Bojangles. I just ate there for the first time in September because my friends had raved about it for ages. Never again. It tasted nasty, and I am convinced that I suffered third-degree burns on my esophagus from that chicken.

SCRUBWAY and Taco Hell.

I could probably live on Taco Bell, Wendy's, Krystal, Sonic, Checkers (anywhere that serves chili and cheese really), and McDonald's (Sausage McGriddles nom nom nom)...but I really, really dislike Burger King. I think it's the "flame-broiled" taste that I can't stand. Their fries are good though. And I like their onion rings. Haha! I'm such a fast food junkie. (But I love sushi and steak and lobster too! Don't judge me!)

AMEN. We ate there in Chicago and it was good (I think mainly because we were freezing and starving) but at the CFs around here, mediocre describes it the best. And the service needs to get up to mediocre.

I think places like this bother me more than bad fast food. Fast food doesn't pretend it's fine dining.

It's weird - I've found that the Cheesecake Factory in big cities (Boston for example, and I've heard good things about the Chicago one) aren't half bad, and the food quality is fairly good. I have heard that the service and food quality isn't as good in smaller cities, though (like the one in the Hartford area).

I will agree that it's overrated in the sense that some people think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, and people get too crazy in their praise for it. In big cities, you can usually find a place of comparable cost with much better food quality.

I'll reiterate my distaste for Olive Garden - in many places you can get better Italian food at the local hole-in-the-wall places.

:eek: Heresy!

Ewww. I avoid most fast-food places, with the exception of Chipotle, Qdoba, and Subway. What's so special about those places, you ask? Well, I can see my meal being made. With the exception of the meats at Subway, the stuff isn't loaded with fats and preservatives and sodium.

And really, what is Olive Garden? Why is it allowed to remain?

Subway = blech to me.

I had respect for Bojangles up until they released salads. Sure they were terribly unhealthy, but they didn't try to pretend that they were...unlike Arby's Market Fresh sandwiches, which are even worse than the biggest roastbeef and cheddar.

Chipotle. I HATE it. I don't understand everyone's obsession with it. The lines are extremely long, the food is extremely expensive, and it doesn't taste all that great b/c they're just cranking it out like IHOP does with pancakes.
Freebird's is WAY better and you get A LOT more for the same prices. Mmmmm. Plus, it's just a more fun environment as well.

I also don't like IHOP b/c it's never clean. Ugh.

I don't hear too much about Quiznos anymore, so I can't say it's overrated.. the amount of advertising they're working on now is fair with the quality of their food/service.

I've never been a huge fan of Olive Garden either (except their bread sticks).

Of course, McDonald's is horribly disgusting as well. I wouldn't even feed a stray starving dog something from McDonald's. I feel sick every time I'm forced to eat there.

I think Wendy's is starting to over advertise and get too cocky as well. I don't like how they claim that they're better than fast food.

Eh, it's better than McDonalds/Burger King/Wendys/KFC/Taco Bell/Dominos/any of the other dominant fast food chains. I prefer to make my own meals, so on the two or three days a month where I didn't get it together to make lunch in the morning/the night before, the fact that I can get a sandwich that I can see being made is a huge plus. Also, we have calorie charts so I can see what I'm getting! :)

I like those three as well; I'd add Five Guys to the group as well.

The thing with me is that in every place I've lived, there has been an affordable (and better tasting) alternative to the usual fast food places. If I wanted a burrito in Boston, I'd go to Anna's or Boca Grande. If I want a cheeseburger, I could go to Eagle's Deli or Bartley's in the Boston area, or one of the really good burger and hot dog stands around CT.

I'd wager that if people really looked, they could find the same thing in their city or town.

I haven't seen any salads at Bojangles. But all sins are atoned for by the artery-destroying Cheddar-Bo biscuit. :D

I probably shouldn't have commented on Subway. In general, I really don't like sandwiches -- they are a meal of last resort for me -- and I really dislike subs, so Subway and Quiznos stand little chance with me.

I've tried Five Guys once or twice, but it didn't do that much for me, and I thought it was way overpriced.

But you're right, I can get much better burgers at one of our local places. For that matter, I used to think Hardees was really slumming food-wise, but I'd take it over any other burger chain now.

Five Guys is the closest that those of us who live on the East Coast can get to the awesomeness that is In-N-Out on a regular basis. Whenever I'm in California, I make it a point to eat there at least once. They're fast, but they were actually lauded in Fast Food Nation for the fact that the produce is locally-grown, the cows are local, and the employees are paid a living wage in a state with a notoriously high cost of living.

Also, the food is pretty good, inexpensive, and quick.

I was going to mention that - In-N-Out is ridiculously good, and you're right, Five Guys is as close as it gets here.

I will reiterate though that you can usually find a local place that stands up to any fast food burger, even one as good as In-N-Out. Eagles and Bartley's in Brighton and Cambridge, respectively, are the first two that come to mind.

Fair enough on both, although Five Guys prices are some of the cheaper ones around here. It may just be that prices are higher in the Northeast overall.

As for subs; I was spoiled growing up in that I had family that owned an Italian deli in the area. Subway's ok, and better than most of the national fast food alternatives.

Cool! It's weird, I know. I love deli meats (most of them, at least), and love cheese, but I just don't want them on bread. I'd much rather just roll the meat up and eat it right by itself.

I can understand that - I know people who wouldn't eat a sandwich/sub if it were the last food on earth.

Omg, Chipotle is my favorite. :mad: lol

Also, I've never heard of Freebird's...

Subway, for sure.

I gag a little whenever I see an Ihop or a Blimpies. they both feel dirty and claustrophobic.

It sounds like the Chipotle's and Quizno's in some areas where people are complaining are awful. In mine they are pretty nice and never that full. The only problem I have is that Chipotle has like 7 ingredients total. Even at small local "Tex-mex" and Mexican shops they have more than that. However, their menu is teeny tiny so I guess that's reasonable.

Subway isn't bad to me, but I'd rather eat Quizno's.

I don't eat local fast-food burgers anymore. If I had to, it'd be Wendy's (and when I say fast food, I mean fast food b/c some of y'all are adding in sit down restaurants that are not in the fast food business.) I haven't eaten a burger at McD's or Burger King in some time. I will be eating In-N-Out in LA next month for a weekend on the regular.

:eek: I love the cheesecake factory. There isn't one here as far as I know of. The one I know about is in Chicago.

It's a Texas chain. It's not fair to compare local/regional chains to national ones, since those tend to have locally-grown produce and a much lower dependence on frozen food. For me, a place like In-N-Out can't be compared to a national chain. The local-based place will always win out because food that comes from close by, is always fresh, and never frozen is always better. I mean, one of the reasons that OG is so terrible is because the stuff is just frozen and reheated!

I'm kind of on the warpath now because I had a piece of coffee cake from Starbucks that has made me sick today. I've been really good lately about eating good food--lots of fruits and veggies, no artificially sweetened drinks--really mostly water--and home-cooked meals. I feel like that damned coffee cake set me back. It's sitting pretty heavily on my stomach and is making me feel sluggish.

I had a Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble yesterday, huge let down. I am loving my double walled plastic cup for iced beverages I make at home and take to work or elsewhere though. It doesn't sweat and the lid screws on, plus the straw is designed to not fall out.

yeah, my problem with them is that, while i will admit their cheesecake is fab, the food itself is nothing special and yet everyone acts like it's the best restaurant ever and wants to go there all the time. i have the same beef with pf changs. they're not bad, per se, but they're incredibly overrated.

I agree with these points, especially the second one. I don't even get how they are allowed to do that. It's like a few years ago when Sheetz had the line of it wasn't fast food, just food that was fast or something. That is such a bogus claim.

I would also like to echo the sentiments regarding Olive Garden. Olive Garden is to Italian food as Wendy's is to hamburgers. And by that I mean you can make it at home yourself, and it will be about a hundred times better than eating at those "restaurants."

I absolutely adore their black and blue salad
but their subs are a little lacking

I've never understood why so many people like Wendy's better than other burger chains. I've always found their food to be the most bland of any of the chains, and their fries are beyond awful.

I'll spare everyone my Cheesecake Factory nightmare. Sadly, I had met a sister there (in another city), so she knows. Never, ever again.

Tim Horton's shouldn't be allowed to call itself a doughnut store. I think that's where old hockey pucks go to die.

Good to see that a couple of my favorites haven't been mentioned - Arthur Treacher's & Popeye's, for starters. I think we need a thread on late, great restaurant chains that are no longer with us.

Bob Evans
Pondarosa

(or these could be northern chains that just don't exist in the south)

We still have Bob Evans in Ohio.

Unfortunately.

Roy Rogers. I still have cravings for Double R Bar Burgers.

I agree, that's why I like wraps! I hate when you eat a sandwich and there is more bread than "insides". With the wraps, you get a lot more insides and not much of the breadstuff.

They are both still open in Michigan.

ETA: The only time I've eaten at Cheesecake Factory was in Chicago. My son and I had New York pizza and my son and I both got a kick out of saying we went to the Cheesecake Factory in Chicago for New York style pizza because it just made no sense. It was the closest restaurant to where we had to meet the school buses after being in the Hancock Building though.

But Wendy's food is "fresh and never frozen!!!!!"

:| Yeah.

I think it's fair to compare places that are regional. Like comparing Whataburger (which I just ate!) to Burger King or Fanta to Faygo Pop or White Castle to Wendy's (Faygo and WC are both very Michigan places and WB is in Texas, btw).
And I do realize that Fanta nor Faygo are places lol.. just getting the point across.
But anyway, White Castle is regional but their food can be pretty bad sometimes (and so can the after effects).

And speaking of Texan restaurants, I hate Braum's as well. I feel sick just thinking about it... at least the Braums around where I live aren't very appetizing.. I've never been to ones other than the two near me.

Waffle House.
White Castle.

I never understand why there's always a line at Applebees, no matter where you go. It's a BAD restaurant. I feel sick after I eat there. I would actually rather eat at Denny's than eat at Applebees.

Cheesecake Factory is another place where there's always a wait, and people seem to treat it like a fine dining restaurant when it's not. Anyplace with a menu that large is never going to be great - jack of all trades, master of none. And they apparently go out of their way to not use local food/produce, because they serve farmed Atlantic salmon in the Pacific Northwest! Ugh. I don't even think their cheesecake is great - it's not dry enough. It'll do in a pinch, but usually there's something better to be had, and without a long wait or noise (it's always loud in there, too).

Another place I think is good, but overrated: Maggiano's. I like the food, but I think it's way overpriced if you don't do the family dinner thing.

KFC.

Bob Evans are all over the Charlotte area.

There are still some in the Northeast, although not as many as when I was a kid.

The sandwich discussion sparked this:
Have any of you heard of Jersey Mikes? When I lived in TN, there was a Jersey Mikes right beside a Subway. I never understood how that Subway got any business when JM was so close, considering JM was so much tastier. I haven't seen a JM in years though. (Could be a TN thing, I guess.)

jersey mike's
 

I've heard of that - I could swear I saw one either around here or on our way to NJ.