I don’t want to digress and move this thread sideways, but I think it should just be noted that “eat[ing] healthily” has a wide definitional aperture.
Some are worried about cholesterol and saturated fats.
Others eat “healthy” based on total calories and basic macronutrient (fats, carbs, protein) breakdown.
Others are on specialized diets, like Keto or Paleo.
So it just depends.
But, yes, one can definitely “eat healthily” at chains and fast food restaurants.
Heck, I just did. I only had 3 sandwiches (2 McMuffins and a McGriddle) where if I was “cheating” on my diet, I easily could have downed double that amount, or 4 McMuffins and 2 McGriddles.
Heck, now I’m tempting myself. May have to go back for seconds. Oh, wait, damn, breakfast is over at McDonalds.
fast food joints and restaurant chains are different - they cannot be lumped together
pretty much anything ‘chain’ is run by independent franchisees - cleanliness, quality, service, etc etc varies enormously - from very good to really bad.
In my opinion, chain restaurants are just culinary gas stations where you stop for fuel when traveling. Support your local restaurants or they will not survive and you will be left with dreck.
The trouble with this viewpoint is that it assumes that all local restaurants are better than all chains, and this is demonstrably false. I’d rather have a reasonably solid meal at (say) TGI Fridays than a shitty one at an independent restaurant. Why would I spend my dining dollars on bad food, just to help keep a lousy (albeit “mom and pop”) restaurant in business?
which certainly explains why some are good and others are terrible, not…
for some items non-fast food place supply the “mix” and (some portion) of dish(es) are ‘locally prepared’
example: Cracker Barrel.
it’s one of our preferred choices when driving long distances.
I’ve had gravy on a chicken fried steak that I had to send back and ask for a chicken fried steak without the crappy gravy.
another frequent fail is their biscuits. some are very good, others are inedible.
even the stuff that’s de-pouch, nuke or drop in the deep fryer, or xxxx - bad prep does not make for good food.
More likely the franchisor publishes specifications that suppliers can meet to be on the franchisor’s approved list, leaving it up to franchisee to make its own deal with suppliers on list. Franchising works as a investment capital/business plan model when the franchisor has the right idea (business goodwill) and the franchisee is the right one (operator) to bear the investment risk. Our sense is that if you are good at operating one McDonald’s, you likely operate more than one to your family’s and McDonald’s shareholders’ gain.
I have had some flat out deplorable meals at family owned restaurants. Sysco products fried in a dirty fryer thats running 50 degrees colder than the crusted over thermostat says, limp rusty lettuce and broken sauces.
Avoiding an entire plate of fried foods.
Excessive red meat.
A decent choice of fresh produce with some flavor and nutritive value.
Starches beyond white rice and potatoes.
Because all of us who travel carry an extra 10-15 pounds of road weight from screwy schedules, eating at odd times, and a certain level of stress and fatigue that never seem to completely disappear.
Dont get me wrong…I love my job. But it isnt (as many non-traveling folk believe) some bastion of high-end hotels and five-star restaurants and screwing around on the golf course… .because it just bloody isn’t.
I’ve enjoyed a few bistro meals at Côte Brasserie in Cambridge.
I’ve also had a nice lunch at a Café Rouge in London.
For midrange casual - maybe at the same price points as Cheesecake Factory in the States, I had a good meal at Bill’s in Cardiff, where all indie restaurants in the city centre seemed to be closed on Sunday nights.
I have had a good Italian meal at Carluccio’s. My meal at Carluccio’s- in a mall attached to a train station in Northern England, was better than the Italian meals I can get at Italian restaurants in midsized Canadian cities.
La Tasca has been good for tapas meals. Tapas Revolution has replaced La Tasca.
There’s a Turkish chain- I will find it. Sofra. I really enjoyed my meal at Sofra. Seemed to be as good as any Turkish meals I’ve had at indie restaurants I’m North America
Ah ok. I wasn’t thinking of the likes of Del Frisco’s or Capital Grill as the kind of chains the OP meant, but they are certainly chains.
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CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
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I have a “yes, but maybe no” feeling about this comment. The thing is, the shitty indeps deserve to fail in any event. I don’t think anyone saying they prefer an indep over a chain are talking about shitty indeps. They’re talking about good value mom-n-pops they know.
But I do agree to the extent that finding those quality mom-n-pops may require wading through some crappy indeps, and that the chains are at least a known quantity, and quality, barring one-off problems in management at a given franchisee’s store.
But going back to the prior commenter’s thinking, it seems to me that the chains will generally survive due to mass effects, other than some outliers (is Arby’s still dying???).
While I’m happy to find (from other’s recs, I’ve never “FOUND” a resto in my life except by reco from others or Google maps ratings) and provide patronage to some smaller mom-n-pop shops that are high quality.
Even when the holiday is a road trip, we might research in advance the area we’ll sleep that night. But researching 3 meals on the road is a moving target that I don’t have the energy for anymore.
