Whatever one thinks about chains (and my wife and I like most of them just fine), you can be reasonably sure of the quality of the food. We've been burned (and delighted at times) by some mom and pop eatery that some people raved about and turned out to be dismal. Some great ones and some very bad ones. Let's just say after quite a few trips out west in the last ten years, we know where the good chains and the good mom and pops are located. Golden Corral is our favorite when we're on the road. Especially since there's none within 150 miles of where we live.
Eat there maybe once every two years, thats when I get a Gift Cert for Xmas. The Wife and I think the Seafood Portofino isn’t half bad, I always get it to go.
“Whatever one thinks about chains (and my wife and I like most of them just fine), you can be reasonably sure of the quality of the food.”
And there’s a darn good reason for that. If McDonalds serves a batch of spoiled meat, EVERY McDonalds is tainted, and they all suffer...and enough of that puts them out of business. If a mom and pop place finds an unrefrigerated batch of and serves it, it likely doesn’t even make the news.
That forces the chains to have VERY STRICT health guidelines. Still not perfect...but I suspect much more reliable than the mom and pop operations.