the middle of Tokyo and just looking for a fill up instead of a food experience. They have it locally here as well, but the chain has died and dwindled to 2 stores way across town and not good enough to take a $15 cab ride for, because the food only costs $10, apart from the obvious..

Anyway the concept is fast food teppanyaki steak, chopped steak, or hamburg steak with rice on the plate or on the side. The steak is under $10ish and about 6oz, has reasonable marbling for an Australian-grown steak, comes with a dollop of pepper butter on top, bean sprouts that cook in the juices, etc, etc. You can add a side salad with wafu dressing for a buck, green bean glace for a buck, add a fried egg, add tons of rice on the side, etc. The best thing? You don't talk to the staff, you go to a vending machine in the corner and get tickets for what you want, and present them at the counter. It's cheesy 1960's American food and uniforms X present day Japan X the future of food service. It's no steakhouse steak, but it's on the level of McDonald's in terms of price/speed, and so to that, it does offer value, and for what it's supposed to be, it tastes good. THe only problem is, in Japan at least, they had a batch of contaminated beef and sent 38 people to the hospital with E.Coli last year, and have joined the ranks of E.Coli fast food shacks, which is never a good look. They were giving them a little added something, I guess.