How Is That Chain Still Open?

[Bill Brasky 1,449]

the El Chico here just closed a few weeks ago 

[Underdog 28,742]

Going to have to disagree with you on WC, haven't been since discovering White Mana in Hackensack but WC remains a must stop, even if I'm not hungry whenever I come across one. 

[LebongJames 1,813]

How can it be a must stop and you haven’t eaten there in 28 years?

[Deej 76,847]

P.F. Changs, the Olive Garden of Chinese food.

[Underdog 28,742]

15 minutes ago, LebongJames said:

How can it be a must stop and you haven’t eaten there in 28 years?

I drive slowly...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and in the left lane. 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,817]

Sadly the nice family run slider chain you remember from the Gulf War era is dead. Replaced by trashy workers and clientele, soggy buns, and mushy faux meat patties.

That sounds delicious at 230 am and a stomach full of booze

[immortal13 4,059]

5 hours ago, LebongJames said:

How can it be a must stop and you haven’t eaten there in 28 years?

He got thrown out...

[6th Street 6,432]

5 hours ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

9 hours ago, 6th Street said:

Sadly the nice family run slider chain you remember from the Gulf War era is dead. Replaced by trashy workers and clientele, soggy buns, and mushy faux meat patties.

That sounds delicious at 230 am and a stomach full of booze

Naw man these dudes in TX have Whataburger and Jack in the Box for late night, which are a million times better than White Castle. 

[WhatTheBuck 28,791]

14 hours ago, 6th Street said:

White Castle is terrible - soggy and lacking any sort of flavor. Nothing like in Harold and Kumar

What did they taste like in the movie?

[Stunns38 3,536]

What did they taste like in the movie?

Stale popcorn

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

On 7/26/2018 at 9:39 AM, Jameslaw121 said:

This is where I'm at. If we're driving for vacation or something, Unless we have place in mind that we want to try, we're looking for a Chilis. There burgers are decent. and are only like $7.99 or something so it's not like it's more expensive that fast food.

And, I'm at the point in my life that I just can't eat fast food (except Whataburger, of course).....Al of it just tastes nasty to me. 

Your copilot has a job, and that is to research dining options on her (presumably) Yelp or Trip Advisor app. We are rarely disappointed in our choices when traveling. 

[Brisketexan 105,161]

6 minutes ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

Your copilot has a job, and that is to research dining options on her (presumably) Yelp or Trip Advisor app. We are rarely disappointed in our choices when traveling. 

This.  Sure, every once in a while you pick a crappy place.  More often, you pick a place that's at LEAST as good as a regular diner, chili's, etc.  And quite often, you hit a place that your whole family will talk about years later.

[Jameslaw121 4,448]

1 hour ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

Your copilot has a job, and that is to research dining options on her (presumably) Yelp or Trip Advisor app. We are rarely disappointed in our choices when traveling. 

If I asked my wife to help find a to eat while I'm driving. I'm fairly certain that the conversation would wind up in the "Stupid wives...." Thread

[elfenix 34,329]

9 minutes ago, Jameslaw121 said:

If I asked my wife to help find a to eat while I'm driving. I'm fairly certain that the conversation would wind up in the "Stupid wives...." Thread

so, either you win or surly wins?  i don't see the downside.

[VolenteHawk 495]

3 hours ago, Jameslaw121 said:

If I asked my wife to help find a to eat while I'm driving. I'm fairly certain that the conversation would wind up in the "Stupid wives...." Thread

And that post, if you’re like me includes a lot of “we just passed a Buffalo Wild Wings” because it’s apparently impossible to adjust iPhone maps up the road.

[NIUHuskies 504]

Too lazy to look:

 

Fazolis and Shoney's should both shutter their doors.

[Guest Lobo]

It's a curious juxtaposition when it comes to restaurants.  Though men are more adventurous and bold, they'll often eat at shittastic chains because of the safety of it while women are often more on the safe side at home but will posit the "let's go somewhere new and different" when it comes to eating out.  Or at least it's been my experience with every single couple I've ever known since the early 1980's.  Dunno.

[WhatTheBuck 28,791]

12 hours ago, NIUHuskies said:

Too lazy to look:

 

Fazolis and Shoney's should both shutter their doors.

I ate at Fazolis once. It made me sick. 

[DallasHorn26 586]

2 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I ate at Fazolis once. It made me sick. 

I used to office next to one.  The only reason to go was for breadsticks.

[MaybeACoordinator 8,349]

Here are a bunch of chains that for the most part aren't still open....

Comments and quibbles:

 

Ate at one HoJo when I was a kid and I remember thinking it was nasty. Chi-Chi's was pointless in Texas but welcome in Tennessee in its time. Speaking of Tennessee, Steak and Ale was not allowed to use that name when it first came to the state -- there was a law against using the names of alcoholic beverages in restaurant names, so it went by The Jolly Ox. We'd go there when my dad felt even more like putting on the dog than when we went to Bonanza, which was where I first encountered a salad bar. 

 

Seems weird to put Bob's Big Boy on here. I've never seen one of them but my understanding is that those restaurants with the fat kid in checkered overalls are all the same but go by different names in different regions. In Texas they used to be called something other than Shoney's IIRC, and in Ohio they were called Fritsch's. 

Is Cheddars really moving towards extinction? I seem to see a lot of them around.  

[TornACL 7,721]

22 hours ago, VolenteHawk said:

And that post, if you’re like me includes a lot of “we just passed a Buffalo Wild Wings” because it’s apparently impossible to adjust iPhone maps up the road.

This is always my favorite.

"We just passed a Whataburger..."

Oh yeah, last exit or?

"About 20 miles back"

 

GOD DAMNIT.

Edited August 28, 2018 by TornACL

[Brisketexan 105,161]

18 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Here are a bunch of chains that for the most part aren't still open....

Comments and quibbles:

 

Ate at one HoJo when I was a kid and I remember thinking it was nasty. Chi-Chi's was pointless in Texas but welcome in Tennessee in its time. Speaking of Tennessee, Steak and Ale was not allowed to use that name when it first came to the state -- there was a law against using the names of alcoholic beverages in restaurant names, so it went by The Jolly Ox. We'd go there when my dad felt even more like putting on the dog than when we went to Bonanza, which was where I first encountered a salad bar. 

 

Seems weird to put Bob's Big Boy on here. I've never seen one of them but my understanding is that those restaurants with the fat kid in checkered overalls are all the same but go by different names in different regions. In Texas they used to be called something other than Shoney's IIRC, and in Ohio they were called Fritsch's. 

Is Cheddars really moving towards extinction? I seem to see a lot of them around.  

In Houston, Big Boy restaurants were "Kip's Big Boy."  There was one off Bellaire somewhere that we went to a bunch when I was a kid.

[Baboontyme 2,814]

Only five big boys remain? Yeah maybe within 10 square miles of where I live. There have to be 300 of them across the State. 

[Deej 76,847]

6 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

In Houston, Big Boy restaurants were "Kip's Big Boy."  There was one off Bellaire somewhere that we went to a bunch when I was a kid.

My grandfather would take us there as kids. Fond memories. 

[RDCanecutter 26,454]

Querstion for the Hive Mind:

Has a food chain ever expanded, then nearly died out for a while, but then expanded again?

[tx ind 7,013]

58 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Querstion for the Hive Mind:

Has a food chain ever expanded, then nearly died out for a while, but then expanded again?

Krispy Kreme

[Stunns38 3,536]

I ate at Fazolis once. It made me sick. 

How Olive Garden has gone to even shittier levels, it may be on par with Fazolis.

[CycleTex87 2,977]

On 7/26/2018 at 5:27 AM, slorch said:

Chilis

Olive Garden

 

Both are like raiding the frozen aisles at your local grocery store.  Meh, at best with zero personality in the food.  Total dogshit for the price.

CSB:  we had a big client meeting in Singapore with some Thais, Americans, and other nationalities.  Our local sales guy (American) chose to take us all out to eat on the wrap up night at...........Chilis.  Are you kidding me?  All the world class food in Singapore...

and this other time?  We were needing a quick lunch in Lima, Peru, and........Subway. 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,817]

I tried olive gardens spagetti and meatballs take out last month. It didnt have any taste. Ill probably stick to alfredo stuff from now on.

OG does have huge take out portions. The salad they give you is good enough for 4, plus 3 or 4 breadsticks and your meal that you can split up into 3 or 4 quantities for like 12-15 bucks

[utee94 15,835]

10 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

CSB:  we had a big client meeting in Singapore with some Thais, Americans, and other nationalities.  Our local sales guy (American) chose to take us all out to eat on the wrap up night at...........Chilis.  Are you kidding me?  All the world class food in Singapore...

and this other time?  We were needing a quick lunch in Lima, Peru, and........Subway. 

That sales guy was definitely on the outs with Accounting and was worried about getting the meal approved.  Probably buying hookers and stuff for other customers.

[Al_4_ISU 12,470]

On 8/25/2018 at 1:28 PM, Deej said:

P.F. Changs, the Olive Garden of Chinese food.

Good call.  Every hole in the wall dog meat Chinese place I've ever been to is better than PF Changs and a lot cheaper.

[woohorn 1,131]

Querstion for the Hive Mind:
Has a food chain ever expanded, then nearly died out for a while, but then expanded again?

Seems like Del Taco and Steak-n-Shake have done it a couple of times.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,817]

I think Sonic is frowned upon in these parts of the interwebs..Had a double cheese with tots and coke for supper just now.

 

 

Actually wasnt bad. better than what I remember which has been probably 2+ years

[Knoxtnhorn 6,061]

Fazoli's isn't that bad.  Cheap pasta and all you can eat bread sticks.  I kind of miss now that I'm down here in DFW.

Coincidentally, we have now eaten at Chili's 5 straight Friday evenings.  Parents pick up the kids from school during the week so we take them out to eat on Fridays.  Dad likes Chili's because it is close.  I have no complaints due to beer and appetizers.

[Knoxtnhorn 6,061]

In my defense, I grew up dirt poor and may have eaten at a restaurant 10 times my entire life before getting to the 40.  I'm not that picky when it comes to food unless I'm spending a lot of $$.  In that case, I'd better get some (and a lot) of decent food.

[DoobieWah 1,449]

36 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Parents pick up the kids from school during the week so we take them out to eat on Fridays.

 

Grandparents are the best! Childcare in exchange for Chilis.

What a deal.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,817]

37 minutes ago, DoobieWah said:

 

Grandparents are the best! Childcare in exchange for Chilis.

What a deal.

yep. Sign em up.

[Knoxtnhorn 6,061]

It's funny.  When the offer to take them out was first made, we'd take them to Opa (semi-fancy Greek food), Fritzi's (semi-fancy German), a Mexican restaurant on the lake, etc...  But, they prefer Chili's or On the Border because it's less of a drive.

[pyrohornIII 4,816]

On 8/27/2018 at 9:24 AM, ImissWallyPryor said:

Your copilot has a job, and that is to research dining options on her (presumably) Yelp or Trip Advisor app. We are rarely disappointed in our choices when traveling. 

I added this link as a button on my phone...Fuck chains.  Long live Surly recommendations!

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Qtv1ivvV05DPO7StkWJN-Ajd8JU&ll=38.03429691534569%2C-96.2187376&z=5

 

It's from this thread:  

 

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

One smallish chain we found on Yelp while in CO recently was Cheba Hut in Ft. Collins. The location off the NE edge of the CSU campus was pretty damn good, and if the others are anything like it, you’d never guess it was a chain/franchise/whatever. Apparently, they have live music there at nights  

I chowed down on a very large KGB sandwich, which is ironic since I’m a Reaganite. 

[Gardner Barnes 1,562]

I ate at the one in Dillon CO (or that general area) with my daughter just this past June. That place was awesome. Needs locations in Texas.

[DoobieWah 1,449]

Inre: ChebaHut

Uhmmm. They're pretty out front with their gimmick. It may still be a few years until Texas becomes a viable market for them, but who knows?

[DoobieWah 1,449]

15 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

I chowed down on a very large KGB sandwich, which is ironic since I’m a Reaganite. 

I HOPE you ate that SOLO.

😉

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

 

26 minutes ago, DoobieWah said:

Inre: ChebaHut

Uhmmm. They're pretty out front with their gimmick. It may still be a few years until Texas becomes a viable market for them, but who knows?

It felt too "Austin" for hipster Austin.

[pyrohornIII 4,816]

Two chains i would stop at are in the north and west. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco_John's

I enjoyed them the few we stopped at.  Clean, decent food.   Taco Bell done right.

https://www.culvers.com/

A pretty wide selection.  Clean.  There's one around the Woodlands and one in Conroe that I know of. 

So I will eat at a chain, but its gonna be if no little mom and pops are available.

[clapclapclap 9,000]

On 7/26/2018 at 12:37 PM, Brisketexan said:

Krispy Krunchy Cajun chicken (found in gas stations only) is the best gas station chicken, and actually rivals Popeyes. Disagree with me, and I will fight you.

Do you own/work at one of these Krappy Krunchy chicken gas stations?  Because yeah, my mileage varied.  A lot.

The chicken was ok, but meh.  Even now barely spicy Popeyes blows it away.  Biscuits bleh. The red beans and rice had a nasty vinegar-esque taste.  The worst was the Jambalaya that looked nothing like the pictures.  It was just giant slices of hard, days old chicken, rice, and a stirred in packet of some weird flavoring (not at all Cajun.)   No one liked it and 95% of the sides got tossed in the garbage.

To be fair, the Boudin balls were quite good.  Don't waste money on anything else, though, go to Church's spicy instead.

Also, their website is a Russian troll job.  Looks like they've got hundreds of locations all over Texas, but Google Maps say most don't exist.  Last week went to two of these claimed locations, at one of the gas stations they listed the clerk had no idea what I was talking about, and of course no chicken.  The other was a vacant lot.

[Incredulity 11,678]

FWIW Krispy Krunchy is a fried chicken program mostly for independent convenience stores.  Therefore performance/decisions by store owner/manager are going to have a huge effect on what you get.  The reason McDonalds damn near always is the same is because they have a robust franchisee compliance program.  KK Chicken, probably not so much.

 

Personally I wouldn’t buy any store prepared food except for by some of the big chains like QT.  Unless I had lots of personal experience with said store and felt like they were at least somewhat concerned with food safety and serving good stuff.

[clapclapclap 9,000]

As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never eat gas station food again.

[Brisketexan 105,161]

As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never eat gas station food again.

Sounds like a miserable life.

Random fried things from gas stations are what is good in life. Along with crushing enemies and lamentations of their women etc.

[Jameslaw121 4,448]

On 8/31/2018 at 8:31 PM, Knoxtnhorn said:

Fazoli's isn't that bad.  Cheap pasta and all you can eat bread sticks.  I kind of miss now that I'm down here in DFW.

Coincidentally, we have now eaten at Chili's 5 straight Friday evenings.  Parents pick up the kids from school during the week so we take them out to eat on Fridays.  Dad likes Chili's because it is close.  I have no complaints due to beer and appetizers.

Yup - I remember once was staying with them for like a week until my new apartment was ready. I offered to buy dinner a couple of times. Once Dad wanted Waffle House, the other time he wanted me to get a sack of burgers from Braums.....