OT Applebees

cybercat said:

I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I say.

I thought your sort of "client" preferred something more akin to the Hot
Sheet Moe - tel...

;--D

--
Best
Greg

"I am smarter than you think I am"
- Maryanne "Loafhead" Kehoe to me
in alt.gossip.celebrities

"cybercat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Yes, that's right, I still have not managed to go to anything but crappy
chain restaurants!

I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I say.

He had the Chicken Caesar Salad, which is served as half of a salad and
soup thing, but he just got two of the small salads. It sounds great on
the menu, but when it came, it was loaded down with those pale green
little pepper rings I think of as pickled peppers--I mean LOADED down. Not
much chicken, lots of black olives, and a dry piece of sourdough bread on
the side.

I had the Shrimp Spinach salad, and it did not look very good but was
excellent. Broiled shrimp on a bed of spinach with rings of roasted red
pepper and a hot bacon dressing. Very tasty, and not too pricy at $9.

Per my comments about being packed in at Applebees, e.g. it being crowded
with tables too close together, this was not the case at this restaurant.

Just thought I would share. FWIW.

I've been to Applebee's. One time, it was good. Next time, it was just OK.
Next, not good. Then, good. Two more times, passable. Next time, boring. The
time after that, fabulous, although the margaritas might've had something to
do with it. Last time, boring. I'm thinking that the next few visits will be
assorted, in terms of quality, too.

"Gregory Morrow" <[email hidden]> dropped this
turd news:[email hidden]: in
rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

cybercat said:

I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I
say.

I thought your sort of "client" preferred something more akin to the
Hot Sheet Moe - tel...

;--D

Take heart, IHOP has either bought or is trying to buy Applebees. Tyler
couldn't help Applebees pull out of it. I still like IHOP now and then.
Maybe they'll improve Applebees.

Michael

--
Due to recent cutbacks - The light at the end of the tunnel has been turned
off.
~unknow author

"Michael "Dog3" Lonergan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Gregory Morrow" <[email hidden]> dropped this
turd news:[email hidden]: in
rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

cybercat said:

I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I
say.

I thought your sort of "client" preferred something more akin to the
Hot Sheet Moe - tel...

;--D

Take heart, IHOP has either bought or is trying to buy Applebees. Tyler
couldn't help Applebees pull out of it. I still like IHOP now and then.
Maybe they'll improve Applebees.

Does IHOP still use nasty tasting margarine to do the eggs in, I wonder?

Michael 'Dog3' Lonergan said:

Take heart, IHOP has either bought or is trying to buy Applebees. Tyler
couldn't help Applebees pull out of it. I still like IHOP now and then.
Maybe they'll improve Applebees.

IHOP isn't bad, but we LOVELOVELOVE the Original Pancake House chain for
breakfast. We first discovered it in the San Diego area and now there
are two in Denver. I'd love to go every weekend but the closest one is
farther away than Dear Husband thinks is reasonable to travel for
breakfast (6 miles, maybe?)

It's hard to pick a favorite. Lots of combinations: eggs, meat and
pancakes or waffles. Swedish pancakes. Dutch Baby. Apple Dutch Baby.
Cherry Kijafa crepes. Tahitian Maiden's Dream (crepes with bananas,
pineapple, and real whipped cream. Incredible pecan filled pancakes
with pecan laden maple syrup. I can't remember even a small part of the
huge menu. Bowls of fresh mixed berries that look as though they're
direct from the garden. Delicious coffee with heavy cream.

Yummy.

gloria p

cybercat said:

Yes, that's right, I still have not managed to go to anything but crappy
chain restaurants!

I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I say.

He had the Chicken Caesar Salad, which is served as half of a salad and soup
thing, but he just got two of the small salads. It sounds great on the menu,
but when it came, it was loaded down with those pale green little pepper
rings I think of as pickled peppers--I mean LOADED down. Not much chicken,
lots of black olives, and a dry piece of sourdough bread on the side.

I had the Shrimp Spinach salad, and it did not look very good but was
excellent. Broiled shrimp on a bed of spinach with rings of roasted red
pepper and a hot bacon dressing. Very tasty, and not too pricy at $9.

Per my comments about being packed in at Applebees, e.g. it being crowded
with tables too close together, this was not the case at this restaurant.

Just thought I would share. FWIW.

My one and only experience with Applebee's was so bad that I blacklisted
the entire chain and haven't been back since. So you don't think I
overreacted, the location in question had been open for about one month,
so it certainly should have had some corporate supervision at that
point. The experience was universally bad, bad service, bad food, bad
customer service, etc. Not a single acceptable point in the entire train
wreck, and not even a visit from a manager to apologize.
Plenty of competition, no need to give them a second chance.

Pete C.

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

cybercat said:

Yes, that's right, I still have not managed to go to anything but crappy
chain restaurants!

I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I say.

He had the Chicken Caesar Salad, which is served as half of a salad and
soup
thing, but he just got two of the small salads. It sounds great on the
menu,
but when it came, it was loaded down with those pale green little pepper
rings I think of as pickled peppers--I mean LOADED down. Not much
chicken,
lots of black olives, and a dry piece of sourdough bread on the side.

I had the Shrimp Spinach salad, and it did not look very good but was
excellent. Broiled shrimp on a bed of spinach with rings of roasted red
pepper and a hot bacon dressing. Very tasty, and not too pricy at $9.

Per my comments about being packed in at Applebees, e.g. it being crowded
with tables too close together, this was not the case at this restaurant.

Just thought I would share. FWIW.

My one and only experience with Applebee's was so bad that I blacklisted
the entire chain and haven't been back since. So you don't think I
overreacted, the location in question had been open for about one month,
so it certainly should have had some corporate supervision at that
point. The experience was universally bad, bad service, bad food, bad
customer service, etc. Not a single acceptable point in the entire train
wreck, and not even a visit from a manager to apologize.
Plenty of competition, no need to give them a second chance.

Pete C.

We have one at the end of the block and based on how jammed it always is I
would guess it is pretty popular in Lexington. Now to be honest I don't
remember ever going into one, but then we rarely go out to eat except when
traveling. Most of these places aren't very good regardless so I tend to
avoid them. There are a few exceptions like a couple of times a year we
might have a breakfast at Cracker Barrels or an Outback. When we travel we
tend to pick out something along the road and take my chances.

Joe Cilinceon

Joe Cilinceon said:

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

cybercat said:

Yes, that's right, I still have not managed to go to anything but crappy
chain restaurants!

I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I say.

He had the Chicken Caesar Salad, which is served as half of a salad and
soup
thing, but he just got two of the small salads. It sounds great on the
menu,
but when it came, it was loaded down with those pale green little pepper
rings I think of as pickled peppers--I mean LOADED down. Not much
chicken,
lots of black olives, and a dry piece of sourdough bread on the side.

I had the Shrimp Spinach salad, and it did not look very good but was
excellent. Broiled shrimp on a bed of spinach with rings of roasted red
pepper and a hot bacon dressing. Very tasty, and not too pricy at $9.

Per my comments about being packed in at Applebees, e.g. it being crowded
with tables too close together, this was not the case at this restaurant.

Just thought I would share. FWIW.

My one and only experience with Applebee's was so bad that I blacklisted
the entire chain and haven't been back since. So you don't think I
overreacted, the location in question had been open for about one month,
so it certainly should have had some corporate supervision at that
point. The experience was universally bad, bad service, bad food, bad
customer service, etc. Not a single acceptable point in the entire train
wreck, and not even a visit from a manager to apologize.
Plenty of competition, no need to give them a second chance.

Pete C.

We have one at the end of the block and based on how jammed it always is I
would guess it is pretty popular in Lexington. Now to be honest I don't
remember ever going into one, but then we rarely go out to eat except when
traveling. Most of these places aren't very good regardless so I tend to
avoid them. There are a few exceptions like a couple of times a year we
might have a breakfast at Cracker Barrels or an Outback. When we travel we
tend to pick out something along the road and take my chances.

Joe Cilinceon

None of the big chains generally qualify as five star, but they are
usually consistently decent. A result of that corporate homogenization
where all the brands in the chain end up pretty much identical except
for their decor. Cracker Barrel and Outback are pretty typical in that
you can usually count on being able to stop at one pretty much anywhere
and get a reasonable meal that at least beats the fast food places.

Pete C.

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

None of the big chains generally qualify as five star, but they are
usually consistently decent. A result of that corporate homogenization
where all the brands in the chain end up pretty much identical except
for their decor. Cracker Barrel and Outback are pretty typical in that
you can usually count on being able to stop at one pretty much anywhere
and get a reasonable meal that at least beats the fast food places.

The only reasonable "charm" of a chain restaurant.

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Joe Cilinceon said:

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

cybercat wrote:
>
> Yes, that's right, I still have not managed to go to anything but
> crappy
> chain restaurants!
>
> I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
> yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I
> say.
>
> He had the Chicken Caesar Salad, which is served as half of a salad
> and
> soup
> thing, but he just got two of the small salads. It sounds great on the
> menu,
> but when it came, it was loaded down with those pale green little
> pepper
> rings I think of as pickled peppers--I mean LOADED down. Not much
> chicken,
> lots of black olives, and a dry piece of sourdough bread on the side.
>
> I had the Shrimp Spinach salad, and it did not look very good but was
> excellent. Broiled shrimp on a bed of spinach with rings of roasted
> red
> pepper and a hot bacon dressing. Very tasty, and not too pricy at $9.
>
> Per my comments about being packed in at Applebees, e.g. it being
> crowded
> with tables too close together, this was not the case at this
> restaurant.
>
> Just thought I would share. FWIW.

My one and only experience with Applebee's was so bad that I
blacklisted
the entire chain and haven't been back since. So you don't think I
overreacted, the location in question had been open for about one
month,
so it certainly should have had some corporate supervision at that
point. The experience was universally bad, bad service, bad food, bad
customer service, etc. Not a single acceptable point in the entire
train
wreck, and not even a visit from a manager to apologize.
Plenty of competition, no need to give them a second chance.

Pete C.

We have one at the end of the block and based on how jammed it always is
I
would guess it is pretty popular in Lexington. Now to be honest I don't
remember ever going into one, but then we rarely go out to eat except
when
traveling. Most of these places aren't very good regardless so I tend to
avoid them. There are a few exceptions like a couple of times a year we
might have a breakfast at Cracker Barrels or an Outback. When we travel
we
tend to pick out something along the road and take my chances.

Joe Cilinceon

None of the big chains generally qualify as five star, but they are
usually consistently decent. A result of that corporate homogenization
where all the brands in the chain end up pretty much identical except
for their decor. Cracker Barrel and Outback are pretty typical in that
you can usually count on being able to stop at one pretty much anywhere
and get a reasonable meal that at least beats the fast food places.

Pete C.

I agree Pete with one exception. My wife worked for Gilbert Robertson chain
Fedora's in South Florida. They where better than most 5 star restaurants
I've ever eaten in. All food was cooked in plain view of the customers, high
quality ingredients, the wait staff had to know every single ingredient as
well as the calories etc. It was if not still a very high end place with
prices compatible with places like Outback and Cracker Barrels. They also
had a very large diverse menu with my favorite Maui onions with balsamic
vinegar.

Joe Cilinceon

Joe Cilinceon said:

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Joe Cilinceon said:

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> cybercat wrote:
>>
>> Yes, that's right, I still have not managed to go to anything but
>> crappy
>> chain restaurants!
>>
>> I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
>> yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I
>> say.
>>
>> He had the Chicken Caesar Salad, which is served as half of a salad
>> and
>> soup
>> thing, but he just got two of the small salads. It sounds great on the
>> menu,
>> but when it came, it was loaded down with those pale green little
>> pepper
>> rings I think of as pickled peppers--I mean LOADED down. Not much
>> chicken,
>> lots of black olives, and a dry piece of sourdough bread on the side.
>>
>> I had the Shrimp Spinach salad, and it did not look very good but was
>> excellent. Broiled shrimp on a bed of spinach with rings of roasted
>> red
>> pepper and a hot bacon dressing. Very tasty, and not too pricy at $9.
>>
>> Per my comments about being packed in at Applebees, e.g. it being
>> crowded
>> with tables too close together, this was not the case at this
>> restaurant.
>>
>> Just thought I would share. FWIW.
>
> My one and only experience with Applebee's was so bad that I
> blacklisted
> the entire chain and haven't been back since. So you don't think I
> overreacted, the location in question had been open for about one
> month,
> so it certainly should have had some corporate supervision at that
> point. The experience was universally bad, bad service, bad food, bad
> customer service, etc. Not a single acceptable point in the entire
> train
> wreck, and not even a visit from a manager to apologize.
> Plenty of competition, no need to give them a second chance.
>
> Pete C.

We have one at the end of the block and based on how jammed it always is
I
would guess it is pretty popular in Lexington. Now to be honest I don't
remember ever going into one, but then we rarely go out to eat except
when
traveling. Most of these places aren't very good regardless so I tend to
avoid them. There are a few exceptions like a couple of times a year we
might have a breakfast at Cracker Barrels or an Outback. When we travel
we
tend to pick out something along the road and take my chances.

Joe Cilinceon

None of the big chains generally qualify as five star, but they are
usually consistently decent. A result of that corporate homogenization
where all the brands in the chain end up pretty much identical except
for their decor. Cracker Barrel and Outback are pretty typical in that
you can usually count on being able to stop at one pretty much anywhere
and get a reasonable meal that at least beats the fast food places.

Pete C.

I agree Pete with one exception. My wife worked for Gilbert Robertson chain
Fedora's in South Florida. They where better than most 5 star restaurants
I've ever eaten in. All food was cooked in plain view of the customers, high
quality ingredients, the wait staff had to know every single ingredient as
well as the calories etc. It was if not still a very high end place with
prices compatible with places like Outback and Cracker Barrels. They also
had a very large diverse menu with my favorite Maui onions with balsamic
vinegar.

Joe Cilinceon

That probably doesn't qualify as a big chain. The big chains aren't
"Chili's", they're the mega companies that own six or eight of the
"Chili's" class brands. If you look at some of the gift card ads at such
places they usually list the rest of the brands owned by that company
and you can use the gift card at any of them.

Pet eC.

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

That probably doesn't qualify as a big chain. The big chains aren't
"Chili's", they're the mega companies that own six or eight of the
"Chili's" class brands. If you look at some of the gift card ads at such
places they usually list the rest of the brands owned by that company
and you can use the gift card at any of them.

Big and small are always relative, don't you find? Whether or not
the characterization is accurate depends on what the OP had in mind
as a comparison when making the statement.

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Joe Cilinceon said:

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Joe Cilinceon wrote:
>
> "Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
> news:[email hidden]...
> > cybercat wrote:
> >>
> >> Yes, that's right, I still have not managed to go to anything but
> >> crappy
> >> chain restaurants!
> >>
> >> I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
> >> yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could
> >> I
> >> say.
> >>
> >> He had the Chicken Caesar Salad, which is served as half of a salad
> >> and
> >> soup
> >> thing, but he just got two of the small salads. It sounds great on
> >> the
> >> menu,
> >> but when it came, it was loaded down with those pale green little
> >> pepper
> >> rings I think of as pickled peppers--I mean LOADED down. Not much
> >> chicken,
> >> lots of black olives, and a dry piece of sourdough bread on the
> >> side.
> >>
> >> I had the Shrimp Spinach salad, and it did not look very good but
> >> was
> >> excellent. Broiled shrimp on a bed of spinach with rings of roasted
> >> red
> >> pepper and a hot bacon dressing. Very tasty, and not too pricy at
> >> $9.
> >>
> >> Per my comments about being packed in at Applebees, e.g. it being
> >> crowded
> >> with tables too close together, this was not the case at this
> >> restaurant.
> >>
> >> Just thought I would share. FWIW.
> >
> > My one and only experience with Applebee's was so bad that I
> > blacklisted
> > the entire chain and haven't been back since. So you don't think I
> > overreacted, the location in question had been open for about one
> > month,
> > so it certainly should have had some corporate supervision at that
> > point. The experience was universally bad, bad service, bad food,
> > bad
> > customer service, etc. Not a single acceptable point in the entire
> > train
> > wreck, and not even a visit from a manager to apologize.
> > Plenty of competition, no need to give them a second chance.
> >
> > Pete C.
>
> We have one at the end of the block and based on how jammed it always
> is
> I
> would guess it is pretty popular in Lexington. Now to be honest I
> don't
> remember ever going into one, but then we rarely go out to eat except
> when
> traveling. Most of these places aren't very good regardless so I tend
> to
> avoid them. There are a few exceptions like a couple of times a year
> we
> might have a breakfast at Cracker Barrels or an Outback. When we
> travel
> we
> tend to pick out something along the road and take my chances.
>
> Joe Cilinceon

None of the big chains generally qualify as five star, but they are
usually consistently decent. A result of that corporate homogenization
where all the brands in the chain end up pretty much identical except
for their decor. Cracker Barrel and Outback are pretty typical in that
you can usually count on being able to stop at one pretty much anywhere
and get a reasonable meal that at least beats the fast food places.

Pete C.

I agree Pete with one exception. My wife worked for Gilbert Robertson
chain
Fedora's in South Florida. They where better than most 5 star restaurants
I've ever eaten in. All food was cooked in plain view of the customers,
high
quality ingredients, the wait staff had to know every single ingredient
as
well as the calories etc. It was if not still a very high end place with
prices compatible with places like Outback and Cracker Barrels. They also
had a very large diverse menu with my favorite Maui onions with balsamic
vinegar.

Joe Cilinceon

That probably doesn't qualify as a big chain. The big chains aren't
"Chili's", they're the mega companies that own six or eight of the
"Chili's" class brands. If you look at some of the gift card ads at such
places they usually list the rest of the brands owned by that company
and you can use the gift card at any of them.

Pet eC.

Actually they did and are now part of Houlihan's chains including Holiday
Inns and a lot of other chains around the country. The old Gilbert Robertson
founded the TGIF chain among a few other though they are now under the
control of Houlihan's chains. They where originally out of Kansas City.

Joe Cilinceon

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My one and only experience with Applebee's was so bad that I blacklisted
the entire chain and haven't been back since. So you don't think I
overreacted, the location in question had been open for about one month,
so it certainly should have had some corporate supervision at that
point. The experience was universally bad, bad service, bad food, bad
customer service, etc. Not a single acceptable point in the entire train
wreck, and not even a visit from a manager to apologize.
Plenty of competition, no need to give them a second chance.

I have never gotten anything remotely edible in an Applebees.

"Julie Bove" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:znxpi.2715$0v4.1161@trndny01...

Quoted message said:

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My one and only experience with Applebee's was so bad that I blacklisted
the entire chain and haven't been back since. So you don't think I
overreacted, the location in question had been open for about one month,
so it certainly should have had some corporate supervision at that
point. The experience was universally bad, bad service, bad food, bad
customer service, etc. Not a single acceptable point in the entire train
wreck, and not even a visit from a manager to apologize.
Plenty of competition, no need to give them a second chance.

I have never gotten anything remotely edible in an Applebees.

Where I live the only places you're going to get fresh vegetables of any
kind with your dinner is at Applebee's or Lone Star. Every where else
serves canned.

Ms P

In article <[email hidden]>, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Yes, that's right, I still have not managed to go to anything but crappy
chain restaurants!

I had lunch with a client in a town a couple of hours away from me
yesterday, and he chose Applebees. Since he was paying, what could I say.

He had the Chicken Caesar Salad, which is served as half of a salad and soup
thing, but he just got two of the small salads. It sounds great on the menu,
but when it came, it was loaded down with those pale green little pepper
rings I think of as pickled peppers--I mean LOADED down. Not much chicken,
lots of black olives, and a dry piece of sourdough bread on the side.

I had the Shrimp Spinach salad, and it did not look very good but was
excellent. Broiled shrimp on a bed of spinach with rings of roasted red
pepper and a hot bacon dressing. Very tasty, and not too pricy at $9.

Per my comments about being packed in at Applebees, e.g. it being crowded
with tables too close together, this was not the case at this restaurant.

Applebee's is a favorite for my parents and my sister and brother-in-law
when we go out to eat, although its not in my list of favorites. The
food I have been served at Applebee's has always been okay, not great,
but edible and a reasonable price.

I like their Weight Watcher's menu items because I can get a decent
dinner without taking on a lot of unnecessary fat and calories and the
food's not bad.

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

None of the big chains generally qualify as five star, but they are
usually consistently decent. A result of that corporate homogenization
where all the brands in the chain end up pretty much identical except
for their decor. Cracker Barrel and Outback are pretty typical in that
you can usually count on being able to stop at one pretty much anywhere
and get a reasonable meal that at least beats the fast food places.

Pete C.

I don't disagree with you, and that "consistent sameness" is one of the
reasons the chains do so well. I have, however, become much more
adventurous in the past few years. I go out of my way to try local places.
I've found more winners than losers and sometimes you find a real gem.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

Edwin Pawlowski said:

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

None of the big chains generally qualify as five star, but they are
usually consistently decent. A result of that corporate homogenization
where all the brands in the chain end up pretty much identical except
for their decor. Cracker Barrel and Outback are pretty typical in that
you can usually count on being able to stop at one pretty much anywhere
and get a reasonable meal that at least beats the fast food places.

Pete C.

I don't disagree with you, and that "consistent sameness" is one of the
reasons the chains do so well. I have, however, become much more
adventurous in the past few years. I go out of my way to try local places.
I've found more winners than losers and sometimes you find a real gem.

IMO, Applebees, Olive Garden, and Red Lobster all fall into the same
category: to fulfill the appetite of the hungry for crapa ratta.

The only good thing in these places (for the most part,) is their
freshly made salads and breadsticks. The rest is nuked, pressure
cookec/heated, et cetera.

A little propaganda (although expensive at prime time,) goes a long way.

Do yourselves a favor and buy yourselves quality ingredients, learn the
basics of cooking, and have fun and cook your own stuff.

R

Edwin Pawlowski said:

"Pete C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

None of the big chains generally qualify as five star, but they are
usually consistently decent. A result of that corporate homogenization
where all the brands in the chain end up pretty much identical except
for their decor. Cracker Barrel and Outback are pretty typical in that
you can usually count on being able to stop at one pretty much anywhere
and get a reasonable meal that at least beats the fast food places.

Quoted message said:

Pete C.

I don't disagree with you, and that "consistent sameness" is one of the
reasons the chains do so well. I have, however, become much more
adventurous in the past few years. I go out of my way to try local places.
I've found more winners than losers and sometimes you find a real gem.
--
Edhttp://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

Ed,

I too prefer the little, hole-in-the-wall places. I think the owner
should either be cooking or greeting the customer at the door. Every
once in a while, I'll get a terrible meal at a mom-and-pop-place, but
the good meals more than make up for it.

I know for sure I'll be disappointed at Applebees, Marie Calendars,
etc. Some of the worst food I've ever eaten has been at Olive Garden.
It's just pureed tomatoes, lots of garlic, and more salt than I'd eat
in a week.

Near my job, there's a little taqueria with great food. They make
everything there, even the tortillas. It's so small the food is
either take-out or eat on the patio; no indoor seating. I'd rather
eat there any day instead of the chain places. I've eaten there in
the middle of winter, sitting on the concrete patio benches. That
tells you how good the tacos are. I sure wouldn't freeze my tail off
for Applebees.

Ken (Trying to not sound like a food snob.)