Someone recently asked me an interesting question. "Since you don't review restaurant chains, does that mean you're a food snob?" I believe that this is an interesting question because, yes, I think I am a food snob (and this is probably a story for another time), but not because I don't eat at restaurant chains. I eat at chain restaurants all the time, but I don't feel it's fair to review them. While the food is supposed to be uniform regardless of which restaurant in the chain you visit, inevitably this is not the case. Smaller chains and single restaurants have the ability to pay better attention to detail and chefs and cooks are able to have more input. Therefore, I believe that I can get a better idea of how chefs at a locally-owned restaurant develop, create, and prepare dishes, rather than how well they execute someone else's ideal of how a dish should taste and look based on some random standard.
However, I generally enjoy eating at chain restaurants, and as an homage to these tasty eateries, I give you my Top 10 Chain Restaurant Dishes.
In no particular order...
Oriental Chicken Salad from Applebee's- As long as you choose the fried chicken, (the grilled just isn't the same) the combination of flavors and textures makes this, in my humble opinion, one of the tastiest restaurant chain salads...period.
Tostones with Chicken from Bahamas Breeze- This is a great appetizer with a delicious mix of Latin-style ingredients; it's sweet, salty, tangy, and tasty
Royal Red Robin Burger from Red Robin- This is the pinnacle of burger from Red Robin, which is made even more tasty by the fried egg on top. However, everything I've eaten at Red Robin has been delicious, so you can't really go wrong.
Molten Chocolate Cake from Chili's- Many restaurants have a version of this dessert, but I think Chili's does it better than the rest. Don't waste your time with white chocolate or chocolate chip version.
Chicken and Gnocchi Veronese from Olive Garden- This was a monthly special that made it on the permanent menu, and thank goodness! This is my reason for visiting Olive Garden (along with the breadsticks and the Venetian Sunset cocktail of course!)
Don's Chicken Enchiladas from Don Pablo's- The sour cream sauce totally makes this dish. Maybe I just like stuff smothered in cream sauce ;)
Original Chop-Chop/Natural Chop-Chop from Natural Chicken Grill or Chicken Kitchen- This is one of the food items I miss most since I moved away from Miami. I like it all natural, just the yellow rice, chicken, and the curry mustard sauce. I have no preference between the two restaurants; it's a delicious option regardless of which one you choose to patronize.
Parmesan Crusted Artichoke Cakes from Macaroni Grill- This is one of my favorite appetizers. Besides the fact that it's fried, it also comes with two delcious sauces, and I love the marinated artichokes and tomatoes on top.
Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster- I know it's not actually a dish, but...who cares? This is the only reason I go to Red Lobster.
Bread Pudding from Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.- This one isn't a very large chain, but their bread pudding is some of the best I've ever had.
I would also like to take a moment of silence for all of the delicious foods that didn't make the cut and wound up in the Lost Chain Food Graveyard (where all the items go when the restaurants kick them off their menu)
Apple Chimi-cheesecake from Applebee's
Cheeseburger Eggrolls from Bennigan's
Fried Chicken from Hardee's (This is Tom's contribution)
Cinnabon Cheesecake from TGIFriday's
Fried Artichoke from Houston's
So there you have it, the foods that I crave (and sorely miss). I would love your thoughts, feelings, and additions to the favorites list and/or the graveyard list. So live, love, eat, and leave comments! :)
Oo, I totally forgot about Hardee's fried chicken. I love the (supposed) irony of a white guy adding this to the list.
And I was so upset last time I went to Red Lobster and couldn't have the biscuits! The time before, they were so good, and I'd developed a lactose intolerance since then.
Posted by: The Blackout Blog | January 06, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Coming from a place with mostly chain restaurants, it's hard to be a food snob. Our best restaurant is the Olive Garden (yes, you may feel sorry for me)
Posted by: Joie de vivre | January 07, 2009 at 05:11 PM
Dear Tiffany!
Greetings for Shizuoka, Japan!
Food Chain or Chain Food?
Like you, I'm a snob with the difference that here in Japan food chain restaurants are totally worthless in a nation so blessed with great food. The Japanese are not duped as (for an example) shown by the closure 300 restaurants by the Skylark company!
Looking forwar to visiting again!
Cheers,
Robert-Gilles
Posted by: Robert-Gilles Martineau | January 07, 2009 at 08:41 PM
Thank you all so much for stopping by! I really enjoy reading your comments :)
Posted by: Tiffany | January 08, 2009 at 09:28 AM