Dining at a Chain...

So I had the unfortunate experience of dining at a chain restaurant last night. I'm not going to name the chain, but it's not a major chain in the city.

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm ready to go off the deep end, but it was really one of the saddest experiences I'd had lately. I ordered the half-rack of ribs, the baked potato, and the steam veggies. The minute I saw and then tasted the ribs I knew they were the pre-cooked/frozen variety I was familiar with from Tumbleweed. The BBQ sauce really had no taste, and the baked potato lacked seasoning. I'm not really sure how to describe the veggies, other than to say they were floating in a toxic liquid of some sort and were pretty much inedible. Although for some reason, I keep coming back and trying them. I wanted to like them, I guess.

To be fair, the toasted garlic bread that came with the meal was tasty. I should have returned my entree and asked for it to be exchanged for large amounts of garlic bread.

The sad part of the experience was with each bite I took, I thought of another restaurant where I could actually be enjoying my meal: Baxter Station, Third Avenue, Maido's, El Mundo. I think I stopped eating mostly because I didn't want to continue through the lists of possibilities.

I was dining at this place for a family gathering. So going in, I knew I was just going to have to suck it up and take one for the team. Members of my extended family actually seemed to enjoy their meals, although no one was raving about anything in particular.

To be fair, there's a number of chains I find more than bearable. But, in my dream world, I'd just convince everyone (especially my family) to take that risk and stop by the local independent instead of driving blindly to their chain of choice.

Please, the NAME.

I do agree with Doogy R. There is nothing shameful about naming a restaurant that didn't please you. I believe it keeps restauranteurs on their toes and guides us mortals to where we should be spending our hard-earned money. This certainly goes for chain restaurants whose primary goal is to make money rather then produce food that pleases your soul.

For those wondering, Indigo Joe's.

Never been there but I didn't know Indigo Joe's was a chain. Being a sports bar I never had any expectations that the food was good.

And from their website, they'd be happy to sell you a franchise!

....Being a sports bar I never had any expectations that the food was good.

I normally we expect decent, not spectacular food from a sports bar. Most have a small menu but do the items on it quite well which is what I expect. I would think something like ribs, wings or a burger would be quite good there and how can anyone screw up a baked potato? I wouldn't have expected much from the vegetables which obviously was the case.

Been to IJ once. Once was enough.

We actually like the salads there. Otherwise, the most positive thing is that it's better than Macca's (around the corner from it).

We actually like the salads there. Otherwise, the most positive thing is that it's better than Macca's (around the corner from it).

I love salads, please tell more.

They are big on "quantity", meaning (for example) the Cobb salad is HUGE, with heaping amounts of chicken, avocado, blue cheese, et al. Quality isn't bad. If I remember (we don't frequent it) they have smaller lunch sizes that are plenty. Their soup was also not bad.

I've met people there for lunch, as it's centrally located for me, and after a few false starts (not thrilled with many of the sandwiches) discovered that the salads were not only a "safe" bet, but actually decent.

Now, don't expect unusual salads . . . these are the standards, but well done and all made to order (eg: sometimes on the cobb the diced chicken breast is hot with grill marks, indicating freshly prepared!)

I too have this particular problem with my family. They insist on eating at chains. Some of them I cant even bring myself to eat much and just order soup or dessert which is fine. The thing is that some of the stuff these chains are serving I wouldn't serve someone else. No one is looking at the end product that is going to the customer. Old lettuce, over dressed salads, rubbery meat. I thought the point to a chain was that they had their business model down so they could focus on the quality of the food and diner experience. It seems the only time you get anywhere near this is when "corporate" is in the building.

On the ride from Old Louisville to Lyndon I kept telling myself, "Play it safe, order a salad." And then I probably went with the worst option on the menu - the BBQ ribs.

I later talked to my mom about her experience as she was at the other end of the table during the dinner. She said she loved her roast beef sandwich.

Chains rarely work for me because I don't like overpaying for something i can fix in my own kitchen. I'm highly doubtful there was a single item on the menu that I wouldn't be able to cook. So, I went with the item I was least likely to cook. Ribs it was, and man, it was a bad choice.

Now Sunday, I had the gumbo from Lou Lou. Not the best gumbo I've ever had, but it hit the spot. I was happy to pay for it too, as cooking gumbo for one/two people seems a little ridiculous.

[Robin Garr]

cooking gumbo for one/two people seems a little ridiculous.

Diff'rent strokes, I guess ... gumbo for two is one of the regular dishes in our rotation, especially during okra season. Maybe my short experience working the line in a kitchen in Lafayette, La., left their stamp on me, but honestly, we're looking at an hour's work here, max, a good bit of it spent in unsupervised simmering.

cooking gumbo for one/two people seems a little ridiculous.

Diff'rent strokes, I guess ... gumbo for two is one of the regular dishes in our rotation, especially during okra season. Maybe my short experience working the line in a kitchen in Lafayette, La., left their stamp on me, but honestly, we're looking at an hour's work here, max, a good bit of it spent in unsupervised simmering.

Robin, how dark do you go on your roux? It generally takes me 45 min to get the roux to what I was taught was the proper color.