Post: #51

(06-04-2017 05:34 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  Is that why they taste so bad? They're using partially frozen crap?

There was a need to flash freeze stuff so the cells in the food didn't get destroyed by the freezing process. Flash freezers are expensive and require proper investment and food prep.

Only specialised places do this and not the chains so quality suffers. The large food supply companies don't flash freeze food either so its a vast industrial scale problem.

A Japanese company invented them I believe.

Post: #52

I've twice had my mind blown by these shitty chain restaurants, once was in Tampa, Florida when I went to Red Lobster for the first and last time in my life, the place was packed with a line out the door in an area surrounded by water and great local seafood. I ordered the grouper and it was a pile of soft, mushy shit that I didn't eat, had one bite and was grossed out, waitress was an idiot and wouldn't discount it. The other time I was in Guadalajera, Mexico and walked by a Chili's restaurant and again, it was packed and had a line out the door, in MEXICO! These places had a good run for several years but I won't be sad to see them go the way of Blockbuster movie rentals.

Post: #53

(06-05-2017 10:31 AM)C-Note Wrote:  I assume fast casual places like Shake Shack, Five Guys, Potbelly, etc are drawing away a lot of customers from Applebees and the like. You can get better food at those places for cheaper,

5 Guys IMHO has excellent burgers (very good meat quality) and fresh cut fries. Very fast service as well.

Post: #54

To validate their point ....

This is the type of place opening up in DC.

They are literally serving raw food to go. Like "Screw all the time and energy of actually baking cookies! Who has time for that?
“Edible cookie dough shop” opens evenings in Adams Morgan starting Thursday.

Quote:The dough will be available in jars to order a la carte, or customers can create “mix & match” packs of their favorite flavors — perfect to give as gifts or to treat yourself. In addition to the signature flavors like chocolate chip, sugar cookie funfetti, and double chocolate M&M, there will be vegan and gluten-free varieties, as well as seasonal favorites. The Cookie Jar DC currently delivers via six on-demand delivery platforms (including UberEATS and Postmates), and will continue to offer delivery every night.


The pop up will be “grab-and-go” style with no seating, so customers should plan to take their cookie dough on the go.

Post: #55

Obviously it's because they need more flair





They just need to express themselves w 37 pieces rather than do the bare minimum 15

Post: #56

(06-05-2017 10:43 AM)Hell_Is_Like_Newark Wrote:  

(06-05-2017 10:31 AM)C-Note Wrote:  I assume fast casual places like Shake Shack, Five Guys, Potbelly, etc are drawing away a lot of customers from Applebees and the like. You can get better food at those places for cheaper,

5 Guys IMHO has excellent burgers (very good meat quality) and fresh cut fries. Very fast service as well.

Five Guys is one of the most disgusting premium fast burger places out there.

Doesn't hold a candle to shake shack in the slightest. I'd rather go to Mcdonalds than eat their over cooked grease slop.

Post: #57

(06-05-2017 11:12 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(06-05-2017 10:43 AM)Hell_Is_Like_Newark Wrote:  

(06-05-2017 10:31 AM)C-Note Wrote:  I assume fast casual places like Shake Shack, Five Guys, Potbelly, etc are drawing away a lot of customers from Applebees and the like. You can get better food at those places for cheaper,

5 Guys IMHO has excellent burgers (very good meat quality) and fresh cut fries. Very fast service as well.

Five Guys is one of the most disgusting premium fast burger places out there.

Yes, I tried a Five Guys Burgers place in Chicago once because I'd heard so many people rave about it.

It was terrible. The fries lacked proper seasoning and the burger was bland and absolutely nothing special.

Give me Wendy's over 5G any day. Fresh meat, simple, but delicious burgers with an option to swap out the fries for a spicy bowl of chili or a baked potato and several other options.

And for half the price of Five Guys. They charge $3-$5 just for their under-seasoned fries.

Lame.

Post: #58

^ Bonus to their fake "American" cheese

Post: #59

Yea the cult of Five Guys seems to be strong. Overpriced fast food-level burgers. No thanks.

Post: #60

(06-05-2017 11:25 AM)Teflon1 Wrote:  Yea the cult of Five Guys seems to be strong. Overpriced fast food-level burgers. No thanks.

It blows my mind that they're able to survive. Seriously, it's horrible food. Been 3 times and the experience was bad each time. Over rated and over priced.

When it comes to burgers, there are certain "tiers" for me.

The budget tier burger: ie a meal. Under $10:

In n Out (if on the west coast)
Mcdonalds
Honorable Mention: Dairy Queen

Premium Burgers:
Shake shack

Overall best burgers in my mind are Shake Shack's. These are so damn good, I only use Martin's Potato Rolls now for buns. In N Out follows closely 2nd for its price and simplicity. I can make one at home if I wanted.

Post: #61

No guys, the decline in this shitty chain restaurant bullshit is because of this enlightening documentary starring Ryan Reynolds and Anna Farris:





The above clip is probably the only time Dane Cook has ever made me laugh.

(06-04-2017 05:46 PM)Kabal Wrote:  My impression of Chili's, Applebees, and TGIF is that their target market has been and is middle-class nuclear families with bourgeois values, a target market that has shrunk relatively-speaking over the past few decades, and maybe even absolute-wise.

What's bougie about eating at a feeding trough like RubyMcChiliBees? Personally I think the increased demand for fresh food in recent years (as well as health trends) has put the pressure on these crappy chains. I'm also glad to hear they are suffering.

I'm curious how fast food chains are doing...not to be mistaken for these types of slow food service restaurants. I remember being a teenager and going to Carls Jr because it was cheap, 99 cents for a "big burger" or a spicy chicken sandwich. Not the best quality beef obviously but the price also reflected that. Now if you go to a fast food joint you are paying upwards of 10 bucks for a meal. The 1 dollar menu items are tiny and shitty. I don't eat this crap anymore but if I did i would be forced to consider whether or not the price is right, which it is not.

Same goes for RubyMcChilibee's, their prices are way too high for the quality.

(06-04-2017 08:48 PM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  Another one that needs to go is Olive Garden. Man that place is disgusting. Unfortunately, fat boomers and ghetto folks seem to love it so I don't see it going away anytime soon.

I'm pretty sure the breadsticks there are at least 20 percent plastic.

Post: #62

I felt like I needed a shower after I walked out of 5 Guys. The frys are nasty, the burgers are grease bombs. I truly felt sorry for the people working in there. Sort of reflective of how disgustingly fat and greasy the US population has become. Probably why its so popular now.

Wendy's is an all time classic. As long as the location is managed and run well, its the ideal format for a fast food experience. McDonald's is also an ideal experience, when the location is managed and run well.

The biggest problem in any of these locations, is that the management sucks. Watch the movie about Ray Kroc with Michael Keaton, and you will see the formula. Its all about how well the location is run. Bad management equals bad experience. I bet the founders of 5 Guys had a formula, but it looks like they have bad accountability for each of the stores. The reason a McDonalds and Wendy's worked was because of the strict franchisee rules. Without that, things go downhill fast.

*I worked in the food industry for over 5 years, in fast food and fine dining.

Post: #63

Five Guys tries to cover for their low quality meat and overcooking by giving you 3 pounds of fries when you order them as a side. It's disgusting. I've never seen a restaurant where the fries have twice the calories of the burger itself.

I never got In-and-out burgers, but they at least use decent quality ingredients and come in sane portion sizes.

Post: #64

(06-05-2017 01:12 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  I never got In-and-out burgers, but they at least use decent quality ingredients and come in sane portion sizes.

In and Out is a wonderful experience and terrific food, awesome younger staff, they exude everything right about growing up in the United States. McDonalds could take a lesson from them, its what McDonalds used to be 30 years ago. Too bad the current CEO is a complete train wreck, I hope she doesn't sink the company.

The only problem with In and Out is that every location is totally jam packed and there is nothing "fast" with the dining experience. There are locations in lower trafficked areas in suburban California, that have usual fast food foot traffic, that I would recommend going out of the way to. These locations are in north San Diego County and deep Orange County. Stay away from any location near a major freeway or airport, unless you have well over an hour to eat.

Post: #65

Five Guys was quite good when it was a D.C. thing. The first one I ever had was awesome.

When the chain started to expand rapidly, the quality went downhill hard. The burgers turned into softball-sized globs of grease wrapped in foil to contain the slop. Shake Shack is, obviously, superior.

Post: #66

(06-05-2017 10:42 AM)scotian Wrote:  I've twice had my mind blown by these shitty chain restaurants, once was in Tampa, Florida when I went to Red Lobster for the first and last time in my life, the place was packed with a line out the door in an area surrounded by water and great local seafood. I ordered the grouper and it was a pile of soft, mushy shit that I didn't eat, had one bite and was grossed out, waitress was an idiot and wouldn't discount it. The other time I was in Guadalajera, Mexico and walked by a Chili's restaurant and again, it was packed and had a line out the door, in MEXICO! These places had a good run for several years but I won't be sad to see them go the way of Blockbuster movie rentals.

I literally just got back last night from two weeks in the Bahamas w the GF. After spending a week on a live aboard eating fresh caught /speared fish daily (along with copious amounts of Cuban rum...but thats another story), fresh fruits and veggies we spent an afternoon in Nassau on our way to a house in Bimini. It was eye opening

Nassau is where the cruise ships laden with fat mouth breathing hordes come
to port so they can "experience" the Bahamas:



Its sad but they are catering to what the fat, mostly US, tourists want. I actually thought "Wow this is just like the projected passengers in Wall-E"

We couldn't get out of there fast enough

Edit: I did however thoroughly enjoy the dirty looks thrown my way as I walked around with my thin, smoking hot EE GF that's 22 years my junior

Post: #67

Dupe post deleted

Post: #68

(06-04-2017 05:43 PM)Enoch Wrote:  Could also be that Millenials are concentrating in cities / college towns which typically have fewer chains than shopping malls in the burbs.

The competition from ethnic restaurants is also a huge factor. Immigrants run
their restaurants as family businesses and slave away as working poor business
owners, going into debt to keep their eateries alive or trying to survive with razor-thin
margins. The majority of these restaurants go under but others come in to
replace them so there is always a turnover. The chain restaurants competing
against losing businesses are therefore at a significant structural disadvantage.

I would guess that the ethnic restaurants that do thrive are a
small minority, maybe 10-20%, and another 10-20% do OK as long
as they rely on family labor, while the rest fail sooner or later.


There is also a cultural factor. Chain restaurants that did well
elsewhere have always struggled in places like San Francisco,
even when the local economy was thriving. There's not going to
be as many chain restaurants per capita in SF or NYC as in KC
or Indianapolis, and as many have noted, that demogrphic has
been declining in blue states and even red state big cities.

In those big cities, chain restaurants gave trouble penetrating
city cores and ethnic urban enclaves but might do well in whitebread
burbs or middle class neighborhoods.



The Pences at Chili in NYC

Post: #69

Its amazing really. "Millenials" or rather "under 35s" are one of the most exploited even abused groups in society. But they get blamed for everything.

Why have people, esp millenials voted against "chain restaurants"? Well they got fed up of being treated as mugs. They got fed up of Establishment greed.

Its tax dodging, employing immigrants only or the low wage culture. Its bullying/over "pally" planning departments, nasty employment rules (rememeber the one where staff couldn't leave for rivals!). Its the horrible sterile atmosphere, with office style "decor" or pastiche/parody style "real Bajan experience". Its the high price - independents do better... if they still exist. Its the synthetic microwave meal taste of it all. The fact the "valued Japanese chef" is actually a below minimum wage Pole... with zero cookery skills. Its the contempt for cuisine as an art. The contempt for the concept of a bar where people actually socialise and stuff, via the staff you'd get to know as friends. The contempt for local economies, of local culture. The horrible "bugger round looking for an online voucher and we'll give you a discount". And a million other things.

Do the owners of these megachains actually eat in chains? Enjoy it? Ofcourse not. Its Michelin stars all the way for them. But they'll happily try and dupe the "plebs" all year long.
These businesses stopped enriching local communties and economies. They became tools to extract and kill off skilled jobs, and to remove local wealth. I'm delighted they're struggling.

Post: #70

(06-05-2017 01:42 PM)911 Wrote:  The Pences at Chili in NYC

Not a ringing endorsement for the Pences or for Chilis...

Post: #71

(06-05-2017 01:59 PM)Teflon1 Wrote:  

(06-05-2017 01:42 PM)911 Wrote:  The Pences at Chili in NYC

Not a ringing endorsement for the Pences or for Chilis...

It wasn't meant as a dig against Pence, more as an illustration of the cultural dynamics here.

(06-05-2017 01:48 PM)BelyyTigr Wrote:  Do the owners of these megachains actually eat in chains? Enjoy it? Ofcourse not. Its Michelin stars all the way for them. But they'll happily try and dupe the "plebs" all year long.
These businesses stopped enriching local communties and economies. They became tools to extract and kill off skilled jobs, and to remove local wealth. I'm delighted they're struggling.

I think the owners eat at the higher-end chains, if they ate at the better places instead, they might actually get a clue about improving their businesses.

The Michelin-starred restaurants are a whole other can of worms, I can't deal with their portion sizes (it's the other extreme here) and the overly fastidious fashion victim food culture they embody.

Post: #72

Tangential to the main thrust of the article but has anyone else noticed how few restaurants these days actually identify as "casual"? Everything is either "casual fine dining" or "fine dining" or just plain fast food. It's all marketing gimmicks, but I'd say these boomer idiots have underestimated the importance of actually delivering quality product and not just relying on bullshit gimmicks and slogans.

Post: #73

The value is just not there. They take "2 for $2" taquitos from 7-11, cut them in half, rebrand them as "Spicy Southwestern Eggrolls," and then shit them on to a plate with a side of probably-not-even-real mayo, and charge $8! Then, even though many of them have corny iPad pay kiosks at the table, I still have to tip a waitress?

I can take my first date to 7-11, eat our taquitos in my car, save $9 + 20 minutes, and make just as good of a first impression.

Post: #74

(06-05-2017 02:13 PM)911 Wrote:  

(06-05-2017 01:59 PM)Teflon1 Wrote:  

(06-05-2017 01:42 PM)911 Wrote:  The Pences at Chili in NYC

Not a ringing endorsement for the Pences or for Chilis...

It wasn't meant as a dig against Pence, more as an illustration of the cultural dynamics here.

Not saying it was. But it certainly illustrates Chilis as a boring white suburban/rural idea of good ethnic food and fun.

Post: #75

(06-05-2017 02:18 PM)Rhyme or Reason Wrote:  It's all marketing gimmicks, but I'd say these boomer idiots have underestimated the importance of actually delivering quality product and not just relying on bullshit gimmicks and slogans.