My last 2 visits to Denny’s- a Grand Slam in the Wisconsin Dells in 2002 on a drive from Calgary to Chicago, and a late night meal Monte Cristo Sandwich at a Denny’s in Calgary’s Motel Village around 1999. What surprised me, was that both times, Denny’s was more expensive than an indie Greasy Spoon. It was more expensive that the Alberta equivalent, Humpty’s.
It also seemed to be more expensive than Perkins. I remember having breakfast at Perkins in Monterey around 2002, and in Kelowna in 2004.
Whenever I’ve asked for butter to go with my grits at WH I always get small containers of a “buttery spread”. The toast is obviously basted with the same stuff. Must be different up there if WH uses real butter.
You didn’t ask me, but my memory was from about 32 years ago , shortly after moving from NYC to California, and being surprised that people could smoke in a restaurant. I remember I quit smoking (tobacco) to move to California. I don’t know if that was an accurate memory, but there it is.
You must be a blast at parties.
Dunno where “up there” is (my last trip to Waffle House was in Georgia), but you’re right - it probably wasn’t real butter. I just use butter as a catchall term for “not obviously margarine or some kind of oil.”
I keep getting invited back, so you do the math.
Be careful of what you wish for. I was thrilled when I heard they were opening one not too far from me. I mentioned it to a few friends and neighbors, telling then how good it is (for fast food). I was sadly disappointed once it opened. It was not anything close to what I think of as El Pollo Loco. Gone were the big grills in the front where you could see the chicken being cooked. The restaurant was small, I don’t think there were grills in the back either. I tasted like something rewarmed. Some of the side I liked were gone too. I think it was whole pinto beans and the sauces were not as good as I remembered. The flavor of the sauces might just be one of those funny memory things but the chicken was no way near what I expected. I suspect the chain changed their business model since the last time I had eaten at one. There is now more focus on burritos, tacos and those types of items rather than focusing on the whole chicken meals. I don’t even remember them having burritos before. Maybe it was just this one franchise. It closed within a few months.
Oh no, that’s disappointing to hear, since they used to be so good! I’ve never been a big fan of Chipotle, but at least you could get a customized meal there that was decent. They were sold a while back, and last time I had lunch from there it was truly not good. Skimpy, not very satisfying taste wise and pricey too.
Appropos to this thread, a youtube channel I’ve enjoyed for a while, despite the fact that I don’t drink at all, is How to Drink, and he’s gone and sampled a BUNCH of drinks from what folks in this thread would more or less universally recognize as the “chain restaurants” that give chain restaurants those particular air-quotes:
Surprise: P. F. Changs apparently has decent drinks…
I am not sure if Paul Fleming is still affiliated with P F Changs, but he was one of the two founders and his restaurants tend to have pretty good bar staff. I got the best Red Hook (Manhattan revisited) I have ever had at the bar of a Flemings Steakhouse. Flemings Prime Steakhouse’s are actually serving pretty good steaks for a small chain with around 64 locations. Their bone in ribeye is outstanding and the creamed spinach is amazing.
1.25 oz tequila and 4 oz Applebees margarita mix. I can’t imagine the hangover you’d get if you drank enough to try to get a buzz on these.
I for one wouldn’t want to be finding out, re: the Applebee’s $1 margaritas!
It turns out that a reason why I visited a McDonalds a few days ago was this very topic, and it’s mention of the Filet-O-Fish. I was driving by and there was no line at the drive-through. The sandwich was mostly harmless.
Gooble gobble
One of us!
Red Lobster’s ENDLESS endless shrimp commercials for $21.99 lately got me wondering if it sounds too good to be true. A search for it brought this up. I must have slept through this newsworthy endless crab legs fiasco years ago.
Dinner last week at an indie pub type place. I had a fish sandwich, and while it looks great, it was actually pretty bland, with major structural problems. Slippy slidey bun that didn’t hold up, Not a grain of salt on the fish, but excellent tartar sauce. I have to say, I found myself wishing for a filet of fish, which I thought was funny.
G&T in that glass which def wouldn’t have happened at McD’s, so it was all good. 
I shun these restaurants when at home as I’d rarher eat my food. But when traveling they can be better than anticipated
True, but none of those nicer places can replicate greasy spoon hash browns, white bread toast, or any of the other things that one finds in such places. It is not refined, but it is satisfying to many.
