Fast Casual Dining: The Sad Last Days

It's just as well since the food is a catastrophe and has been for years.

It didn't used to be bad. It was never great, but it used to be fine.

It was still pretty good in Red Lobster when it closed. I haven't been to any of the others in years except Chili's, and it was pretty bad.

But back in the hey-day, it was fine.

I actually miss Spaghetti Warehouse.

When I visit my family in suburban northern Virginia we often go to Red Lobster and there’s actually nothing wrong with it. It’s way better than a supposedly great, too expensive restaurant I recently went to in Los Angeles that had very mediocre food

Yeah, well, Red Lobster is now gone, and I'm going to miss it.

I didn't eat there often... probably averaged once or twice a year over the years. At most.

But I'll still miss it.

I ate there a lot about 15-20 yrs ago after I stole the credit card my friends and I ate there weekly for 2 yrs

I don’t know how Olive Garden is still going. Literally any other Italian restaurant anywhere is better

OP, I cannot believe you forgot hausfrauen favorite Hometown Buffet. On life support for years already. Then Covid suffocated this one to death, too.

NJ diners live on!

A few new fried chicken places that are all parts of different chains have opened near me. A fair number of Korean places as well that are a part of different chains. And a really good kind if upscale Chinese place has opened recently that is also part of a chain,

Plus 3 or 4 Japanese places have or are about to open that are also a part of some chain. And at least two Mexican places. And two ramen or good noodle houses all a part of different chains.

All of these in a rather small but populated area.

The out of date the tired the last decades models die off and new and more popular for the time places step in and replace them.

All of these casual dining,

Do Golden Corral, Cracker Barrel, Outback, Bonefish Grill count? Those are still strong.

I'd put Perkins and Denny's and IHOP at a notch below.

OP I’m afraid you don’t know what things mean. Red Lobster is not a fast casual establishment. It is a sit down restaurant that’s not upscale.

Most fast casuals establishments don’t offer waiter service. Think Chipotle, Boston Market, Panera Bread, Five Guys.

Bennigan’s does still exist. I ate at one 2 years ago and it’s still there today. I think that they have a dozen or so left.

OP, I wouldn't call Red Lobster or Bennigan's "fast casual". Isn't that usually used for places like Chipotle? I'm not sure what the category you're talking about is called, but anyway I agree with you.

R9, a lot of the restaurant types you mention are opening up in suburban Philadelphia, too, but many are storefront places in strip malls. They're fine for carryout or a fast lunch, but they're not restaurants you go to for dinner out. They usually don't have liquor licenses, for one thing, the lighting is very bright, and the seats aren't comfortable - no booths, no banquettes. There are lots of authentic Mexican restaurants run by authentic Mexicans, but these, too, are a notch or two below the type of place OP is describing.

The Japanese places do because they're typically more upscale. And there are fancy Chinese/"Asian" restaurants, too, but those have been around a long time. (Not the same restaurants, but the same type. It's not new.)

All these are fine in their way, but they don't have that comfortable, dinner-out-with-Mom feeling of the older restaurants they're replacing. Times do change, I know, but there's nothing wrong with missing the old stuff.

^^^ "The Japanese places do HAVE LIQUOR LICENSES AND GOOD LIGHTING AND SEATING ..."

The Cheesecake Factory is still going strong.

We have two Cheesecake Factories in a nearby city and both have a three hour wait no matter when you go.

Cracker Barrel is going down, I read their CEO basically acknowledging that it is a brand in decline and that they haven’t updated some of their recipes and menu in almost 50 years. “Change or die!” in business.

In the 70's the McDonalds in our area were owned by a gay guy (eldergays in Ft Lauderdale will remember him!), and you would think he was trying to get a Michelin star for his properties.

Red Lobster is not "gone." Filing for bankruptcy is not the same as going out of business and discontinuing operations.

R19 true but OP needed a thread.

[quote] A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate concept between fast food and casual dining.

Olive Garden and Red Lobster have full service and you can actually sit there for a couple of hours. So, not fast casual.

OP is talking about casual dining chain restaurants.

OP have you tried the fare at the Golden Corral lately?

I doubt Cheesecake Factory will ever go away. It is revered by too many. It is stinking worshiped. Why?

I loved Bennigans in the 80s. LOVED it.

Was on a work road trip a few weeks ago with a colleague. She wanted to eat at Sizzler. I didn’t know any still existed. I have to say it was pristine, clean, and pretty damn tasty.

Places like Chilis and tgifidays were fun places to go after work with friends.

I think what happened to many “basic bitch” sit down restaurants, including many located in the good part of town with good food is the proliferation of fast casuals in the mid aughts. They never quite recovered. Why go to a sit down restaurant, wait 30 mins to be seated and then to have to tip when u can just as quality food if not bette mad quickly in a clean environment and good amount too. Many of the fats casuals at least when they first hit the scene had better food because they only specialized in one type of cuisine. And then became trendy to go to these spots.even first date at these spots before we graduated college.

Ironically OP talks about Red Lobster and Applebees. It was fast casuals that killed them.

I used to enjoy Chili's once or twice a year because you could get a decent burger there, plus they had beer. But the last time I went to one (pre-covid), it was dirty AF. Dishes piled up everywhere, trash on the floor, sticky table. Just gross-maybe it was just a badly run Chili's but it put me off from ever returning to one.

[quote]OP, I wouldn't call Red Lobster or Bennigan's "fast casual". Isn't that usually used for places like Chipotle?

Not in my experience. Fast casual is TGI Fridays, Chilis and the like. Chipotle is basically fast food. If you order at a counter and take the food to your seat on a tray, that's fast food. At least that's how it's always been around me.

R28, I had the same experience! I was traveling and was hungry and decided what the hell, I'd try Chili's. I actually don't really like that place, but options were limited. This was pre-covid, about a year or so before it hit, so 2018 or 2019. I walked in and it was basically deserted, but half the tables were unbussed and messy, and there was trash and dropped food on the floor. I should have turned around and walked out, but I decided to eat anyway. The food was meh, nothing special, but nothing terrible. The service was awful. The atmosphere was even worse. I'm shocked the whole chain isn't dying.

I used to eat at a Golden Corral with coworkers once a week or so, mostly for the rotisserie chicken which was consistently amazing. Then it went noticeably downhill. To the point that we all stopped eating there, period. My last experience was so bad I will never go back. It's been many years now.

Places that have full bars like Chilis and TGI Fridays are not fast-casuals. They’re causal dining restaurants.

Not to brag but I eat at Chipotle all the time, r32. It is 100% a fast food restaurant. A chicken burrito is about $10, comparable to a combo meal at McDonald's or Wendy's. You're rude but that doesn't mean you're right.

The Cheesecake Factory is considered a "nice" restaurant by people who don't have a lot of experience with actual nice restaurants, r24. Kind of like Olive Garden but flashier.

How fares Friendly's?

[R27]Why go to a sit down restaurant, wait 30 mins to be seated and then to have to tip

Because you want to have a drink and a full meal with friends or when you're traveling, not just wolf down a burrito as fast as possible and get out.

R32, some Chipotles do have drive-thrus. I believe the drive-thru is only for picking up orders made on the app.

[quote]some Chipotles do have drive-thrus

It’s called the Chipotlane.

R34 Some of you hoes need to be edumacated. Is this a Gen Z thread? Fast casuals are fast food with higher equality ingredients, and food cooked onsite.

[quote]I loved Bennigans in the 80s. LOVED it.

I cannot tell you how much time/money I spent at Bennigan's at college in the late 90's (two for one happy hour).

SO MANY BLODDY MARYs.

Grandys.....Po Folks

I still like Chili's burgers. Chips and salsa too.

[quote] If you order at a counter and take the food to your seat on a tray, that's fast food.

We used to call that cafeteria food in the 20th Century.

[quote]Why go to a sit down restaurant, wait 30 mins to be seated and then to have to tip

Because these days, they expect you to tip at the take-out counter, too.

I sued to like O'Grady's. I wonder if they are still around.

Along the same lines, local casinos in Las Vegas closed their buffets during COVID and have kept them closed. Everything tasted like cardboard but it was affordable for most people. I never went but I know a lot of people who will miss them.

No, it was O'Charley's. Then there was Grady's American Grill, but I didn't care for that. On the Border was also good.

The strangest one was Bugaboo Creek, a Canadian themed restaurant.

I miss Ground Round, which was owned by HoJos and took over many of their locations.

Many have reopened R48, but they are no longer common, and they aren't really middle of the road anymore.

My last trip I ate at the Excalibur (edible, but ...), Wicked Spoon (quite nice), and Caesar's (expensive and over the top ... but very good).

R48 They closed the buffets because the casinos always lost money on them because the hogs would come and eat a weeks worth of food in one sitting. But the casinos learned that the buffets were no longer a draw to bring in the customers. People still gambled regardless of whether there was a buffet or not. A few of the casinos here in Reno still have them but like in Vegas most have been closed down.

Corporate greed killed a lot of these.

Sometimes it was bad management or expansion that was too fast and too aggressive. Or stockholders who drained all the healthy marrow from the business to extract all the dividends they possibly could.

But for a lot of them, it was private equity firms buying the chains and literally stripping them for parts.

There's been a lot of fuss about lower end fast food but the fast casual market definitely got crunched as inflation rose and COVID slammed into that market. For every fast casual or slightly higher end fast food restaurant still open (Jimmy John's, Panera, Chipotle) there are many that have closed or shrunk significantly (Quizno's, Boston Market et al).

And yes, even the slop houses like Red Lobster have suffered too, also mostly because of corporate greed.

[quote] We have two Cheesecake Factories in a nearby city and both have a three hour wait no matter when you go.

What kind of sad, fat whore would actually eat at a Cheesecake Factory?

These types of sit-down chains are typically called "Casual Dining," as opposed to a Chipotle where you get a tray and seat yourself, which is "Fast Casual."

R32, maybe don't get so goddamned incensed over a label. You know damn well what is being talked about here. Go outside and touch some grass. And get some therapy. Your rage over the term 'fast casual' being (perceived by you) as being mis-used is unhinged.

[quote]These types of sit-down chains are typically called "Casual Dining," as opposed to a Chipotle where you get a tray and seat yourself, which is "Fast Casual."

Maybe where you are. But regardless, that terminology is completely irrelevant to the thread and getting bent out of shape over it is the height of weird aspie pettiness. Stop it. Seriously. I've always ALWAYS called TGI Fridays and all the chains like that fast-casual, and Chipotle and places like that fast food. Deal with it. It makes perfect sense to my brain and your outrage at shifting terms around is just weird to me. Okay so what, you call them slightly different things in your area, big deal, you GET what I'm talking about, and language is not absolute and consistent across geographic areas. Some people call it soda, others pop, and neither are "wrong". Get over yourselves. Jesus. Can't you stay on topic?

Chili's and Applebee's are doing fine. Applebee's just did a big Survivor tie-in.

OP, fast casual dining restaurants are popular in NYC also.

Top 5 Vegas buffets in 2024.

The Applebee's near me is always packed. I can see through the windows when I'm driving to a real restaurant. Some people like that kind of slop.

Won’t somebody please think of the cheddar bay biscuits!!

After watching that porky guy do the buffets, I feel stuffed. Buffets are disturbing.

[quote]The strangest one was Bugaboo Creek, a Canadian themed restaurant.

Which makes little to no sense to Canadians like myself. We eat the same food Americans do generally.

Can anybody else not see Reply 32? That was a Teacake posting. Usually he just gets red-tagged, but this time it looks like Muriel completely vaporized him.

Outback Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse seem to be thriving these days.

No Outback regularly threatens bankruptcy.

R58 is correct and the entire restaurant and hospitality industry has it all wrong. You’ve been warned😵‍💫

Outback recently announced multiple closures.

Why was Teaflake disappeared instead of r58? Teaflake doesn't get it right that often, but he was spot-on about fast casual dining.

The fat whores can’t even afford to be fat anymore.

Evolution of the dining experience. Door Dash, Uber Eats etc have made it simple to get casual dining at home, not to mention all the meal delivery services like Factor and others. They can either produce cheap meals like Chilis to compete and undercut fast food or just die on the vine.

I haven’t been to Chilis in many a moon, but I used to love their chicken nachos.

Once in the early 1990s I went to Puerto Rico with my friend who was having a personal crisis. Because of her crisis (but really just because of her), we ate at Chilis every single night we were there.

I will never understand why people use Door Dash/Uber Eats/Grub Hub/Whatever. The very thought of getting food that takes 20 minutes from restaurant to your door (or more) and arrives cold and disgusting, and having to pay so much extra for it, while those companies utterly SCREW the restaurants you're ordering from... I can't do it. I wouldn't do it.

As for Applebee's, I used to eat there back in the early 90s, but I swear, over the course of two or three years, they systematically eliminated all of my favorite items from their menu, and I finally got sick of it and there wasn't much left that was worth me going there for, so I haven't eaten there in literally two decades now.

R36, Friendly's was great, and I used to go there all the time in the early 80s but every single one closed a long LONG time ago and I think they retreated to just the New England area. With a few in South Carolina and Florida still. They all disappeared from the midwest.

[quote]I will never understand why people use Door Dash/Uber Eats/Grub Hub/Whatever. The very thought of getting food that takes 20 minutes from restaurant to your door (or more) and arrives cold and disgusting, and having to pay so much extra for it, while those companies utterly SCREW the restaurants you're ordering from... I can't do it. I wouldn't do it.

I haven't had menu items delivered in a year or two now, but it sure was convenient during the pandemic. As for the "food that arrives cold" issue, I only ordered things that could reheat well (Italian) or be eaten cold (subs from Jersey Mike's). The only time I order anything now, it's ice cream and at least 40% off. But this is once a month, if that.

Anche, I was under the impression that the price differential between delivery and pickup made up for the amount Door Dash et al take from the restaurant. Not so?

There seems to be different interpretations of fast casual. Some say just better fast food some say sit down. Look it up.

R77, these delivery services are destroying restaurants and screwing their own employees... it's completely unsustainable:

Last year they say buffets are back.

My favorite casual dining chain restaurant was Sizzlers, both the meals and the salad bar. A long time ago, IIRC, you'd actually have to stand in line to order (e.g., steak and fries plate).

Outback Steakhouse was just way to expensive. They seemed to test the boundaries of pricing. Seems like you could pay a little more and go to an actual steak house.

Cheesecake Factory, for people from the hinterlands and flyover areas, has a fancy environment. The menu is huge, but the only things I've ordered was an omelet and cheesecake.

I forgot about Bennigan's. There was one downtown Evanston, IL, when I was in college that we'd occasionally go to. There was also essentially a local Bennigan's called Yesterday's pretty close to campus. Both are long gone.

Houlihan's had great daiquiris

I have noticed when I go to a sit-down restaurant the number of trashy families with visibly ill kids has become oppressively great. Pre-pandemic a higher socioeconomic level went to the restaurants. Now it's like "reunion at the trailer park" for most of them.

^ Same thing goes when flying now. Like the worst of the Greyhound bus crowd.

Agree with r75. I'm single and live alone. In the 37 years I've lived in my house, I think I've had pizza delivered TWICE. And never any other kind of food (other than groceries.) Amazon's letting everyone with Prime have free delivery from Grubhub, and after a year with it, I've never used it.

I liked the Hard Rock Cafe when it first opened. They had a really small menu. I remember liking the chopped salad and the brownie with ice cream dessert. Another thing I liked was the potato skins.

I like my restaurants AND my sex the same way… FAST & CASUAL.

r88 And probably sit-down.

A friend of mine was the kitchen manager at our local Fleming's Steakhouse for several years (he left two years ago). He told me that Fleming's was under the same corporate ownership as Outback Steakhouse - and the steaks, fish, poultry and produce you were getting in your meals at Fleming's were the same steaks, seafood, poultry and produce you were getting at Outback - only paying a much higher price at Fleming's, thinking you were in a 'prime' steakhouse. Many a time if they ran out of something at Fleming's, he would drive over to Outback (about five miles away) and 'borrow' from their kitchen until his order came in the next day or two. The KM at Outback would do the same with his restaurant.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was taken to Fleming's for Mother's Day. She had never been, and her kids decided to make reservations there. She was looking forward to it (she had just moved to my city a few years ago, and there wasn't a Fleming's in her area where she used to live). The next day she said the food was awful - she couldn't even finish her steak. Her two sons and daughter-in-laws said the same thing. The only thing which was good was the service - the server was very attentive considering it was a busy holiday.

Fleming's has better sides, though. No Bloomin' Onion there.

Never even heard of Fleming's until now.

I was underwhelmed with Ruth's Chris. How does Fleming's compare to Ruth's Chris?

Ruth's Chris closed many locations during the pandemic (including my city). Fleming's still stands.

So? I was asking for a taste comparison.

R81 Sizzler? How old are you?!

Outhouse Steakhouse

Is R9 meant to be a serious post?

You couldn’t give the name of ONE of the places you’re talking about it?

All I can think of is families.

No one wants to be around loud families.

I agree with whomever made the point upthread that things you all are calling are fast casual are actually just casual dining.

Now we’re talking about Ruth’s Chris?

Dataloungers really don’t know much about anything.

[quote]I agree with whomever made the point

Oh, dear!

Just for clarification…

Fast casual = counter service

What are you people talking about - Red Lobster still exists.

Applebees, Outback Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Chevy's, Chili's, Red Robbin, Longhorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, TGIFridays.

These are just the ones who advertise regularly.

Mimi's Cafe, which is a shadow of its former self, and which I used to love is really awful now. Ditto Romano's Macaroni Grill, which used to be much better than Olive Garden.

I rarely go to any restaurants in the evening now. It's either filled with obnoxious drunks, or youngish fraus with their crotch droppings. It used to be that people would have sense to not bring Cayden, Jayden or Brayden to a white tablecloth kind of upscale restaurants but now, if Mommy wants, then Mommy doesn't care about ruining the evenings of other patrons.

I tend to go early to anything, breakfast/brunch or dinner, so that we can enjoy a lighter crowd and few obnoxious assholes - adult or kid. And there are a few restaurants here and there that are rarely patronized by trash people and/or families with ill behaved children, and we cherish visiting those - but they are few and far between.

Same with going to concerts or films. No thanks.

[quote]I rarely go to any restaurants in the evening now.

I wonder whether sociologists have analyzed the long-term impact of the pandemic shutdowns.

People became used to staying home. While people were "desperate" to go out, they also realized that it's not the end of the world if they don't. Also, they say it only takes 21 days to form new behavioral habits. Also, the shift to working remotely which has continued after the shutdown has changed the habits of folks who used to grab drinks and dinner before going home.

Add to that the sheer crazy of shootings and random attacks on the streets, plenty of folks have likely altered their behavior permanently.

R102: Virtually all of those chains are in different stages of decline.

TGI Fridays has been closing locations left and right since the pandemic. They won’t last more than another year.

The ONLY thing Fleming's has going for it in Houston is ALINF.

At Least It's Not Fertitta.

Tillman Fertitta and his shady business practices and CHEAPO food own every other "fine" chain steakhouse (almost) in this city and they're abominable. Sure, the apps and sides are great, but the steaks and other mains are so subpar as to be inedible. And he absolutely OWNS the beach towns like Galveston and Kemah.

No mention of Steak & Ale? Not bad for a casual steak joint.

Second R108. I lived and worked in Galveston briefly at his flagship hotel and, yes, he owned most of Galveston and Kemah. Locals not crazy about it.

R99 your come to Jesus moment…welcome!

Red Lobster no longer exists, no. It declared bankruptcy and closed all restaurants just weeks ago.

[quote]Ditto Romano's Macaroni Grill, which used to be much better than Olive Garden.

Oh god yes. I used to love Macaroni Grill. I went there last just before the pandemic and it was already awful. I can't imagine it's improved now, since EVERY restaurant I've been to (from fast food to fast casual to casual to fine dining) has gone down hill significantly since the pandemic. Fewer choices, lower quality, worse service. Across the board.

It's why I don't go out to eat so much anymore.

Red Robin is another... quality gone down hill, and all but one of them in my area has closed. Used to be half a dozen in my city. Now I think there are a grand total of two maybe? Only one near me within reasonable driving distance.

Zero TGI Friday's left.

I will say the Texas Roadhouse seems to still be doing well. The parking lot is always full and there's always a line to get in every time I drive by. I've only been there once. It was okay.

[quote]Red Lobster no longer exists, no. It declared bankruptcy and closed all restaurants just weeks ago.

Stop making shit up. They filed for bankruptcy protection but have not even closed the majority of their restaurants.

The Texas Roadhouses are packed near me. For the price point, they are rated higher than other places in their price range including Outback, Saltgrass, etc. I ate at one right before Xmas with a co-worker and it was good. I had a decent red wine with prime rib.

Poor 112 Bless her heart. She’s just too dim to understand how a Chapter 11 reorganization differs from a Chapter 7 liquidation. Know this, you can still pig out on shrimp. At various locations. Go for it R112

This thread is why I learned to cook. When I order in, it's from an authentic ethnic place--Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese, Korean chicken, Mexican, high quality pizza--with really fresh, well-prepared food. You tube videos can teach you how to duplicate Chipotle, which I will never frequent because food poisioning.

[quote] Some people call it soda, others pop, and neither are "wrong".

WRONG! "Pop" is so flyover.

R118 thinks his Chinese takeout is “authentic!” 😆

It's a Szechuan place where everything is cooked to order, not the neighborhood slop that showcases multiple regions,none of them well done. Sorry you don't live in an area that affords multiple choices.

I forgot thai food.

None of the places you're mentioning are within city limits anyway except for Cheesecake Factory.

No clue who R121 is responding to but we had an exquisite Chinese restaurant here that was a definite dine in place. Pink table linens, fantastic wait staff, great wine list and fabulous food presented beautifully. Not cheap but not $$$$$】. Very few places like that here. Most are the hideous buffets or carry out with food that all tastes the same. We have a huge selection of pricey upscale Indian and Thai places but not Chinese which I find weird.

I'm underwhelmed by Cheesecake Factory. The menu is too big bolstering the impression the food is frozen and nuked. Too expensive too. Seems popular with the HS homecoming and prom goers. Last time I went I ordered a glass of sangria and it was a big goblet half full for 12.95. If I'm paying tha much, bitch, it better be a full glass or a carafe.

[quote]Some people call it soda, others pop, and neither are "wrong".

Neither IS wrong. Oh, dear!

Venture Capitalists at work.

I was responding to R120. If you live in a city with a large immigrant population, there is no shortage of good ethnic places to go to with quality fresh food. Apart from Panera and Chipotle, there are few fast casual chains in our city.

R121 you’re right. My bad. I regret every day that I live in that ethnic food desert called Manhattan.

R109, I’ve never been to a Steak & Ale, weren’t they the same company as Bennigans?

Where I grew up we had a Bennigans and a Houlihans. Both were good… I was probably in the minority, but I preferred Bennigans.

About 10 or so years ago I was in a relationship with a guy who loved chain restaurants. We ate at many (including Mimi’s and a bunch of the others mentioned above), and I didn’t mind one bit.

[quote] It's a Szechuan place where everything is cooked to order, not the neighborhood slop that showcases multiple regions,none of them well done. Sorry you don't live in an area that affords multiple choices.

There's a sophisticate amongst us.

Max & Erma's is another one that's apparently on the skids.

[quote] Fast Casual Dining: The Sad Last Days

FAT WHORES SQUEAL IN DESPAIR!

[quote] Max & Erma's is another one that's apparently on the skids.

It's been on the skids for years, I had no idea any were still around until you posted. There's 7 left now.

I loved Bennigans back when I was a youngster. TGIF too. Lots of early 20s happy hours spent there with friends. I remember a waitress at one Bennigans here was snached by a serial killer. Not sure her body was ever found. Kind of ruined it here for us.

Yes, I think S&A was part of the same chain.

Max’s Skid Mark

Franchises now available!

About ten years ago, most of the Ruby Tuesday's in my area closed abruptly. Just a few are left.

Here in RI, where we have excellent Italian restaurants throughout the state in a variety of settings and price points, none of the Italian 'chains' survived (except for one Olive Garden). Macaroni Grill, Spaghetti Warehouse, Buca di Beppo - all failed. Most didn't last a full year. Who wants 'freezer to fryolator' Chicken Parm when you can get the real deal just a few blocks away and support a local Italian family's business ?

A lot of those were successful in the 90s and 00s but slid downhill after that. The ones R134 mentioned for sure.

I loved Flat Top Grill which did great for a while, then they botched an expansion plan, got bought out, and failed. And that restaurant was packed full every time I went.

Same with Native Foods. Busy busy busy and yet somehow, the companies that buy these places always either fail or sell them for scraps.

I'm glad some company had enough sense to revive the IHOP chain about 20 years ago. They were popular in my area in the 60s and 70s then closed down in the 80s. Resurfaced again in the 00s and doing very well, from what's been reported (and they've been expanding rapidly).

Now if someone can do the same thing with Ho Jo's - it would be a monster hit.

R134, I had forgotten all about Ruby Tuesday. I used to love the salad bar.

R112 only about 90 Red Lobster locations closed, leaving at least a couple hundred open. I ate at one last Thursday. They still do all you can eat shrimp, Mondays only.

R138 That's most likely all the shrimp left over in the freezers of the 90s restaurants which closed. Probably all their food is from those freezers.

[quote]I will never understand why people use Door Dash/Uber Eats/Grub Hub/Whatever. The very thought of getting food that takes 20 minutes from restaurant to your door (or more) and arrives cold and disgusting, and having to pay so much extra for it, while those companies utterly SCREW the restaurants you're ordering from... I can't do it. I wouldn't do it.

R75, I live in a city center and sometimes use delivery services, ordering from restaurants within a quick delivery range -- which narrows it down to 290s of choices.

Fifteen or twenty minutes from order to having the food in hand is the usual -- half the time for food preparation and half for the delivery itself. Deliverers make €3 to €4 per order depending on the delivery company, tips are in addition and I top €2 to 3 as a minimum, more if there is any distance or complexity. In 10 minutes, the food arrives hot, always. Where I live the menu items are the same price as in the restaurants. I've never had an order take 20 minutes or more to arrive, nor arrive cold.

I prefer to eat out or to make dinner at home, but it is a nice choice to have the possibility of good food passed off at my door, hot, in 15 or 20 minutes from placing an order at the same price I'd pay in the restaurant.

These restaurants reached their peak in the '90s, when they reached an oversaturation point. People eventually wised up to the fact that they could better, more adventurous offerings for the same price.

DoorDash is, from what I've been told by people who work for them or with them, a bit better than GrubHub, which is terrible for both restaurants and delivery people.

As others mentioned, I used them during the pandemic and always tipped generously. There's mostly just big chains where I am so I don't feel as bad about doing it with them, but I always try with local places to order directly.

Please tell me Schrafft's is still okay!

Let's not forget Pizzeria Uno - they seem to be doing well, so far.

Do you think that the rise of foodie/hipster dining helped kill or diminish some of the chains? I'm not talking "fine" dining, but just all the independent places that were committed to new flavors and/or better quality (for the most part) and also grew up alongside the craft better and craft cocktail movement? Places where you could order something you couldn't get at the chains, or you could order an often better take on typical chain/pub food, whether a burger and fries, wings, a cobb salad, or a club sandwich. Plus it tied into supporting local businesses.

I worked at Applebee's, Chili's, Cuco's, and Ryan's 20+ years ago. At that time most of the ingredients were fresh and I actually liked their food. I'm not sure if Cuco's or Ryan's are around anymore.

Did anyone else grow up with Ground Round?

Applebees and IHOP are teaming up and opening co-branded locations, thinking that will be the key to success.

Goodbye R134

“I'm glad some company had enough sense to revive the IHOP chain”

I’m pretty sure I’d be dead before I heard that phrase uttered. My bad—🤷🏻‍♂️

"craft better and craft cocktail movement..."

Meant "craft beer and craft cocktail movement."

I don’t like IHOP.

[quote]Please tell me Schrafft's is still okay!

Just promise me you won't try to speak French to the counterman!

R147 I remember eating there a few times as a teenager and college student.

Another one bought by investors and run into the ground.

R117, get over yourself. Literally every Red Lobster near me has closed. Over 100 closed, and another 100 are set to close soon.

Ethnic fast casuals appear to fare better than their American-y counterparts.

I can’t believe there’s a city with [bold]SIX[/bold] Red Robin restaurants as r114 testifies.

Well, there's not anymore!

I have a monthly dispensable income budget and most of my adult life I've only found value in very low priced ethnic and local restaurants (the local Mexican or Lebanese or Italian place) and world class luxury restaurants. And more often than not, someone else pays for the luxury restaurants.

I have never seen the value of fast casual (take a tray) or casual dining though "when in Rome" meaning family or colleagues want a chain, I'll just swallow my snobbery and enjoy. They mostly suck, to a cosmopolitan jaded sophisticate such as myself. I'd rather a Dairy Queen on the iron picnic table, than Cheesecake Factory. I'd rather shop in a supermarket on the retail strip outside of town, for an impromptu picnic, than stop at Panera.

Girls! Girls! You're both tedious cunts!

Yes, a whole fuckton of Red Lobsters closed!

No, the entire chain has not closed!

Yes, only sad, fat Poors would ever eat at a slophouse like Red Lobster!

Now all of you FUCK RIGHT OFF!

There are three flat top grills left. They were great. Wonder what did them in? Was it the rising prices of food? Haven't been there for years but remember the food as being really good.

I'm the five trans non-binary fluid asexual Atheist misfits at the table in the corner, plotting to blow-up the cheerleading squad with a crockpot of nails.

At one time, there were a few Ponderosa Steakhouses in my area - all closed about 10 years ago. We're down to 2 "99 Restaurant and Pub" locations. Does anyone remember York Steak House ? They used to be a staple in every mall across America in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. They started melting down in the 90s.

I last went to Olive Garden in 2013 - it was terrible. I had gotten some kind of a chicken calzone that was a frozen Stouffer's nightmare. It was nasty. A friend I once knew told me that Olive Gardens are better the farther north you go in the U.S. In my case, I live in the deep south, my back yard is pretty much the Gulf of Mexico. So I guess if I ever go up north I should try it again.

R165 No, you shouldn't. The further north you go you should find Italian neighborhoods with authentic Italian restaurants. Not the OG shit.

R166 - I'm totally with you in that case. New Orleans, where I am, has some incredible Italian dining. Why I'd go to Olive Garden is rather trivial, just because my old Michigan friend told me that anecdote years ago.

[quote]Does anyone remember York Steak House ? They used to be a staple in every mall across America in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

York Steakhouse was never nationwide. They never made it farther west than Texas. I grew up in California and never saw one until I moved to the DC area.

R165: Neither you nor your friend should bother. Instead find an actual Italian restaurant which also is easier as you go North.

R145 You are on to something. I think that is part of the equation along with rise of fast casual. A lot of these fast casuals were initially the edgy spots in certain locales that then became so popular they went national or regional.

I saw the Dalai Lama (surrounded by security) at a Houlihan’s in Buffalo, New York.

He ordered a salad.

[quote] A friend I once knew told me that Olive Gardens are better the farther north you go in the U.S.

I sincerely doubt that. All of that food is pre-packaged and uniform, like a McDonald's.

It was always a treat when my grandparents would take us out to the Bonanza steakhouse.

R172 There is some truth to regional claims. I don’t about Olive Garden but to me fast food restaurants are always better down south or the nicer suburbs of any big city metro area. I’m not just talking customer service I mean the quality of the food.

I like to go to the VFW with my working class grandfather. They had fish and chips, hot dogs and hamburgers, etc. There were old mechanical games of metal and wood, like skee bowl. It was smokey and my parents didn't smoke and I liked smoky rooms, being the future whore of Babylon. My aunt was filthy rich and would take me into NY to the Metropolitan Club and the Yale Club.

No tea..pleeze

i find it strange that I can see SOME of Teacake's posts, but some are hidden.

Why is that?

R177 Are you talking bout my unsigned comments. I don’t know why cunts act like people tryna hide when they don’t sign their posts. Sometime the shit is automatically unchecked. But more importantly said cunts act annoyed at posters who sign their comments anyway so it really illustrates they come online to ebeef and are miserable in life.

No, there are a few of your posts (signed) that I only saw when someone else replied to that post with an R in front of the post #.

However, I see other posts from you (like your last response) without having to hover over someone else's reply to your post.

Steak and Ale is coming back...

Begone Tea…before Muriel drops a house on u

Cake is now posting through a few socks and sometimes he posts with no signature. Even if he uses a sock, he ma duplicate by signing with similar cake or tea names.

I don't believe Cake is a real person, rather a cosplay by a DL "deep state" Troll. An meta troll of many cosplays.

The last York Steakhouse is being sold in Columbus, Ohio. I will miss it.

R181 She gone drop a bomb on me and we gon party like it’s Studio 54 circa 1978. I loves me some Muriel. It’s the summer of love.

R183: Doesn't say much for you or Columbus, Ohio for still having one.

[quote]I saw the Dalai Lama (surrounded by security) at a Houlihan’s in Buffalo, New York. He ordered a salad.

I remember seeing him, too. The Pope joined him for lunch and ordered the Pot Roast.

Somewhat OT:

My bussy’s been called fast casual.

Yep, you pay too much and then have to clean up after yourself.

Denny's is still around, with over 1600 locations in the US. Unfortunately, they took the patty melt off their menu. The patty melt is one of the great culinary inventions of all time.

I miss Bob's Big Boy. They're have only a few restaurants now, mostly in Michigan and Southern California. They do still have patty melts, though.

R175, Several of my mother's family migrated from the Coal Regions of Pennsylvania to the shipyards of Bayonne, NJ.

More than 65 years later I can recall the amazing Italian (which we are) restaurant down where Bayonne looks onto the NY skyline that served gigantic platters of fabulous Mussels Marinara, all tomato saucey in their blue-black shells to slurp, prior to the main meal of thin-crust, cheesy, perfect pizza.

We also would go into "the City," just a Red and Tan bus ride away, for great pizza. Sometimes Chinese food in Chinatown.

For dessert, it was always take-away honey-dripping baklava from the Poseidon bakery, still on 9th Ave by Port Authority. We used to buy and eat while watching the Rockettes at RCMH.

We did, however, like our NY Horn and Hardart, so I guess "chain" restaurants weren't beneath us!

Link to the Poseidon:

So you're the pig family that was eating greasy dripping baklava at Radio City, smacking your lips and crinkling the wax paper wrapper.

R191: Better than bringing in botulism-laden Chipotle.

Yep, r191! Although we were up in the balcony, far from your type!

And honey, my dear, is not "greasy."

Howard Johnson's seemed to be everywhere when I was a kid.

R189 Denny's opened up a number of locations (in very good spots) in my state around the same time IHOP reintroduced themselves in my area (about 15 years ago). All the Dennys - except one - have closed, while IHOP has continued expanding. The Denny's still open is always a pig sty, and always understaffed. I don't know how much longer it will last.