Chains To Abide

So...the "mega-mega" chains aside, which ones can you abide (I'm a poet and didn't know it) ??? Are there any you would welcome with arms wide open ? I'll go first.

Quaker Steak and Lube (closest location Florence) - Great Wing and Bar Food joint, The Lube is "Garage Themed" and is to the Biker/Gearhead crowd what BW3 is the stick and ball frat boy crowd...except with MUCH better food. If they ever come to town I will declare that day a personal holiday

Perkins (closest location Indy) - I'd give my left ....to have a Perkins close by. Best damn place for breakfast known to mankind.

Culver's (yeah-yeah, they're already here) - Wish to hell they'd open a location on the NE side. If I've gotta have "fast food" Culver's is my choice.

Au Bon Pain (closest location Cincy/Indy) HEALTHY fast food. http://www.aubonpain.com/

Erberts and Gerberts (closest location Portage Mi) - Best Subs evvvvver. Beats the hell out of Penn Station/MacAlisters/JimmyJohns.

Donato's Pizza (closest location Florence) For "Chain" pizza, it's one of the best I've ever had.

Your turn....

[Robin Garr]

Your turn....

Okay, this is a good topic, and it gives me a rare chance to speak up for da Chains.

Chipotle's. Can't help myself, I just like it.

Uncle Maddio's. Pizza made to the Subway service model ... and it's actually pretty darn good.

Mellow Mushroom Yeah, it's in the same neighborhood as Coal's, and I'll pick Coal's every time. But I have to give the Mushroom some credit.

Carrabba's and Bonefish Grill. Same corporate ownership, I believe, and in the past I've been impressed by what appears to be a rare understanding that quality sometimes trumps corner-cutting for short-term profit.

PF Chang's This one is sort of marginal, because I can think of maybe 20 local Chinese that blow it away. but like Carrabba's, they seem to have a corporate commitment to rise above mediocrity. Frankly, that's not all that common in the corporate food sector.

Does Jeff Ruby's count as a chain? Given that I'm not in its demographic, I do think they're a step above Morton's and two above Ruth's Chris.

I'm sure there are more, but those come to mind first.

I ate at the Perkins in Indy and, yeah, I'd like to see one here as well. And for a chain they made a great cup of coffee.

Nothing else really comes to mind. I did do a happy dance to see a new White Castle on the way in St. Matthews.

You both certainly brought up a couple that I think are pretty good, Mellow Mushroom, Carrabba's, Bonefish and Culver's are all chains that are located locally that we stopped by on occasion. Perkins is also pretty good answers Au Bon Pan and I wish we had them here (of course we used to have a Perkins until it burned down).

Other changes I would like to see available locally would be Swiss Chalet, Original Pancake House and FATZ, all chains and I've dined it at one time or another and thought were pretty good. I also mentioned in this thread about Pizza chains that I would like to see a Shakey's Pizza Parlor!

I'm not sure about Jeff Ruby's as a chain, I guess it depends on your definition. There actually are many that can fit in that category when they have less than a dozen or so restaurants. I personally don't call them chains but I know some people do.

Your turn....

Okay, this is a good topic, and it gives me a rare chance to speak up for da Chains.


Mellow Mushroom Yeah, it's in the same neighborhood as Coal's, and I'll pick Coal's every time. But I have to give the Mushroom some credit.

Ditto. If nothing else M.M. rocks some pretty good Brewski.

Didn't we have a Shakey's once upon a time?
Could we bring back Victoria Station?

In no particular order, here are the chains I seem to frequent most:
White Castle
Waffle House
Longhorn
Smokey Bones
Penn Station
Friche's
Romano's Macaroni Grill
Skyline
Smashburger
J Gumbo's
El Nopal
Pizza King
Culver's

Jeff Ruby
Boombozz
Carrabba's
Zoe's Kitchen

[Robin Garr]

J Gumbo's

I love their success, but I'm not ready to define 'em as a "chain" yet. Not as long as Ronnie still delivers the goods to all the properties.

J Gumbo's has a pretty sizeable regional footprint. I have no idea how many outlets they actually have, but I think it's on the upside of 20+. How many do you guys have Ronnie?

Thats one of the reasons I like them so much is the product is consistently good whether I get it here or Columbus, OH. I wholly think that's due to the cental kitchen that Ronnie heads up in Butchertown.

Friche's core menu is also consistently good as well. I've seen their commisary in Ohio and it is quite impressive as they grind all the burger, bake the buns and make pretty much everything on the menu "in house" so to speak.

I have two words for you: Pop eyes

Wasn't there a Perkins that burned? Hurstbourne? Junior owned the property?

Hurstbourne at I-64.

J Gumbo's has a pretty sizeable regional footprint. I have no idea how many outlets they actually have, but I think it's on the upside of 20+. How many do you guys have Ronnie?

Thats one of the reasons I like them so much is the product is consistently good whether I get it here or Columbus, OH. I wholly think that's due to the cental kitchen that Ronnie heads up in Butchertown.

We have 35 restaurants right now (which is pretty staggering, honestly). We are mostly in the Ohio, KY, IN area, but we are starting to spread out a bit. But we still cook everything right here on Washington Street the exact same way we cooked it 8 years ago when we were Gumbo A Go-Go. We learned that lesson very early on the hard way.

That said, it's really hard to conceptualize us a chain. All of our restaurants are independently owned and operated. It's more like we are a group of small businesses that all sell the same food. I dunno, maybe that's a "chain."

Thanks for the nod, Dan.

Wasn't there a Perkins that burned? Hurstbourne? Junior owned the property?

I mentioned that in the 3rd post in this thread. It was replaced by the IHOP that is there now. The fire started as a mulch fire when somebody throughout a cigarette and ended up destroying the entire restaurant.