Franchises That Don't Suck

[godfry n. glad]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Both Chipotle and Baja Fresh sound like a cilantro epidemic waiting to happen. I would have to pick everything apart to be sure it wasn't infected.

Festering pustules of cilantro use.

[godfry n. glad]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

It tastes like lemon dishwashing detergent, and overpoweringly so.

I'm curious as to how you know this.

Have you been getting together with Worn and tippling off his Lemon Joy bottle while he nurses his flaggon of English Leather?

I think cilantro has a "fresh" taste. It's scent rather reminds me of fresh mown grass....a bovine delight. My personal dislike is terragon. I can't even describe how it tastes...but it makes me gag.

godfry

[Penni]

Originally Posted by godfry n. glad

I think cilantro has a "fresh" taste. It's scent rather reminds me of fresh mown grass....a bovine delight.

godfry

I'm so glad someone else expressed it with the exact same word I use! Fresh is exactly it. Like a day in a beautiful meadow with lots of sunshine. To me, there is nothing citrus-y about it. Just wind-blowing-through-the-hair freshness. It makes me so happy.

Anise on the other hand. Well, this could have gone in my Worst meal EVER post about nasty surprises. While at dinner at a Mayan restaurant, we were getting drinks, and I decided to try something new (sound familiar? This is my weakness), so I got a drink that talked about rum, muddled sugar and lime. I thought it sounded like a Mojito, which I like, so I'd try it. I got it and it was pure anise. I mean, just another instance of something they should TELL YOU on the menu. Well, I was able to drink it, but my tongue got numb. I'm sure it was the evil anise that did it.

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by godfry n. glad

I'm curious as to how you know this.

Have you been getting together with Worn and tippling off his Lemon Joy bottle while he nurses his flaggon of English Leather?

I've told you before not to train spy satellites at me, dammit.

I think cilantro has a "fresh" taste. It's scent rather reminds me of fresh mown grass....a bovine delight. My personal dislike is terragon. I can't even describe how it tastes...but it makes me gag.

I like grass. I used to gnaw on clover and lemongrass all the time as a girl. (God knows I've smoked more than my fair share.) Cilantro is something else entirely according to my palate, and there's just no such thing as a mere hint of it. When a foodstuff has the cilantro pustules that's all I can taste.

* livius drusus shudders

Tarragon's good in chicken stock, but otherwise I don't have much use for it myself.

[Goliath]

Ummm...getting back on topic:

I also love Quizno's. The subs are a bit spendy, but they're soooooo damn delicious!

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by Goliath

Ummm...getting back on topic:

I also love Quizno's. The subs are a bit spendy, but they're soooooo damn delicious!

Really? Huh. I've always avoided them because their ads bug me. I might have to give them a try.

[Goliath]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Really? Huh. I've always avoided them because their ads bug me. I might have to give them a try.

Yep. I'm partial to the honey mustard chicken with bacon and the BBQ chipotle carved turkey.

[viscousmemories]

I love Quiznos, personally. I think their food is far better than Subway. Probably not as healthy, though, as good as it tastes.

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by Goliath

Yep. I'm partial to the honey mustard chicken with bacon and the BBQ chipotle carved turkey.

Damn. Those are some fancy sandwich ingredients. Definitely worth a try, I think.

[Penni]

Hmmm, I've not been impressed with Quizno's. And that toasted bread, as hard as it is, hurts the roof of my mouth by the time I get halfway through the sandwich. Another sandwich chain people say is better than Subway is Togo's, but I don't think that's anything special either. I just like to stick with the original!

[Penni]

Oh, and a couple comments on other suggestions:

We used to have Bob's Big Boy in CA, but for some reason they are almost all gone now. Apparently, there are still 8 in CA. Anyway, I loved them as a kid. My favorite was the Chili Size with lots of cheese and onions. Yum. It's probably been like 20 years since I've had that.

And Sonic really is a super cool fast food joint. Sadly, there's very few in CA, Apparently, there's ONE in LA, but like 10 in Bakersfield. Weird. Anyway, there's always commercials for it on Comedy Central when I am watching the Daily Show. Damn them for tormenting me!

[viscousmemories]

The Big Boy's in Michigan were Elias Brother's Big Boy, oddly.

It looks like there are 3 Sonic's in the Dallas area, but the closest is 30 miles from where I live, again oddly. Is it that good?

[Goliath]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Damn. Those are some fancy sandwich ingredients. Definitely worth a try, I think.

Like I said, it's a bit spendy....a large (footlong...or maybe a bit longer) honey mustard chicken with bacon and a small pop came to $9.50.

But it's sooooo good. They put the bread and the cheese through this small oven so that the bread is toasty and fucking delicious....mmmm....damn, if I weren't lazy and if I were hungry, I'd seriously consider waddling down there to get myself another one!

[Goliath]

This is a local chain (local as in a few locations in Fargo, one in Bismarck, and one in Minot), but Kroll's is also pretty damn tasty. They have a lot of normal home-cooked things (pancakes, chicken fried steak), but they also have some local German dishes, such as fleischkuechle (sp?).

One of the coolest things about the restaraunt though is on the front of the menu, they'd have a picture of this really mean looking old grandma holding a rolling pin menacingly. Next to her picture were the words "Sit down and eat!"...but once you opened the menu, the rolling pin was gone and the old grandma was smiling and looking as happy as ever.

Oh, and their knoephla rocks!

[Goliath]

I've seen Sonic commercials...the food looks decent, but I've never seen one nor been to one.

[viscousmemories]

Originally Posted by Penni

We used to have Bob's Big Boy in CA, but for some reason they are almost all gone now. Apparently, there are still 8 in CA.

Ah, I was wondering why I had heard of Bob's, Frischs, and Elias Brother's Big Boy, and I found the answer on the IntarWeb:

Bob's Big Boy started as Bob's Pantry in 1936 when founder Bob Wian bought a local Glendale restaurant. Wian developed a double-decker hamburger (Bob's was the first) and the Big Boy icon. Bob's became a California chain and franchising began in the 1940s. Unlike chains like McDonald's, Wian did not require uniformity and franchise owners were free to name their restaurants whatever they wanted.
The Elias brothers brought Big Boy to Michigan. They bought Elby's (West Virginia-based) and went bankrupt in 2000. Bob's Big Boy, now Michigan-based, has about 450 restaurants in CA, AZ, HI, ND, IL, MI, OH and NC.

The Toluca Lake Bob's was built in 1949 and is the oldest restaurant left in the chain. It was saved in the early 1990s and restored to its original form. It is now the top revenue-producing Big Boy in the country.

For more about Bob's, see these websites: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.

Frisch's began in Cincinnati in 1923. Dave Frisch ran into Bob Wian around 1949 and arranged a franchise. The Frisch's Big Boy used tartar sauce rather than 1,000 Island dressing. Frisch's bought the rights to the Big Boy name in late 2000 after the Elias Bros. bankruptcy.

The Columbus Frisch's location on Route 40 was built in the late 1950s or early 1960s. The sign is original but the building has been remodeled to look retro. This photo shows a Frisch's (most likely gone or remodeled) in Columbus, IN. There are 88 company-owned Frisch's and 26 franchise units (all using the Frisch's Big Boy name). They are located in OH (Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus), IN (Indianapolis), and KY (Louisville, Lexington). For more about Frisch's, see this website.

[Corona688]

I'd like to reccomend Fuddruckers. Just be careful pronouncing it. They're all over the States according to the site, but I'm fortunate to be living in the same province as their only Canadian franchise.

It's kind of assemble-your-own-burger. They give you fries and a burger on a bun then you step up to the huge bar of condiments and toppings and let your imagination run wild. Drinks are done similarly, they give you glasses(real, not disposable) for you to fill at the soda fountains. Ever tried mixing your own sodas? I find a combination of Cocoa Cola and Minute Maid oddly refreshing, and if you get the proportions just right you get a brown drink with orange bubbles.

The toppings are invariably fresh. The burgers are quite excellent, as they've got their own butcher to grind fresh meat when they need it(you can buy patties from the butcher for barbecues if you like). They've also got their own smallish bakery, of which I've never tried anything but their cookies because damnit, I like their cookies.

I've been to Fuddruckers in different cities, and it looks like they're all built on the same plan right down to the cups and tablecloths; when I found the one in Saskatoon, I was half-worried I'd end up back in Regina if I went out the wrong door.

It's a big place, not crowded. There's a high unfinished ceiling like a warehouse, and three vague partitions; there's the lineup beside the kitchen and butcher, then a big room scattered with condiments bars and soda fountains and bakery off to one side, then a room with lots of tables that connects to outside with glass doors. Everything is tile-floor and obsessively clean. The only thing that sometimes bugs me about the place is the warehouse-like acoustics, but if it bothers you, they've got outside tables too.

[viscousmemories]

Yum. That sounds really good, Corona, and I see there's one near my house. If I hadn't just eaten Dim Sum I'd be on my way.

Speaking of funny names... there's a franchise here called Jack Astor's. I've only been there once so while the food was good I'm not prepared to recommend them, but I can't say that name without giggling inside.

[Bella]

Originally Posted by Goliath

A few years ago, some friends of mine and I were in Minneapolis. We ate at Chipotle's for lunch and then went to Sahib's (a non-chain Indian restaraunt--NO! an ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY DELICIOUS non-chain Indian restaraunt) for dinner.

Would you mind sharing where Sahib's was? I looked it up in the phone book and the only thing I could find was "Sahib's Gateway to India Restaurant" which is definately a chain . I'm terribly interested in some good Indian food.

My favourite chain in the world is NOODLES, which is a cute restaurant which offers a great selection of items such as Japanese Pan Noodles, Coconut Curry, and a variety of lovely (and huge) salads. Delicious.

[Goliath]

Originally Posted by Bree

[COLOR=Indigo]Would you mind sharing where Sahib's was? I looked it up in the phone book and the only thing I could find was "Sahib's Gateway to India Restaurant" which is definately a chain . I'm terribly interested in some good Indian food.

Yeah, that's the name of it, IIRC...if it really is a chain, then that's news to me. However, it's still really good!

[wildernesse]

Loco's is a local frachise/chain, which is pretty good. Yummy sandwiches. Plus their kitchen is open til 11pm on weekdays. Real food, late at night!

I have to say that while I hate Sonic food, I'm pretty much addicted to lime slushes, which during happy hour are only about 75 cents. Other than that, I'll have to say that I like places like Longhorn and Outback (moocow. . yummm) and Carrabba's. (And it's a good thing that Olive Garden isn't on our side of town--neverending breadsticks and decent salad--would totally eliminate my waist! Even though I'm not in love with their entrees.)

And I can't believe livius doesn't love the freak-o singing Quizno's creatures.
*wildy sings: "they're so good we'd eat em raw, but eating raw subs is barbaaaarrric"*

[livius drusus]

First you mention Olive Garden, bringing to mind chilling images of pasta so overcooked it can only be eaten with a spoon. Then you sing that damn song! I'll never get to sleep now.

[Bella]

Has anyone eaten at a Macaroni Grille? If so, what's your opinion? Olive Garden makes me cringe (did you know they don't have an oven back there, in the kitchen? - makes you wonder how they cook those breadsticks) and if Macaroni Grille is similar I don't want to even set foot in the door.

[viscousmemories]

Originally Posted by Bree

Has anyone eaten at a Macaroni Grille? If so, what's your opinion? Olive Garden makes me cringe (did you know they don't have an oven back there, in the kitchen? - makes you wonder how they cook those breadsticks) and if Macaroni Grille is similar I don't want to even set foot in the door.

I've enjoyed Macaroni Grill when I've gone, but that was before I started to really appreciate good Italian food ala livius' recipes. I'm quite sure they do their own cooking, though, 'cause you can see the open grill when you walk in. They call it an "exhibition kitchen" on their website.

They also do this thing where the put a jug of wine and your table and let you keep track of how many glasses you drink, which I thought was great fun back when I was trying to drink myself to death on a regular basis. Anyway as I said I think the food was pretty good, but then I've always thought the food at Olive Garden was pretty good too.

[wildernesse]

Originally Posted by Bree

Olive Garden makes me cringe (did you know they don't have an oven back there, in the kitchen? - makes you wonder how they cook those breadsticks) and if Macaroni Grille is similar

We were talking about how they cooked the breadsticks today while we were eating them. We settled on par-baked and heated in an oven--but if no oven, then some type of browner/crisper thingy would do.

And poor liv, you could never live with me. After hearing the freak-o critters singing, I run around bursting into their freaky song and breaking into little monster dances for hours. Monster wildy. It's really quite suitable for me.