what national chain restaurants are overrated?

[AppleNader]

Olive Garden. Absolute terrible imitation "Italian food." This restaurant (along with AppleBee's), exemplifies the typical joint that serve microwaved/par-cooked/frozen/mass produced and then jack up the price to a ludicrous level.

[-primetime-]

Olive Garden. Absolute terrible imitation "Italian food." This restaurant (along with AppleBee's), exemplifies the typical joint that serve microwaved/par-cooked/frozen/mass produced and then jack up the price to a ludicrous level.

"LUDICROUS LEVEL?!?!?!?!

last time I was there most of there meals were like $9.99 - $15.99 along with endless free bread sticks and salad...

very cheap place to grab lunch or dinner IMO...

it is pasta...

and they boil it

IDK...kinda hard to screw up italian food...and I don't think they really did.



I bet if you had thier lasagna/speghetti/ziti/ect. and put it up against a really expensive italian place that you woudn't see that much of a difference...(the places that really jack up the prices on simple pasta)

plus the endless bread sticks and salad are a decent plus...

[BMOGEFan]

claim jumper is by far the best food chain.

[tian820]

claim jumper is by far the best food chain.

Wrong thread

I hate places like IHOP and Denny's (to a lesser level than IHOP though). Both are open late so maybe a little different. Otherwise, Applebee's is pretty bad. I don't hate most of these places other people are naming, just none of them are really anything special, just a normal sit-down restaurant for a decent meal with friends/family. TGI Friday's might be a little overpriced, Olive Garden is pretty decent, but nothing special. I've never actually been to Red Lobster so can't really give any input there, but most of what I've heard is bad except for one buddy, who loves it

[ElPigto]

Meh, I like Chili's, Olive Garden, etc etc.

But I like almost anything. They are just normal restaurants to me, nothing sensational but is not as bad as some of you try to make it seem.

[AppleNader]

IDK...kinda hard to screw up italian food...and I don't think they really did.

That's because its not frickin real Italian food. The crap at Olive Garden (spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parm) is not frickin Italian food. Their meat stuffed ravioli is premade and microwaved, the marinara sauce is canned (many of my friends have worked there and know this for fact), and all chains the size of Olive Garden pre-make and prepackage food to be reheated on site. It's not a secret.

I bet if you had thier lasagna/speghetti/ziti/ect. and put it up against a really expensive italian place that you woudn't see that much of a difference...(the places that really jack up the prices on simple pasta)

How would you know. You've never even been to a real Italian place that serves quality food. There is a big difference. I live in NYC and NJ, home of good Italian food. That's why I never eat at Olive Garden.

[Sonic R]

Pretty much every single chain restaurant sucks

They all are the suck.

Maybe a better thread should be titled:
"What national chain restaurant is actually decent to dine at?"

[AppleNader]

much like Chinese cuisine, Italian cuisine is a far cry from the "Italian-American" food you get at a typical chain restaurant.

[-primetime-]

That's because its not frickin real Italian food. The crap at Olive Garden (spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parm) is not frickin Italian food. Their meat stuffed ravioli is premade and microwaved, the marinara sauce is canned (many of my friends have worked there and know this for fact), and all chains the size of Olive Garden pre-make and prepackage food to be reheated on site. It's not a secret.

I can't tell if you are joking or not here...but if you really think they microwave thier meals like something you would get from 7-11 then you are an idiot.

it is speghetti....they boil the noodles and then pour tomatoe sauce over it...same as any other place does...

and then they jack up the price to "LUDICROUS LEVELS"!!!!

it is cheap...and it should be

all I am saying is that I have no problem eating there for what they charge...

How would you know. You've never even been to a real Italian place that serves quality food. There is a big difference. I live in NYC and NJ, home of good Italian food. That's why I never eat at Olive Garden.

ignorant statement...

not only are there plenty of athentic italian restaurants in Dallas owned by Italians that came straight from Italy but you are making a wild guess that I have never traveled to italy myself...

What made you decide that I have never been to Italy?....did you flip a coin?

[ElPigto]

That's because its not frickin real Italian food. The crap at Olive Garden (spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parm) is not frickin Italian food. Their meat stuffed ravioli is premade and microwaved, the marinara sauce is canned (many of my friends have worked there and know this for fact), and all chains the size of Olive Garden pre-make and prepackage food to be reheated on site. It's not a secret.





How would you know. You've never even been to a real Italian place that serves quality food. There is a big difference. I live in NYC and NJ, home of good Italian food. That's why I never eat at Olive Garden.

Geez man, you want your $hit to be 100% authentic.

[-primetime-]

much like Chinese cuisine, Italian cuisine is a far cry from the "Italian-American" food you get at a typical chain restaurant.

WTF???

have you been to China dude???

I will admitt that I haven't but from what I have heard they serve some of the nastiest sh*t on the planet...

much different than Italy



alot of the places here in America are owned by people from the actual country it is made...

alot of the sushi places in Dallas are owned by Japanese people that make it the same damn way they did/do in Japan.

[mmsupra]

I love the Olive Garden I think its very good and yes I know it's frozen but what isn't at some point....And I'm half Italian so I know good food....that sounds good right about now

[AppleNader]

I can't tell if you are joking or not here...but if you really think they microwave thier meals like something you would get from 7-11 then you are an idiot.

Next time you go to Olive Garden, get the stuffed ravioli. Trust me. If you have even a mediocre palate, you can tell its been microwaved. Nobody said anything about microwaving their meals like 7-11. You need to understand something about chain restaurant food distribution. Most ingredients for complex meals are individually-quick frozen (aka meat and stuffed ravioli come separately in frozen boxes). Most of the time, they are also par-cooked. They are then either microwaved (in the case of the stuffed ravioli), flash cooked on the grill ( in the case of meat). Very very little is prepared from scratch.

[Aldridge Fan]

'Fridays'. That sh?t is gross.

I'm not too fond of 'Fuddruckers' either. Hamburgers are too thick, but if you're into that kind of thing, I think the quality is OK.

'Shari's' has really gotten bad over the years. I ordered some wings and the middle of them were frozen. Quality is not good. I only like their French onion soup, mini burgers, and country fried steak is OK. That's it though. Everything else is gross.

[AppleNader]

WTF???

have you been to China dude???

Hmm considering I am frickin Chinese, I would say yes, I have been to China, often. Very very good food there. Not saying I don't like Chinese-American food on occasion, but it's not nearly as good as the real thing.

The point I'm making is that much like how Chinese cuisine in America is not even remotely similar to actual Chinese food, food served in places like Olive Garden are not Italian, are not well made, and are not tasty. The third statement about taste is your opinion, the first and second are fact.