It’s a question of conditioning. Many people have blinders on when it comes to things they don’t recognize.
It’s negative because other options get eliminated, as in cease to exist.
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I was going to say the same. If I’m going on vacation, I’ll research eats at the destination. But rarely do I research journey eats, or road trip (along the way) eats. Too much work. With a chain, at least you know what you’re getting. A few times, we’ve road tripped and made an attempt at a standalone and it’s very hit or miss.
The other good reason to chain - when you’re eating with people who are eat to live folks, or who are unadventurous and picky. Whenever we had work lunches or happy hours with a group bigger than 4, the chain was the path of least resistance.
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Except when the journey is the holiday ?
You know what you are getting down to the molecule. That’s the difference. I know what I’m getting anyplace that’s not a chain, but there is always variation. Chains play into your food fears.
Take Thai food for example. Sure, there is a different pad thai for every chef, but really I pretty much know what I’m going to get. And I know how it’s going to taste. Once in a blue moon a place will happily surprise me and maybe even thrill me. All the other times it’s just what I expect.
I disagree.
Chain are part of our “food comfort” zone mentality. At least it is for me.
And just like you contend chains “play into [our] food fears” … it appears Pad Thai plays into your food fears in a similar fashion.
I would travel between Santa Cruz and Mt Shasta quite often before I moved .
The mc Donald’s in Williams was a little over 2 1/2 hours from leaving Santa Cruz.
Egg McMuffin , hash brown, coffee. 730 am
Good service. Filled the void.
Half way to Shasta.
The only problem was the coffee was way to hot . I just went to the soda machine to add a small amount of ice to cool .
Less than a fifteen minute stop .
Let’s go
It’s not why .
It’s because.
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This could be the start of another chain.
What do you eat when you are traveling for work?
I have started traveling for work again. Pre Covid, my routine was work the day at the office, catch a late afternoon flight to wherever I was going. Would land in the evening and take a taxi to the hotel. My firm’s travel budget was enough that I usually stayed in higher end places so there was always late night room service. 9 times out of 10, I would call room service and order a Caesar salad, medium rare burger and two beers. Basic and hard to eff up. The room service attendant would roll the little cart in, set up the table and leave. I would turn on the tv, open a beer and exhale at the end of a long day. I actually sort of missed being able to do that.
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Know from whence you write.
We too have been iron butt road warriors who are happy to check in wherever the room service menu includes caesar salad and adult beverage.
ipsedixit
Chain are part of our “food comfort” zone mentality. At least it is for me.
In this case, the comfort comes from lack of anxiety.
ipsedixit
it appears Pad Thai plays into your food fears in a similar fashion.
Since I am not afraid of any foods, your statement makes no sense to me, but maybe it’s my fault for not making myself clear.
I don’t order pad thai in restaurants anymore because of its predictability. Plus I find it overly sweet. I prefer to seek out what is unique about a place. Most Thai places have become so boring and overly sweet. I avoid those completely. However, I find most restaurants predictable. But that’s not enough for the public writ large. They want it predictable down to the last molecule. That’s why I say it’s comfort due to lack of anxiety.
Someone who finds comfort in cheeseburgers, which are easy enough to find, might still seek out a chain, not for the comfort of eating a cheeseburger, but because of the lack of anxiety knowing EXACTLY what they will be served. I am not claiming the taste is inferior or that cheeseburgers are not comforting, but I am stating the source of the comfort.
Some people (me) prefer a drive thru cheeseburger (or fried chicken ) to Croissants.
I think these threads are fun, because it draws out people who take pride in not eating at chains, the people who admit they like eating at chains, the people who eat at chains when it’s the pragmatic or affordable choice, the people who shame other people’s choices and the people who find joy in all sorts of food at all levels from all sources. As well as the other people.
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I hate eating in my room, so avoid it unless there are literally zero options. Even when I use UberEats, Ill eat it downstairs in the breakfast room, which at dinner time is blissfully quiet and empty.
Lunch is almost always a matter of convenience and time, so its a salad if I have time to go in and sit down. (Bonus points if I can find a poke place) If I’m flying low that day, I’ll grab a grilled chicken sandwich and eat it as I drive.
Eating reasonably healthfully on the road is a must. I dont have time to feel like my lunch is just lating there weighing me down, and driving a territory makes it utter chaos if something disagrees with me.
Breakfast is at the hotel…we have a fairly liberal travel policy and an agreement with Hyatt, so I do get to stay in decent places (no Red Roof for me any more!) That have complimentary breakfast buffets with good choices and I’ll sometimes grab a piece of fruit and toss it in my briefcase for lunch if I know it will be a crazy day.
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But what if the chain you go to is new to you?
Growing up in NYC, we had no Dairy Queen, Tim Horton’s, Waffle House, Red Robin… I could go on. So part of the fun of the childhood road trip (and the adult ones too) was/is to eat at places that aren’t familiar to us. Sometimes that includes a chain.
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Yep. Nobody eats at chains, except everybody does.
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Exactly where my devotion to Waffle House came from. I didn’t grow up surrounded by them. I avoid the chains I know when I’m on the road, but not the “exotic” chains.
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No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded. (Courtesy of Yogi 
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I had my first ever KFC in Prague, bc we’d just arrived there, were hungry from a long train ride, AND I’d never been to one before.
I’ve also tried Popeye’s due to peeps being such fans. It’s not bad, TBH - certainly beats KFC and that bland yet overly salty CFA garbage.
I ate at McD more often when I was a teenager, but now you’d have to pay me to go back. It’s not worth the money or the calories to me. I used to think BK was better, but had such an awful experience once that was it for that one.
I’ve only seen Applebee’s, Chili’s, TGIF’s, Red Lobster, Cracker Barrel & OG food in commercials that seem to try to make the food look horrific, or in the rare instant when I was still delivering food and actually went inside. Nope.
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I will stick my neck out and suggest that sometimes traditional local food is rather vile. In a perfect world, you’ll find that hole in the wall where someone is turning out fresh and innovative plates “from their heart”, but too often places touting local and “home cooking” will be questionable. They do have their following, often busloads of visitors, but the food…meh or worse.
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Good point. I’ve had a couple of projects where I was flying in every Sunday night and back out every Friday afternoon for several months. After 3 weeks of restaurant food I was getting fat(ter). My company at the time had a list of preferred hotels, all quite nice, but didn’t have much in the mid- or cheaper-level category like a Residence Inn.
I had to request an exception to policy and booked a kitchen suite at a Residence (saving the company a bunch of money), hit the local grocery stores (again saving the company a bunch of money), and got the hotel manager to get me some “real” cookware on the promise I’d be coming back weekly. The stuff they stock in those rooms is super lightweight and warps to here and gone with just a little heat.
To OP, like several others mention I will pick chains when driving long distances. I’ve already scoped out some non-chain restaurants for the destination, but don’t want to spend the time to do research along the way. I guess one exception is if the drive isn’t too long and we’re not too pressed for time, I’ll have my wife or kids scope out something good at whatever city is kind of mid-point.
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I just dusted off 2 McDonald’s Egg McMuffins, a Hash Brown, and a Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddle, and two cups of espresso.
Damn fine breakfast.
This is why I eat at chains. Cuz, they’re darn tasty.
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Husband’s quick answer to the OP would be "known mediocrity. One can eat healthily at chains (as opposed to fast foods where it’s more difficult) by ordering simply, salads, dressings and sauces on the side, unfried proteins, chicken. I used to order a plain baked potato and cottage cheese.
