Grossest American Chain Restaurant

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shocking that a steakhouse isn't veggie-friendly. you should yelp that!

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, March 2, 2010 6:42 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol sorry I mildly denigrated your favorite restaurant. It wasn't surprising to me that Outback isn't veggie-friendly and I've only ever been there with in-laws because that's where they wanted to go, but since I'm vegetarian that's kind of part of how I assess restaurants. Weird right?

When he daughter got her grad degree, they all planned to go to her favorite sushi place for a nice meal, but her mom called them on her cell from the "Pigs' Trough," saying she'd already started eating there & everyone should come join her.

:( sad story. at Golden Corral you can buy take out by the pound.

we need a more thorough poll here.

Of the list, I say Chili's in a walk, though I've never heard of Claim Jumpers.

Denny's was the first food I ate on American soil - had been delayed for over a day, had had about 4 hours sleep and it was the only place open. Had been eating plane food & Burger King for like two days so just wanted something vaguely decent. Dennys was not the place to go.

Although it did have some menu items "designed" by Sum41, like these:
http://www.dennys.com/en/menu.aspx?menuid=10&parentid=255

and a completely spaced-out-mom waitress.
Haven't been to any others, tbh if I want cheap crappy food I'd rather go to McDs or Burger King.

dennys is a given in this so i'll say fridays, they seem determined to be the worst at their particular niche. claim jumper is probably the one i'd eat at first, the food is nowhere near as shitty as fridays or applebees. they used to have a good sized 4-beer sampler for 5.00, since they got rid of it no reason to go tbh

Golden Corral pwnz all. Really, buffets are a grossness class unto themselves.

good god yeah i ate there in orl not knowing any better, now gc ads are starting to trickle into california against all logic. the race to the bottom between them and hometown buffet will be bloody

whut about this place?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrabba%27s_Italian_Grill

Been there once or twice. In between Romano's and Olive Garden on the Italian chain restaurant quality scale imo.

what about buca di beppo

how does golden corral compare to old country buffet

I signed my dad up for the ocb mailing list and he gets so excited about getting free breakfast coupons and stuff

lol too cute

maggiano's > bucca di beppo > macaroni grill > carraba's > olive garden.
would never choose to go to maggiano's though because it's way overpriced.

Oh man, I've eaten at Outback twice and both times I feel disgusting sick because it's just oil dipped in grease dipped in lard dipped in an American flag

i think they rub butter on the steaks i aint bullshittin

anyone who gets a steak at a chain is insane imo

Cheesecake Factory is more than respectable -- they have bars, which are charming in a generic sort of way, and they know drinks and can mix them well. It's their portions that disgust me.

Once at a Dennys my dad ordered a Lumberjack Slam or whatever, and when he went to pour syrup over his pancakes a big river of dead ants came out instead.

Their patty melt is pretty good, though.

omg @ dead ants

what about buca di beppo

ughhh. but...four meals for the price of two, so. should bring my own tupperware next time.

A student who works for Friday's sez they basically buy their own brand's frozen potato skins, pizzas, and Monte Christos from the local grocery and microwave them.

wow alfred that they can mix drinks at cheesecake factory is kind of amazing to me (i have never been to one; my gf has threatened to take me because her work goes there a lot for lunch)

tho I remember when in the eighties Friday's billed itself as "The American Bistro," boasted a menu several pages long, cooked their own food, and Sam from Casablanca played "La Marseillaise."

that is a testament to the quality of TGI friday's frozen grocery store foods xpost

haha

Are we polling chain steakhouses next? Cuz I totally rep for Fleming's or Morton's.

i'm sorry whiney but you voluntarily eat subway

i think they rub butter on the steaks i aint bullshittin

Oh hell yes they do, according to my sister, six-year Steakback Outhouse employee. They do at Applebee's too, according to my mom, who worked there.

I go to Macaroni Grille once in a while when it's someone's birthday at work; totally acceptable, and occasionally more than that (e.g. their lasagna).

I'll agree with whoever said upthread that the quality of generic American chain restaurant food has deteriorated in twenty years.

I think frying a steak in butter is acceptable tbh

yeah i missed how butter + steak constituted a terrorist act

i was kind of on a mission to try every one of these chain restaurants, but chili's was the first, and it has seriously put me off the others.

I put a teaspoon of butter on steaks after removing them from the broiler, but, yeah, it's not frying.

yeah i'd like a clarification--steaks can be topped with butter but maybe this is more like one of those pumps at a movie theater concession with a steak under it?

oh this stuff:

http://www.kanokorn.com/images/louAnna-1.jpg

or this:

http://www.kanokorn.com/images/SuperKist-SM.jpg

buttery toppingesque quasicondiment

lol @ buttery topping

i'm sorry whiney but you voluntarily eat subway

― HOOM gang (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, March 2, 2010 9:40 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

cute zing, but if you can't see the difference between a twice-fried onion dripping acrid grease clear through a piece of wax paper vs. some wheat bread and vegetables than you're either a dipshit or weigh 400 pounds.

forgot to mention that the bread is loaded with HFCS tho

cute zing, but if you can't see the difference between a twice-fried onion dripping acrid grease clear through a piece of wax paper vs. some wheat bread and vegetables than you're either a dipshit or weigh 400 pounds.

― ksh kale (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, March 2, 2010 8:53 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

it was just a cute zing :-)

red lobster; i don't f around w/budget seafood
i've never seen a claim jumpers before but i'm all about ridiculously huge portions; sounds like a great late night "so drunk and so hungry" place

there's this place called "sizzler" that's pretty fucked up too; i don't know if it exists anymore. the biggest problem with all of these places = screaming babies

he biggest problem with all of these places = screaming babies

do they come with buttery toppings?

TGI Pukeday.

Oh man, Sizzler was totally my dad's annual "classy birthday meal" restaurant.

http://www.sizzler.co.th/en/images/p-career.jpg

oh shit, I thought this was best restaurant for some reason. Forget what I said about Chili's, Chili's rules.

Grossest would be TGI Frozen's IMO. Denny's is open all night, so I cut them some slack.

i voted for applebee's because it reminds me of how my parents are getting old and are clinging to anything they can get that's predictable and a "good value" -- they live in the heart of new york city but sometimes they'll drive out to the 'burbs and go to an applebee's. it's sad.

that's kinda cute!

As much as I can agree that some of these choices are totally disgusting and represent the worst of American eating habits, I do think this thread smacks a teeny bit of elitism. I mean, remember there are some areas of the country that aren't overwhelmed with little mom and pop places to go and, as much as it may suck, going to Applebee's really is a treat night out for a family on a budget.