Louisville Restaurants Forum

Okay, Not sure how to start a poll, but I am curious how many people here frequent chain restaurants

****Hand is UP***

Please list your favorite and most frequented, and menu item.

McDonalds - egg Mcmuffin,
Penn Station - 8" Tuna sandwich.
Jason's- Penne with meatballs, salad bar
Red Robin- turkey burger
Chik fil A - Chicken strips, and lemonade

Local chains:
Boombozz
J Gumbo's
Shiraz
Bristol
Cafe Lou Lou
Havana Rumba
BBC
NABC
Heine Bros Coffee


National chains? On occasion I'll willingly go to ...
White Castle - sliders
Waffle House - pecan waffle, hash browns
Skyline Chili - five-way
Gold Star Chili - five-way
Starbucks - only in airports where I'm a captive audience

No question, I'll be surprised if you find anyone who can truthfully say s/he doesn't ever eat at any chain.

But I do try to steer my money away from national or multinational corporate chains and toward independents with local character. Heck, Heather, you used to own one. I'd think you would be the first to approve of this.

I do! I've eaten at a lot of chains. And I will probably continue to do so. Given where we live and our child situation, it's just easier!

Yes, Robin this is true I used to CO-own one (my money, his sweat equity), and I was hoping to make it a LOCAL chain but I was shot down every time. Every empty space that had that potential for a second Meridian or to at least move the one that existed to gain more "butts in the chairs" was poo pooed.

They are now as follows: Spinellis, Coals, Naked Pizza, Simply Thai and Drake's, (funny mostly pizza)

As far my chain habits go, I am talking about running into a place, grabbing what ya need and get going, that is why I eat there.

Oh I forgot to mention in my list, Qdoba, and Zoe's. All relatively healthy, fast, but not necessarily cheap.

P.S have not stepped foot in Meridian since the sale took place.

I am not ashamed to say it would be easier to say what chain places I don't eat in...alot to do with where I live. I am trying to spend less at the chains and frequent the locals more but really when I am out with hubby and blood sugar is dropping we look for what there is ...ummm lets see drive 20 min to a locally owned place or pull in to a national chain, we are goingi to the chain.
have to say tho we have tried Zanzabar for lunch a couple weeks ago and can't wait to go back for dinner and the new Cattlemans Steakhouse in Shepardsville is really good as well

I do

I don't really hit up chain restaurants very often now that I'm back in the food biz, but here are some of my favorites from the past:

Jimmy John's - #5 Vito and #16 Club Lulu
White Castle - 4 Whitecastles and a Big Red
Chipotle (Louisville doesn't have one yet Lexington has like 5) - steak burrito
Taco Bell - bean burrito or steak chalupa
BW3 - Caribbean Jerk naked tenders
KFC - 5 buck box tenders and wedges

At the risk of showing a ridiculous amount of pretense I can think of only three chains that I frequent.
Starbucks- one a week to get a free music card
Cheddars (he says with a shudder) where I meet my family for Sunday lunch every month or so. It seems to be their favorite place.
Qdoba

If we are counting locals then I would add Shiraz

I love to support locals, but we also have a few chain spots we frequent:

Applebee's at Bardstown and Taylorsville. We refer to this our as neighborhood Applebee's even though it is NO WHERE near our neighborhood. Food is consistently good, not spectacular, but good. What we really like is the vibe and that they are open until like 2AM.

Qdoba. They do a decent job, but the perceived value is a little low, so this is a "treat" expense.

Taco Bell, White Castle and Sonic. These are guilty pleasures from my college days. I realize what the food is, but you do get a craving at times...

As has already been stated I firmly believe everyone eats at a national chain restaurant every once in awhile whether they admit it or not. There are certainly quite a few we won't eat at under any circumstance such as white castle, burger king, etc. There also a few we go too because of convenience and value such as O'charley's, Tumbleweed, Rafferty's and Applebee's. The majority fall in a category that we won't pick to go there but if we're going out with someone and that's where they want to go we'll go.

Just got back back from dinner at Longhorn's; which was good. We were collectively hankering for dinner at Karem's in Norton Commons, but they weren't open tonight. We went with a predictable standby and we were not disappointed.

We probable eat out more often than not, and with two teenagers and a princess with a ten year reign we hit locals and chains with equal abandon.

Cheers,

Doug W

My chain "regulars" (at least once per month):

Culvers - Double Butterburger Deluxe
Skyline - Chili Cheese Coneys
McD - sausage biscuit ($1)
Qdoba - naked chicken burrito
Steak n' Shake - Frisco melt (when there's a coupon)
Costco (Polish sausage dog with diet coke, free refills - $1.50)
Mitchell's
Famous Dave's

Jason's Deli (salad bar)
Chic Fil-a
Famous Dave's (not my favorite barbecue, but conveniently located near work)
Wendy's (chili)
In-n-Out Burger (when I visit family out west)
White Castle

When in Louisville, I don't eat at any national chains. Just really no reason, at all, to do so.

But in the last 10 days I have eaten at Wendy's, Chili's, and, yes, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Drove from Louisville to Spartanburg to Leitchfield Beach (SC) to Durham to Louisville. The legs to Durham and Louisville were with family members so Wendy's and Chili's were collective decisions off of highway exits. Margaritaville was pretty much out of my control, although I guess I could have expended considerable energy to stick my opinion somewhere it did not belong.

Interstate travel is tough when it comes to avoiding chains. On the way to Spartanburg, my gf and I enjoyed a picnic lunch that made use of whatever needed to be eaten from my fridge. Going from Spartanburg to the beach, we made a stop at a local bar and grill. A chain would have been a better choice based on taste, but we appreciated the risk we took.

Earlier this year, we found a great local Mexican joint on the outskirts of Atlanta. Had to venture a bit off the highway, but doing so brought about happiness.

I should say that eating at Chili's was partially a result of me putting my foot down against Cracker Barrel. Little victories, sometimes.

If traveling and in need of a chain I'll do Wendy's, Subway, or Chili's. Pretty much can always find one of those.

Finally, I feel less a drive to support locals when I know the owners support national chains. Petty, but true. Roger will always get my dollars.

Using the logic that if there is more than one revenue generating address for the owners then it is a chain, since a chain is by definition two or more connected links...

If 'eating at a chain' is once a year or more - some of these are national or international, some may be just regional but are certainly not exclusively local:
Bearno's
Tumbleweed
Qdoba
Mac's - exclusively for occasional McMuffin when need chow & late for appointment
Buckhead

The list expands with local (I think they are anyway) chains:
Bristol
Spinelli's
Impellizzeri's
BBC
Molly Malone's
O'Shea's
NABC/Bank St BH
El Tarasco
Come Back Inn
Los Aztecas
Boombozz
Wild Eggs
F.A.B.D.

Interesting thought process, I knew we rarely did chains outside the local multi-outlet variety but never realized how little till subjecting it to a bit of examination.