Posted on 12/19/2015 6:06:11 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
In America, chain restaurants get a bad rap. We blame them for the spike in obesity and the death of the family dinner. We demonize them as “the core of what is wrong with our food system.â€
No wonder our bougie, West Coast friends shun Bloomin’ Onions and Big Macs in favor of meals from farm-to-table gastropubs and “undiscovered†ethnic food joints. And it’s not just them. Food — obscure, locally sourced, painstakingly chef-crafted — has become a defining obsession, a “measuring stick of cool,†as New York magazine put it. Today, a quarter of Americans eat organic products on a regular basis, up from 13 percent a decade ago. The number of Americans who regularly eat hummus has jumped 200 percent since 2000.
That’s all well and good. We love fancy fine dining; we love divey food trucks with “C†ratings from the health department. We pretty much love any place that offers things to put in our mouths in exchange for currency.
But we also love chain restaurants. And those elites who smugly dismiss them as disgusting or “insidious†ignore the very important role these places play in our culture and economy. Not to mention, a lot of them serve really good food. We make repeat visits to Chili’s for the famously jingled baby back ribs or to Carl’s Jr. for the Western bacon cheeseburger. Chains deliver unique and specific flavors, tastes you can’t get anywhere else.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Some are better than others. None are really “great”. People don’t go there because they are “great”.
Oh, you can tell affirmative action journalism is alive and well.
>>We pretty much love any place that offers things to put in our mouths in exchange for currency.
In before the flood of “I haven’t eaten in a chain restaurant in 20 years” posts.
>>Some are better than others. None are really “greatâ€. People don’t go there because they are “greatâ€.
“Great” food is still going to be poop in a couple hours.
I love Cracker Barrell, The Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc, but i do not go very often.
Yeah. People go there because they are there.
I live too close to New Orleans to ever want to venture into a chain restaurant. I’m not a food snob it’s just the food around here is so good. Year round.
Not all “poop” is equal. Don’t make me elaborate.
Unless you are unfortunate enough to have been poisoned by Chipotle.
I remember when that finally dawned on me. I felt like I had stumbled on the secret of the universe. No matter how good it looks, how good it tastes, how much it costs...it's still destined to be sewage.
There's a life lesson there!
>>Not all “poop†is equal. Don’t make me elaborate.
Its equal, but some just comes out with more....energetic flair.
I will take regular over burning out your anus any day. They ain’t equal.
Agreed. I’m close to Pittsburgh. Why would I go to Applebee’s when for a little more, I can go to Bock Town, 6 Penn, Butcher in the Rye . . . I could go on. I’d rather go out to eat less often and eat at these places than go to a chain restaurant. Plus, my kids (7 and under) are also foodies. I love watching the looks on peoples’ faces when they request guacamole, sweet potatoes with cinnamon only, and medium grilled salmon.
I had a Jumbo Jack with Cheese
and an Oreo shake for lunch,
It Was Great!
Jack in the Box is a left coast Drive Thru.
So my burger made from a local cow is "Fast Food" and horrible but their extensively processed food with ingredients flown from the other side of the globe to be cooked to death is "virtuous."
It's all food people. Your food piety is not knocking off any of your "evil" points.
I could dine on OG’s soup salad and breadsticks nearly everyday. They now have an option to add a entree item with it ... I know it’s all prepackaged from Monarch/Sysco or some other restaurant supplier but it’s great stuff.
>>There’s a life lesson there!
I think there is. You can buy a great gun and it will be great when your grandchild gives it to his child. You can buy a great car and it can be great in 50 years. You can have a great kid and he might find a cure for cancer.
But that super-expensive plate full of gourmet food prepared by some famous gay chef is just tonight’s chow.
‘The number of Americans who regularly eat hummus has jumped 200 percent since 2000.’
We have imported millions of Middle East Muslim vermin since 2000. That might be the increase.
That and my children and wife love hummus.
>>I could dine on OG’s soup salad and breadsticks nearly everyday. They now have an option to add a entree item with it ... I know it’s all prepackaged from Monarch/Sysco or some other restaurant supplier but it’s great stuff.
Now you can buy OG salad dressing at Publix, if you live in Publix territory.
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