Are there any food items in which a national chain restaurant does it better than anyone else?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

I know chain restaurants (**cough cough**Olive Garden**cough cough**) sometimes get a bad rep here at DU. For some, if you admit you like a chain restaurant, you're dull, unimaginative, a corporate shill, a faceless drone of middle America, etc.

But most of us do eat at chain restaurants from time to time, and I'm willing to bet that quite a few of us enjoy them, even if it is hard to admit it.

So for those who aren't afraid to admit they eat at chain restaurants, are there any particular items that you can say for sure are the best you've ever had that come from said chain? You've tried versions of that item at countless mom-and-pop independent places, but when stacked up against the chain restaurant, no one can compare?

For me, it's the sausage biscuits at Cracker Barrel. I've tried countless other sausage biscuits, both at other chain restaurants and at independent places, and none of them can compare to the ones they make at Cracker Barrel. Truly perfection.

[Curtland1015]

1. The Bloomin' Onion at Outback Steakhouse.

Just about the worst thing for you on the planet. But SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good.

[KG]

2. cheese buscuits at red lobster.

it's comical how many red lobsters there are around me here in st pete, fl, when there's great local seafood places on every other corner.

[RebelOne]

17. Nothing beats Red Lobster's cheese biscuits.

I have even smuggled some out when I have eaten there.

[The empressof all]

23. Here's the recipe for the Cheese Bisquits

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/story?id=2788706

Make them...It's really easy and they are delicious

[RebelOne]

28. Thanks for finding that. I printed recipe and am going to try it real soon. n/t

[The empressof all]

29. I use to make them all the time....

Now I just do them for holidays and the occasional get together. They're really, really good. I don't tell people they're from Red Lobster...I just prefer to be "brilliant" in the kitchen and claim them as my secret. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[TZ]

3. I LOVE Red Robin burgers.

Seriously. Outside of back yard grilling they are the best!!:9

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. South Florida needs to get some Red Robins pronto.

My wife told me they had great burgers, and I love me a great burger.

[TZ]

5. More reason to come visit Maryland!

:)

[RockaFowler]

10. We used to have one in WPB

It didn't last long, though

[MorningGlow]

7. The one here is a major fail

I think they're trying to save money by getting their burgers from a school cafeteria supplier. I swear I :puke: the one time I went there. It was ALL filler--like eating gray sawdust.

I don't doubt that other RR outlets are better, and I would love to give a different one a try. But the one near me--? BLECH. x(

[gmoney]

14. The tower of onion rings there is pretty great too...

Took me a while to figure out how they manage to get them to stack like they do...

[CreekDog]

25. those are good and their garlic fries are incredible

and 100 times better than what you get at the ballpark/concert.

[bbernardini]

6. I absolutely LOVE Denny's chicken strips.

They've closed all the Denny's outlets near us. The closest one is 24 miles away.

[joeybee12]

8. Tony Roma's onion rings, or, more accurately, onion ring loaf...n/t

[TZ]

9. I refuse to eat at a place that sounds so much

like the name of Satan's Quarterback!!:rofl:

[joeybee12]

12. Oh, I know...you think the Cowpies are gettting a cut of the profits!

Well, can't blame them, bail bonds and defense attorney fees and all.

[BOSSHOG]

11. Saute'd mushrooms (shrooms) at Outback

Very nice.

[LynneSin]

13. Roast Beef sandwiches from Arby's

yummy!

[RebelOne]

18. I'm a vegetarian now, but in my meat-eating days,

I would eat a half-dozen of those sandwiches at one time.

[NewJeffCT]

15. Well, Hooters does do a couple of things well

and, they are technically also food items...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. Liver and Onions at J&S Cafeteria

[Patiod]

19. Burgers at In-N-Out

The fries - not so much.

[Bennyboy]

20. Salad bar at Sizzler.

There is no salad bar like it. Jicima! they have freaking jicima! And I absolutely love thier blue cheese salad dressing. So much in fact that i went to a Sizzler and they substituted a different brand (a franchising No-No) and I reported them to the main office after having a less than satisfying conversation about it with the manager.

[The empressof all]

21. White Castle for Sliders

They're like Crack---I haven't had one in years and not a week goes by that I don't long for them...And the frozen ones just aren't the same. :cry:

[rug]

30. I agree and you have my sympathy.

[bullwinkle428]

22. Tipsy McStagger's sure does make one great mozzarella stick!

[wickerwoman]

24. Popeye's biscuits

Maybe not a "chain restaurant" as much as a fast food joint, but I'd say Popeye's biscuits are almost the only take-out food that I can't cook better myself.

My problem with chain restaurants is how grotesquely over-priced they are. I went to the Cheesecake Factory a few weeks ago (my first time) and was pricing out my entree... about 5 cents worth of pasta, about a dollar's worth of frozen shrimp, say thirty cents worth of butter, chopped tomatoes and seasonings and they were charging $16.99 for something I could have made (better) at home for $1.35.

I drive everybody nuts doing this, but I can't help myself. It just fries my ass to pay ten times as much for something popped in the microwave by underpaid high school kids who couldn't boil eggs if left to their own devices. So I'm really paying $15 to have someone else do the dishes and even I'm not that lazy.

[Strong Atheist]

26. Five guys, IHOP, Steak and Shake. nt.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

27. Five Guys burgers are great.

I believe President Obama agrees as well.

[TZ]

32. THere's a Five Guys accross the street from my work

I guess I need to go there and check it out.

[Strong Atheist]

34. Get the cheeseburger, with whatever you want. I like their barbeque sauce. nt.

[Strong Atheist]

36. Agreed! I always get two of their large cheeseburgers. Just had that

today...


:9

[scheming daemons]

31. McDonald's Coffee....... best around.... 10 times better than Starbucks

[JohnnyLib2]

39. Even better at senior prices!

:)

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Strong Atheist]

38. Would that be THIS Jim Robinson?

http://www.freerepublic.com/~jimrobinson/


Because the quote should say Will Robinson...

[Bennyboy]

35. Hometown buffet has the best meatloaf.

seriously. good stuff.

[Bennyboy]

37. Dennys has won the Pismo Beach clam chowder competition many times...

And it is pretty damn good too...

[MrSlayer]

40. T.G.I. Friday's makes great buffalo wings.

I don't know if they're better than everyone else's but they are pretty damn good.