Why isn't that chain more popular?

[GreenspointTexas 9682]

Rosas is Taco Cabana with incredible tortillas

 

and i like Rosas... at least way more than Taco Cabana

[Deej 76944]

3 hours ago, BradInATX said:

I could tell you some things that would make you never eat there.

Pretty much every restaurant ever

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, they voluntarily admitted in court and on myriad media platforms that they made their bread out of exercise mats and that they buy the lowest grade meats, cheeses, and veggies from the local suppliers-same grade as school cafeterias and prisons.  And Subway continues to flourish.  I'm pretty sure Bill Miller BBQ will survive some rumors about moldy ice dispensers and bugs around the stoves. 

a good chain that I think should catch on is CAVA.  I would think in a city like Austin, they would be flourishing, but the one in my neighborhood is dead quiet most of the time.  And it's a part of town with a pretty healthy demographic, but this location severely lags behind the other stores around town and it's been open for almost two years now.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Lobo

[4th&Five 41599]

i like cava a lot too.  been to the one in westlake when it was slammed, no tables open but also seen it basically empty.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

Over in Walker County Alabama, wandering their dying mall, we found Garfield's. It is an Applebee's knock-off for would-be Applebee's owners who perhaps had a checkered past.

Right now there are 6 locations nationwide. There were once at least 20. I checked. They have the names of their locations, out-of-the-way towns, up on the wall. Every few months, another is missing.

I particularly missed Zanesville, Ohio, which used to feature on their list. I could sit in Jasper Alabama and feel a connection to an exotic place like Zanesville. Mrs. Canecutter once stopped overnight in Zanesville: "There was a dead rat outside our motel door."

Now all signal from Zanesville is gone. This must be how it felt when the Legions left Hadrian's Wall.

We go back, because goofy as Garfield's is, it's fun goofy. It's the flair restaurant from the 90s, from Office Space, it's the less popular girl in school, but damn if she don't put out. Food is above average airplane fare, people are happy to see you. Maybe it's well-managed. Most of the reviews of the others imply that they imploded when some owner who couldn't get his shit together to acquire an Applebee's, had those same trends catch up to him at Garfield's.

[Okie State 3848]

Over in Walker County Alabama, wandering their dying mall, we found Garfield's. It is an Applebee's knock-off for would-be Applebee's owners who perhaps had a checkered past.
Right now there are 6 locations nationwide. There were once at least 20. I checked. They have the names of their locations, out-of-the-way towns, up on the wall. Every few months, another is missing.
I particularly missed Zanesville, Ohio, which used to feature on their list. I could sit in Jasper Alabama and feel a connection to an exotic place like Zanesville. Mrs. Canecutter once stopped overnight in Zanesville: "There was a dead rat outside our motel door."
Now all signal from Zanesville is gone. This must be how it felt when the Legions left Hadrian's Wall.
We go back, because goofy as Garfield's is, it's fun goofy. It's the flair restaurant from the 90s, from Office Space, it's the less popular girl in school, but damn if she don't put out. Food is above average airplane fare, people are happy to see you. Maybe it's well-managed. Most of the reviews of the others imply that they imploded when some owner who couldn't get his shit together to acquire an Applebee's, had those same trends catch up to him at Garfield's.

Just checked and it looks like the Garfield's in my hometown dying mall is history. Damn shame.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

1 minute ago, Okie State said:

15 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Over in Walker County Alabama, wandering their dying mall, we found Garfield's. It is an Applebee's knock-off for would-be Applebee's owners who perhaps had a checkered past.
Right now there are 6 locations nationwide. There were once at least 20. I checked. They have the names of their locations, out-of-the-way towns, up on the wall. Every few months, another is missing.
I particularly missed Zanesville, Ohio, which used to feature on their list. I could sit in Jasper Alabama and feel a connection to an exotic place like Zanesville. Mrs. Canecutter once stopped overnight in Zanesville: "There was a dead rat outside our motel door."
Now all signal from Zanesville is gone. This must be how it felt when the Legions left Hadrian's Wall.
We go back, because goofy as Garfield's is, it's fun goofy. It's the flair restaurant from the 90s, from Office Space, it's the less popular girl in school, but damn if she don't put out. Food is above average airplane fare, people are happy to see you. Maybe it's well-managed. Most of the reviews of the others imply that they imploded when some owner who couldn't get his shit together to acquire an Applebee's, had those same trends catch up to him at Garfield's.

Read more  

Just checked and it looks like the Garfield's in my hometown dying mall is history. Damn shame.

On the Garfield's website, I didn't see any way to contact them to open new franchises. I would do it as a joke, but I don't want to give anybody in the home office a stroke.

[Aqua Buddha 14623]

HEB.  They should dominate the South Central US at this point.  

Taco Cabana.

Whataburger.  (They always had infighting with the franchise group but now that the Chicago outfit owns them, they might expand more.)

 

[hornbri 1417]

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

The more "scientific" answer is that they changed the names to avoid menu labeling requirements.  Some Houstons became Hillstone, which is the name of the ownership group.

Some thing happened to me when I went to Los Altos Grill. I am pretty sure it was to avoid menu labeling requirements. 

[Jack Straw 2954]

59 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Yeah, they voluntarily admitted in court and on myriad media platforms that they made their bread out of exercise mats and that they buy the lowest grade meats, cheeses, and veggies from the local suppliers-same grade as school cafeterias and prisons.  And Subway continues to flourish.  I'm pretty sure Bill Miller BBQ will survive some rumors about moldy ice dispensers and bugs around the stoves. 

a good chain that I think should catch on is CAVA.  I would think in a city like Austin, they would be flourishing, but the one in my neighborhood is dead quiet most of the time.  And it's a part of town with a pretty healthy demographic, but this location severely lags behind the other stores around town and it's been open for almost two years now.

It’s completely packed out with a line to the door every day at lunchtime on weekdays.  I like it because there is a lot of variety, but I always feel full until bedtime when I eat there for lunch (eating the same sized portion I would anywhere else).  Not a bad thing if trying to drop a few LBs I suppose. 

* Westlake location 

Edited December 24, 2019 by Jack Straw
oh

[SimonBolivar 10960]

18 hours ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Freddys needs more locations

 

as does Chicken Express

I'm always surprised that Golden Chick/Chicken Express/Bush's are all pretty much exclusive to Texas or the greater Texas area. When I lived in Florida I had a huge craving for fried chicken tenders in cream gravy and couldn't get it anywhere. Cane's/Chick-Fil-A/Zaxby's are all fine chicken finger establishments, but they are completely different (imo) than Golden Chick/Chicken Express/Bush's.

[Carl Spackler 3504]

12 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

You have to be a bbq deprived mf’er if Dickey’s is a good option.

That's exactly the situation in my area.  There is virtually no decent BBQ near me.  So every once in a while I'll get desperate and go to Dickey's.  If I stick to sandwiches and sides, it's tolerable.     

[Steamboat1874 4085]

3 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

Golden Chick is better than both. 

This !

[Deej 76944]

9 minutes ago, Carl Spackler said:

That's exactly the situation in my area.  There is virtually no decent BBQ near me.  So every once in a while I'll get desperate and go to Dickey's.  If I stick to sandwiches and sides, it's tolerable.     

Maybe buy a smoker?

[Carl Spackler 3504]

2 minutes ago, Deej said:

Maybe buy a smoker?

I've got a Weber Smokey Mountain.  But sometimes the 'cue urge strikes when I don't have time to smoke something.  And when that happens, there is fuck all in the area in terms of BBQ restaurants.  

[Underdog 28783]

"We sitting in here, and we in here talking about Dickey's. I mean, listen: We talking about Dickey's. Not Franklin. Not Snow's. Not Louis Mueller. We talking about Dickey's. Not LA BBQ. Not the Stiles Switch that I go out there and work like a dog like it's my last. Not Micklewaith. We talking about Dickey's, man."

 

[Parliament 14333]

I could add Whataburger to this list. North Dakotans coming back from their annual FCS Natty game in Frisco always lament the dearth of Whataburgers north of I80.

[Llewelyn Moss 210]

16 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

Golden Chick is better than both. 

Preach

 

[Llewelyn Moss 210]

The Braum’s concept seems like it should be waaaay more popular. But holy hell their service is terrible, and it is only surpassed by the lack of cleanliness. The product is great, though! Ice cream is on point and reasonably priced, burgers are cooked to order with quality ingredients. 
 

Of course, it takes 15 min to get your food on most occasions and you have to wipe down a table to find a place to sit, so...

[ButtFumble 5183]

I am not sure if Rosas started in Odessa or not (the parent company did), but they are based out of Fort Worth now (Bobby Cox Companies)

http://www.bobbycox.com/

Braums will not expand past a certain distance from their dairy and commissary operations in Oklahoma (though they have pushed that distance out a bit recently)

I would not say Chick Fil A is a chicken fingers place, but there is also Slims that is much more like Canes or Zaxbys

I much preferred Taco Cabana to Rosas in the past, but Cabana has changed up their menu too much now and the taste is just not the same

I will admit that I liked the Dickeys sausage, those rolls, and a number of their sides.....but I will make clear it is far from the best BBQ and the franchise controls are totally horrible and they let a lot of weak operators open up.....at one time I think it was $10,000 and a liquid net worth or somewhere around $100,000 for a franchise and I think that got you a "territory" in some places

I never understood the Bill Millers thing, but I have interacted with the owner on another forum and he is a respectable guy and he takes his business and employees seriously and in San Antonio they have a massive cult following so more power to them

I never understood how James Coney Island and Antones Po-Boys did not get bigger, but James Coney has only marginally expanded over the years in fits and starts and Antones has managed to lose locations (not that they had many to start with).....there is Antoines in Dallas on Harry Hines that is owned by a relative with almost identical taste.....just the one location with bankers hours though

Becks Prime is another place that should have been able to expand with the gourmet burger craze and did not

 

Edited December 25, 2019 by ButtFumble

[Rimbo 26139]

Epic Wings, formerly Wings N Things. San Diegans know of what I speak. If you were to draw a graph with price as the Y-axis and quality as the X-axis, the ones owned by the Turkish brothers -- Black Mountain, Carmel Mountain, Temecula -- would be in the far upper-left corner compared to all other foods.

Only downside is I miss the Atomic sauce; they seem to have stopped it. Despite the name, it was actually very tasty, and not just hot for its own sake.

[Junior Miller 1502]

This is only local to SA as far as I know but it's better than Rosa's and Taco Cabana and others like Bueno and Bell and that's Mama Margie's. Very good fast food Mexican. I would put it just behind Regio. 

[Underdog 28783]

DiBella's Subs

 

[Liteitup 138]

Canes has the best chicken fingers/tenders/parts locally, but no gravy or jalapenos makes it hard to frequent.

[ocugolf 1214]

On 12/24/2019 at 12:25 PM, Okie State said:

On 12/24/2019 at 12:11 PM, RDCanecutter said:

Over in Walker County Alabama, wandering their dying mall, we found Garfield's. It is an Applebee's knock-off for would-be Applebee's owners who perhaps had a checkered past.
Right now there are 6 locations nationwide. There were once at least 20. I checked. They have the names of their locations, out-of-the-way towns, up on the wall. Every few months, another is missing.
I particularly missed Zanesville, Ohio, which used to feature on their list. I could sit in Jasper Alabama and feel a connection to an exotic place like Zanesville. Mrs. Canecutter once stopped overnight in Zanesville: "There was a dead rat outside our motel door."
Now all signal from Zanesville is gone. This must be how it felt when the Legions left Hadrian's Wall.
We go back, because goofy as Garfield's is, it's fun goofy. It's the flair restaurant from the 90s, from Office Space, it's the less popular girl in school, but damn if she don't put out. Food is above average airplane fare, people are happy to see you. Maybe it's well-managed. Most of the reviews of the others imply that they imploded when some owner who couldn't get his shit together to acquire an Applebee's, had those same trends catch up to him at Garfield's.

Read more  

Just checked and it looks like the Garfield's in my hometown dying mall is history. Damn shame.

Bartlesville? 

[Henry Hill 3156]

On 12/24/2019 at 8:29 AM, BradInATX said:

Rosa's crushes bueno, bell or cabana. Best cheap Mexican fast food easy. It's what Cabana used to be back in the 90s, before they watered down the queso and the rest of the food got shitty.

Bill Muellers sucks, for whoever asked. I used to work there in high school. I could tell you some things that would make you never eat there.

Go on.

[BurntOrange&White 40044]

Just here to add to the Dickey’s is complete dog shit and one of only 3 places that can actually fuck up a chopped beef sammich

 

[AustinMT 952]

7 minutes ago, Bevo VIII said:

Just here to add to the Dickey’s is complete dog shit and one of only 3 places that can actually fuck up a chopped beef sammich

 

What are the other 2?

[Jive Turkey 12646]

20 hours ago, Llewelyn Moss said:

The Braum’s concept seems like it should be waaaay more popular. But holy hell their service is terrible, and it is only surpassed by the lack of cleanliness. The product is great, though! Ice cream is on point and reasonably priced, burgers are cooked to order with quality ingredients. 
 

Of course, it takes 15 min to get your food on most occasions and you have to wipe down a table to find a place to sit, so...

This was gonna be my answer. Braum’s should dominate. Ice creams are great, burgers and fries are solid and cheap. Hell, even their little store has good deals. But it’s very disorganized. 

[Surly Bevo 25169]

3 minutes ago, Jive Turkey said:

But it’s very disorganized. 

 

[threesheets 1675]

On 12/25/2019 at 3:01 AM, ButtFumble said:

there is Antoines in Dallas on Harry Hines that is owned by a relative with almost identical taste.....

 

I hit that at least once a month and love it, although I'm not sure why (prolly the $5 deal). But I do love it.

My answer to the OP is Chiloso.

[Macanudo 13015]

Antone's expanded by getting their sandwiches on grocery store deli shelves.

[Knoxtnhorn 6066]

Grandy's was kind of a big deal for me when I was a kid.  We were dirt poor, so this place was kind of classy to our family.  I come back to Texas after 20 years and it looks like a third-world establishment.

[Knoxtnhorn 6066]

And maybe I'm more particular now that I'm older but, when I left Texas ('96), Taco Bueno was far superior to Taco Bell, and Taco Cabana was better than both.  I'd just about put them all at the same level now. 

Taco Bueno food has no taste; the nachos look like they've already been digested. 

Taco Cabana is a dumpster.  Sucks because I have some great memories of the TC at the end of The Drag.  I ate at one a couple of months ago and:

1) Ordered nachos off the menu above/behind the counter.  Girl said they don't have nachos.  Um, ok.  I was in a hurry so I ordered flautas.

2) We're out of flautas.

3) Ordered something else and was given a table tent.  They were not calling out numbers.  After about 15 mins, I went to the counter to see what was up and my food was just sitting there.  WTH?

 

[Knoxtnhorn 6066]

One more thing, then I'll stop thread hogging.

I've always wondered why this area never got into the fast food slider business.  There's a Crystal's on just about every street corner in Knoxville.  I hear that there are White Castle's all over the NE.  

[Steamboat1874 4085]

On 12/25/2019 at 1:36 AM, Llewelyn Moss said:

Preach

 

Their Golden Roasted chicken is fantastic.

[Underdog 28783]

9 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

One more thing, then I'll stop thread hogging.

I've always wondered why this area never got into the fast food slider business.  There's a Crystal's on just about every street corner in Knoxville.  I hear that there are White Castle's all over the NE.  

There was a Krystal's in Killeen area early/mid 2000s.  

[CooterBrown 18032]

And maybe I'm more particular now that I'm older but, when I left Texas ('96), Taco Bueno was far superior to Taco Bell, and Taco Cabana was better than both.  I'd just about put them all at the same level now. 
Taco Bueno food has no taste; the nachos look like they've already been digested. 
Taco Cabana is a dumpster.  Sucks because I have some great memories of the TC at the end of The Drag.  I ate at one a couple of months ago and:
1) Ordered nachos off the menu above/behind the counter.  Girl said they don't have nachos.  Um, ok.  I was in a hurry so I ordered flautas.
2) We're out of flautas.
3) Ordered something else and was given a table tent.  They were not calling out numbers.  After about 15 mins, I went to the counter to see what was up and my food was just sitting there.  WTH?
 

Taco Cabana went to shit about 5-7 years ago. It used to be consistently solid. They’ve cut so many corners lately it’s ridiculous. First they dropped their kick ass grilled chicken. Then they dropped the best breakfast platter - fajitas and eggs. You can order it off menu for now at least. A few weeks ago they dropped the green salsa.

[Llewelyn Moss 210]

1 hour ago, Steamboat1874 said:

Their Golden Roasted chicken is fantastic.

Not surprised...their chicken salad is great, too. (As long as you don’t get a location that shreds it rather than cuts it.) I bet it’s made from their roasted chicken. 

[Surly Bevo 25169]

Lotta Taco Bueno's closed when they declared BK back a little over a year ago.  Not sure what their problems were but at the end the one across the street from me was a solid number 2 behind the Rosa's a few miles away

[RDCanecutter 26475]

40 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

 

Taco Cabana went to shit about 5-7 years ago. It used to be consistently solid. They’ve cut so many corners lately it’s ridiculous. First they dropped their kick ass grilled chicken. Then they dropped the best breakfast platter - fajitas and eggs. You can order it off menu for now at least. A few weeks ago they dropped the green salsa.

I would cut a bitch.

Cabana had always been in that weird zone-- not really good Mexican food, not Taco Bell dogfood either. Used to enjoy the one near campus as a break from the Vietnamese food cart. Guess it's part of the memories now.

[Underdog 28783]

TC on Ben White was a staple for us AMDers on some Saturday mornings when we didn't feel like making the trek down to Dan's or Juan's, their breakfast offerings were always solid. 

[Knoxtnhorn 6066]

TC tortillas are still pretty good.  When living on West Campus, I used to get beans, rice, and a shitload of tortillas for something like $2 and go to town.  Can't believe they got rid of the green sauce.  

Edited December 26, 2019 by Knoxtnhorn

[tx 3 putt 77513]

On 12/23/2019 at 5:19 PM, threesheets said:

Dickey's is fucking garbage, top to bottom. 

The place has great tea 

[tx 3 putt 77513]

Buccees could stand to add some more stores 

[CooterBrown 18032]

The place has great tea 

I always get an iced tea from Dickeys and food elsewhere when I have to eat at Love Field.

[SimonBolivar 10960]

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

 

Taco Cabana went to shit about 5-7 years ago. It used to be consistently solid. They’ve cut so many corners lately it’s ridiculous. First they dropped their kick ass grilled chicken. Then they dropped the best breakfast platter - fajitas and eggs. You can order it off menu for now at least. A few weeks ago they dropped the green salsa.

 

Yep not worth going to anymore after they dropped their quality.

[Underdog 28783]

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

The place has great tea 

When are the Earth, Wind & Fire tickets going on sale? 

[Guest Lobo]

He comes here for the knakworst.  

Edited December 26, 2019 by Lobo

[Carl Spackler 3504]

In response to the OP:  Fatburger.