AppleQueso wrote:There's enough family-owned local places for southern cooking and breakfast around here that going to a big chain for it feels really silly.
Same thing with Mexican food.
Mexican food is tricky. A few of our favorite mexican places are chains. Well local or Texas chains, but more than 1 location. Many of them are/were a family owned restaurant that became extremely popular so they grew and added more locations.
There are so many mexican restaurants and many of them fall into that really cheap hole in the wall with the cheapest ingredients and the food tastes microwaved. Or it is just grimy/dirty. But there is always that gem, but it is usually 1 of every 6-8.
There was one local restaurant I had gone to a couple times that served good breakfast tacos. So I brought my wife one day to tey it out for a late lunch. I believe they had just cleaned their grease traps as the smell was nauseating upon entering and was just horrible. I cant go back now.
Something being a chain isn't necessarily bad; it depends on the business practices of the chain.
I did find a really awesome local burrito places out here in Seattle; everything is very freshly prepared and it makes places like Qdoba and Chipotle seem like they're serving dog food.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Stark wrote:I've never been to Cracker Barrel (we don't get a lot of big chains up in the NW) but it sounds like an IHOP which is gross.
IHOP is decent if you stick to the pancakes. Cracker Barrel servers that standard southern fare, so a focus on eggs and pig meats and grits, but the gimmick is that it has a large gift shop full of tacky gifts.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Oh yeah, I love family owned restaurants. Soooooo much better than a franchise. There's a Bakery in town called "Almost Heaven" where the two sisters who own the place serve the best bread in town. They treat you like family there.
Yeah I only eat Chipotle for convenience sake. There is one a 1/4 mile from my office. The meat is often gristly.
I really like Freebirds burritos. Back in early 2000s they only had the original location in CA and one or 2 in College Station, TX where A&M is located. It was sort of our own local joint but has since grown to the major Texas cities and beyond I believe. They put Chipotle to shame.
Chipotle is only meh, but it's hard to find good Mexican just anywhere in NYC. The competition from restaurants in general, though, has forced them to improve the quality of their meat, so it seems. Still, I don't see the hype, perhaps just sympathize with its novelty to some folks.
BoneSnapDeez wrote:Chipotle rules. They're putting one in close to me and I am so psyched.
I ate at Cracker Barrel once in high school and never again. What a pile that was.
Having lived in South and/or East Texas aka Northern Mexico all my life, I have become a bit spoiled with good Mexican style or Tex-Mex food. Chipotle is edible but is near the bottom of the list of good Mexican food choices in the area. Though, it is also just a burrito joint. It is to mexican food as pizza is to italian.
Last edited by Jmustang1968 on Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I think the quality of Chipotle's food actually went downhill since McDonald's sold ownership.
Unfortunately my favorite Mexican joint shut down months ago (if not a year ago). The staff didn't speak much English, but damned if the cooks didn't create some memories for my taste buds. Beef tongue tacos, authentic tamales, and none of that canned refried beans nonsense or salsa from a jar.
Cracker Barrel has been a beacon for this hungry interstate traveler for many years. Can understand the food is not everyone's bag, and granted I usually get the same thing (Old Timers breakfast 4 life) but the service has been spot on nearly 100% of the time.
I can attest the locations i've regularly visited throughout Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio have gotten me in and out quickly and the food was always hot, filling, and comforting. The only wait's i've encountered were on saturday and sunday afternoons (duh) and even that was just to get in, not the service. One visit in particular I kept time, 25 minutes from entering to exit. Maybe employee's staffing the Yankee locations have more hustle?
Though it is not a place I locally patronize, there is one 40 minutes away that I would not "just go to", because homestyle cooking at home is easy and cheaper. But when I have worked 12-16 hours all day/night out of town and have a 4hr+ drive ahead, CB is a brief oasis, where I can sit down and eat with a knife and fork rather than some greasy sandwich shoved in a box.
The toonami megamix is kinda meh.
