Bad experience at Cheddars

I had the Monte Cristo sandwich...fried dough stuffed with turkey, ham, and cheese served with raspberry jam. I figured if I was going to get sick again I might as well go down swinging.

Man, that is a hell of a visual........

We tried Cheddars twice when they opened in Clarksville. Both times I was entirely unimpressed. Fortunately, we didn't have really BAD experiences, but for the life of me I can't conceive of a reason to go back.

I do enjoy Famous Dave's just across the street and it astonishes me the sheer number of cars I see crammed in the Cheddars parking lot, especially on Sunday afternoons. Maybe its the proximity to Wal-Mart that makes it so appealing to the masses.

Lois

Most of my staff love and I mean love Cheddar's. They think I'm odd because I thinks it's crap. The fact is that quality of food doesn't matter to everyone or maybe even most people. Most of the people who work for me think that spending over $25 for a meal is insane. It's really dollars and cents to them. In Cheddar's they see a place that serves alcohol and cheap, large portioned, food. The environment feels like a place that would in fact be or perceived to be more expensive. I would be interested to know if server tips are lower as a percentage of the take at a place like Cheddar's as opposed to a non-chain.

Mark, you summed the subject up brilliantly- it is exactly the reason my brother and his family demand that I go to Cheddar's or On The Border when we eat out. Quality does not seem to enter into the restaurant dining equation at all. Portion size and sweet sauces seem to rule. One of the few places that we can agree on is Goose Creek Diner; locally owned good food for me, large portions for them. I'm always amazed how much my skinny brother and his kids can put away- I am a really big guy and I can't imagine eating the portions they do.

I've been eating at Cheddars since I was living in Northeast TN and never had a problem except being seated by my then boyfriend's girl on the side. Doug and I, as well as my parents and I regularly eat at the Westport Road location when we're out shopping in the area and have never had anything but positive experiences. It's a shame that Mark and his wife had a bad experience, but I wouldn't write off the restaurant because of one crappy server especially since it's been enjoyable in the past. I understand that the manager not coming to your table was the straw that broke the camel's back, but you said that you went there for the consistent food and cheap prices--not the customer service.

On another note...I'm not going to get up on my soapbox and start preaching about whether it's right or wrong to like chains, but there are plenty out there surviving because of their consistency and prices. Dining at a chain doesn't mean that an individual doesn't have discriminating taste, it just means that they feel more comfortable dining there.

The last time I ate at Chedders was about 2 yrs ago and the young male server kept calling me "Dude".

Dining at a chain doesn't mean that an individual doesn't have discriminating taste, it just means that they feel more comfortable dining there.

whooooooaaaaaa, lets slow down the speeding locomotive about to run off the tracks

"Discriminating taste" and "chain dining" together in a single sentence very well may cause a cataclysm of unheard of proportions (or portions if the pun strikes you).

Chain dining in my humble opinion boils down to a few things and first and foremost on that list is convenience. I don't know the exact numbers, but i would wager heavily that 99% of all chain establishments are located either by: 1- a major highway interchange or 2- a large scale shopping center.
In my humble opinion, places like this are always packed because of the same hoards of people that fill the Wal Mart parking lot next door.
If the taste of the entire dining public was as discriminating/adventurous as the taste of the members of this forum there wouldn't be Wal Marts or Cheddars.

I would also wager that many members of this forum that dine at chains do so more for convenience than comfort (that is certainly true in my case, its a little harder for me to get to Louisville before the kitchens shut down, but i'm certainly not grabbing Subway or McDs because i feel more comfortable there than than the Market Street Fish House or Come Back Inn)

I always feel a lot more comfortable if i can actually see the owner of a business watching over his/her business.
I am always uncomfortable with people wearing different colored shirts or fancy name tags that let us know they are the "managers" and they have the power.

I am also much more comfortable knowing that a large portion of the dollars i am spending are being redistributed throughout my community (which is why you should choose a local chain if a chain it must be).

Dining at a chain doesn't mean that an individual doesn't have discriminating taste, it just means that they feel more comfortable dining there.

whooooooaaaaaa, lets slow down the speeding locomotive about to run off the tracks

"Discriminating taste" and "chain dining" together in a single sentence very well may cause a cataclysm of unheard of proportions (or portions if the pun strikes you).

Chain dining in my humble opinion boils down to a few things and first and foremost on that list is convenience. I don't know the exact numbers, but i would wager heavily that 99% of all chain establishments are located either by: 1- a major highway interchange or 2- a large scale shopping center.
In my humble opinion, places like this are always packed because of the same hoards of people that fill the Wal Mart parking lot next door.
If the taste of the entire dining public was as discriminating/adventurous as the taste of the members of this forum there wouldn't be Wal Marts or Cheddars.

I would also wager that many members of this forum that dine at chains do so more for convenience than comfort (that is certainly true in my case, its a little harder for me to get to Louisville before the kitchens shut down, but i'm certainly not grabbing Subway or McDs because i feel more comfortable there than than the Market Street Fish House or Come Back Inn)

I always feel a lot more comfortable if i can actually see the owner of a business watching over his/her business.
I am always uncomfortable with people wearing different colored shirts or fancy name tags that let us know they are the "managers" and they have the power.

I am also much more comfortable knowing that a large portion of the dollars i am spending are being redistributed throughout my community (which is why you should choose a local chain if a chain it must be).

My post wasn't meant to sound like a speeding locomotive but just an opinion like your generalization about chain dining = Walmart shoppers.

I think the only remotely good thing you can say about Cheddars is that it's non-threatening. And for some folks that's all that matters.

One of the things that I noticed, is that there is very little difference between the menus of the Fast Casual dining segment.
Take a look at the menus at Cheddar's, TGI Friday's, O Charley's, Applebee's etc. You will notice that basically the same things will appear with different names. These places are busy for a reason. The appeal to the masses with the lowest common denominator. These places are kid friendly, they are cheap to patronize, and they usually meet a level of expectation that has been lowered by the homogenization of food by corporate bean counters. About once a year I'll will venture into one of these places just to see how they do things. I have yet to be impresssed with the food, but sometimes the service is good, but not very often.

I see some parallels to the target vs walmart thread in the all about Louisville section. My argument there was against the notion of going to wallmart to be a necessity. Repeatedly folks brought up the point that there is no other alternative way to shop without going to wallmart. I stated my thoughts that it is just a convenience for them.So I guess my question is to those of you that are pro wallmart but not for Cheddars,whats the difference? It seems there is a attitude among some members here thats it ok to shop at a bigbox chain, but a no-no to eat at a big crappy chain.

its cheddars of course it is awful! Honestly, I cant fathom how that place does so well. I think Louisville needs more locally owned restaurants that compete with this new fast casual market. For example, something to compete with the cheap fash fresh concept of Qdoba in the Highlands would be nice. Shiraz does this well, but I cant think of too many others that are well known.

K.T's, Austin's and the Bristol all spring to mind

Hmm, have I posted the "Death to Chain Restaurants" link lately?

http://www.lewbryson.com/other_chains.htm

It's a few years old, but the wisdom ... well, simply timeless.

Cheddar's has three things going for it. It's cheap. It's cheap, and it's cheap. For many, being cheap covers a multitude of food sins, it would seem.