Food for thought: What is the most generic chain?

[royalfan5]

I'm going to say Applebee's. At least out of what we have here in the Western Corn Belt.

[OhU1]

For sit down type food Applebee's for sure. Everything there tastes like they took it out of the freezer and microwaved it. Even the name Applebee's - what the hell does it mean? After Applebees it may be The Blackeyed Pea (which I think is out of business). I think meatloaf is their specialty.

[tommieharris91]

Chili's. I think Applebee's might be worse though.

[SicEmBaylor]

Definitely Applebees followed by Chilis.

[Okla-homey]

FWIW, prolly more Waffle House's than Applebees and Chilis combined.

And the "Awful Waffle" never closes. It's yellow glow beckons truckers, night shift folk, cops, and drunken revelers 24/7.

[olevetonahill]

McPuke

[soonerinabilene]

olive garden

[JohnnyMack]

Chilis ain't bad. Their Texas fries and southwestern eggrolls and hot wings are servicable.

A chilis in an airport is a safe bet.

[SicEmBaylor]

FWIW, prolly more Waffle House's than Applebees and Chilis combined.

And the "Awful Waffle" never closes. It's yellow glow beckons truckers, night shift folk, cops, and drunken revelers 24/7.

This is the smartest thing you've ever said, but I'm not entirely sure Waffle House is the sort of place he was talking about.

Having said that, Waffle House is really in a league of its own when it comes to massive suckitude.

[SicEmBaylor]

Chilis ain't bad. Their Texas fries and southwestern eggrolls and hot wings are servicable.

A chilis in an airport is a safe bet.

Baylor has its own Chilis which, of course, doesn't serve alcohol. Massive fail. :mad: :mad:

[47straight]

PF Chang's. Yeah, I know it's not american, but in its context, I'd say its worse than Applebee's.

[bluedogok]

FWIW, prolly more Waffle House's than Applebees and Chilis combined.

And the "Awful Waffle" never closes. It's yellow glow beckons truckers, night shift folk, cops, and drunken revelers 24/7.
In 1996 there were 54 of them in the greater Atlanta metro area......

We ate at the one on S. Meridian after the OU-Tech game, decided on the way back to my parents house that we were hungry, so we stopped there because every other place was closed or packed. It's OK for your yearly grease fill up.

[John Kochtoston]

FWIW, prolly more Waffle House's than Applebees and Chilis combined.

And the "Awful Waffle" never closes. It's yellow glow beckons truckers, night shift folk, cops, and drunken revelers 24/7.

There might not be a greater example of man's inhumanity to man than when Waffle House got rid of its all-you-can-eat menu.

[Partial Qualifier]

I see your Applebees & raise you one Marie Callendars.

Tex-mex generic: Las Fajitas and On The Border?

[SicEmBaylor]

My dad is a freaking Waffle House nut. We'd take these long vacations throughout the south every year growing up, and we had to stop at virtually every g-damned Waffle House we came across. My old man is something of a Waffle House connoisseur. :sigh: Freaking Aggy family.

[SicEmBaylor]

I see your Applebees & raise you one Marie Callendars.

Tex-mex generic: Las Fajitas and On The Border?

On the Border but El Chico deserves a mention.

[yermom]

i can agree with Applebees

the Awful Waffle is always there for me. the only place open on Christmas, Thanksgiving, whatever

[SanJoaquinSooner]

I'd tell you, but it's so generic it doesn't have a name.

[soonerboomer93]

There might not be a greater example of man's inhumanity to man than when Waffle House got rid of its all-you-can-eat menu.

+1

What about Denny's

[Harry Beanbag]

Definitely Applebees.

[Jimminy Crimson]

Very generic and very geriatric, but I have a weak spot for Cracker Barrel.

[Frozen Sooner]

Tschotchkie's.

[KC//CRIMSON]

Sonic.

[SicEmBaylor]

Sonic.

Your way off on that. At least Sonic offers something other places don't.

[47straight]

Very generic and very geriatric, but I have a weak spot for Cracker Barrel.

The chicken and dumplings are pretty good, for a restaurant.

[KC//CRIMSON]

Your way off on that. At least Sonic offers something other places don't.

What? Deep fried garbage?

[OhU1]

I forgot about Denny's. Extremely generic. Years back there was a civil rights claim that Denny's would not serve blacks or delayed service. Why file the suit? Eat somewhere better and consider yourself lucky.

Denny's has a dish called "The Grand Slam". Yawn, generic. Also Denny's is primarily a breakfast place but serves meatloaf type items to old people who come in for "dinner" at 4 PM. Thus Denny's combines Waffle House and Black Eyed Pea attributes under one roof. (and for my money Waffle House breakfast kicks Denny's ***).

[Frozen Sooner]

The chicken and dumplings are pretty good, for a restaurant.

You know, I was reading a book last night and the author made this very point. He also talked about how awesome it was you could order chicken and dumplings with a side of dumplings.

[SicEmBaylor]

What? Deep fried garbage?

I didn't say it was good -- I just said it wasn't generic.

For example, Jiffy isn't a generic PB but it sucks monkey balls.

I'd say Sonic isn't generic purely because of its style. There aren't a lot of other chain car hop type places and they have a few things you can't get anywhere else.

[SicEmBaylor]

Very generic and very geriatric, but I have a weak spot for Cracker Barrel.

As far as being generic and geriatric, I'll see your Cracker Barrel and raise you Luby's Cafeteria. I do love me some Luby's though...

[sooneron]

Flingers

[soonerscuba]

How this thread made to page 2 without a TGIFs post is beyond me. It's so generic it put the word "flair" into the common lexicon.

[soonerscuba]

FlingersHeh.

[Frozen Sooner]

Heh.

Oh, sure. I make an Office Space joke and nothing.

[JohnnyMack]

For sit down, served by waitstaff order off a menu restaurants:

1. Applebees
2. TGIF
3. Olive Garden
4. Ruby Tuesday
5. IHOP

[olevetonahill]

I didn't say it was good -- I just said it wasn't generic.

For example, Jiffy isn't a generic PB but it sucks monkey balls.

I'd say Sonic isn't generic purely because of its style. There aren't a lot of other chain car hop type places and they have a few things you can't get anywhere else.

What ? Food Poisoning ??????

[MR2-Sooner86]

1. Applebees
2. TGIF
3. Olive Garden
4. Ruby Tuesday
5. IHOP

You communist!!!


Anyway, I see everybody's Deny's, Applebees, Chili's, TGIF, and Waffle House and raise a Furr's Family Dining.

[badger]

Subway tries to fool you with their prepared-in-front-of-you food, but all that does is lead to long lines and a manufactured-tasting sandwich.

[King Crimson]

Denny's is about the worst "looks like this is made of plastic" meal i've had in a while. Jimmy John's too.

a lot of the "casual dining" chains like Applebee's do some horrible stuff--like pre-boiled/microwavable pasta in bags, etc.

[NormanPride]

Subway tries to fool you with their prepared-in-front-of-you food, but all that does is lead to long lines and a manufactured-tasting sandwich.

Reason #187 why I married you. :)

I'd say Golden Corral, Applebees, and Olive Garden for their respective demographic.

[SicEmBaylor]

I like Olive Garden though admittedly it's the epitome of generic Italian food. Their mixed grill is just absolutely fantastic.

[SoonerTroll]

I vote subway, the McDonalds of sandwhich. Bad meat, bad bread, but a tasty sauce makes a cheap generic meal.

[Chuck Bao]

I’m not fully understanding your use of the word generic in terms of chains. Never mind, that has never stopped me from posting before.

As far as retail chains being globally uniform and ubiquitous, my list would include:

• 7-Eleven – 7-Eleven is the most successful retail chain in history of the world. Americans may not recognize half of the products sold in Asian 7-Elevens, but they are everywhere. Thailand has about 5,000 of them and since there are so many of them and they are pretty much market share ruthless, I can buy whiskey, cigarettes and diet coke as cheap or cheaper than anywhere else.

• McDonalds – 24/7 home delivery in Bangkok. That is fine for them because they have branches literally all over the place. Same Big Mac. But, you may not have seen the Samurai burger because most Thais don’t eat beef. Or, there is McChicken, which isn’t bad chicken. Actually, it is quite good.

• KFC – I give a below average rating for KFC in Thailand. The problem is that the chicken, especially the white meat, tastes manufactured and unnatural. I can only stomach the drumstick or thigh. The street food is so much better. But, I would order only for the mashed potatoes & gravy or tuna & veggie salad. Unfortunately, we don’t get the biscuits.

• Pizza Hut / Pizza Company – The old franchise holder split away and did a better job with the new franchise. It is crazy expensive but sometimes you just have to have a pizza and don’t have time to go to one of those proprietor-owned pizzerias that offer a much superior product.

[Jimminy Crimson]

I'd say Golden Corral, Applebees, and Olive Garden for their respective demographic.

Their respective demographics all = people without taste buds! :pop:

[GDC]

First I was thinking Bennigan's, then I remembered:

http://www.sambosphotos.com/photocart/images/products/san_joseca_2_exterior_190.jpg

[TUSooner]

As a resident of New Orleans, I cannot comment on this subject because it would imply that New Orleanians care or even acknowledge the existence about these "chain" places (which we do have plenty of ;) ). Even though I am not nearly much of a diner-out as some, or nearly as much as I wish I were, a thread like this makes me glad to live in a city with hundreds of non-chain, non-generic restaurants. At least "generic" means a whole n'other thing here. And I'm not talking only about posh restaurants, but everyday places where food is made from scratch from Maw-Maw's old recipes, and not shipped in pre-portioned and pre-packaged from Peoria. Bourbon St. Sooner, you know what I'm talkin' 'about !!

[stoopified]

Furrs

[Cornfed]

Us poor folk gotta have somewhere to eat for our anniversaries ya know.