Which of the following casual dining restaurants do you find acceptable?

[OSR stands with Israel]

None. Why the hell would I spend $20 for a bad meal at a boring chain resturaunt when I can spend half that for a fantastic meal someplace local?

^^

for example Americanized Italian food > Traditional Italian

You're lucky you have good takes on Star Wars.

The food you would get at local restaurants are Americanized much of the time too lol

[Meclazine for Israel]

I have only been to Applebees and The Outback Steakhouse.

I can confirm that nothing on the menu is made or eaten in Australia.

But I loved the way they used Australian geographical locations in their descriptions of the meals.

That restaurant is more patriotically Australian than Australians.

[Tokugawa Sexgod Ieyasu]

None. Why the hell would I spend $20 for a bad meal at a boring chain resturaunt when I can spend half that for a fantastic meal someplace local?

^^

for example Americanized Italian food > Traditional Italian

You're lucky you have good takes on Star Wars.

The food you would get at local restaurants are Americanized much of the time too lol

Depends on the local restaurant.

[Del Tachi]

• Cheesecake Factory - Never eaten at one or even seen one in the South.

There's one in Alpharetta (Atlanta suburb) I've eaten at a couple times.

I ate at the one in Lenox Square in Buckhead about a year ago, it was the worst service I have ever had anywhere in my life, hands down.

Closer to MS, there are also CFs at the Summit (Birmingham) and Lakeside (New Orleans)

[Cokeland Saxton]

Applebee's - Worst on this list. Horrible.
Olive Garden - Just like any other casual Italian chain, nothing special.
Buffalo Wild Wings - The one near me is good. Boneless wings are just glorified chicken nuggets.
Chili's - Trash.
Outback Steakhouse - Never been.
Red Lobster - Good biscuits, everything else is mediocre at best.
Texas Roadhouse - Generic, but food is passable.
Cheesecake Factory - Passable entrees, great cheesecake. Full of calories though.
Longhorn Steakhouse - Only been there once. Decent.
TGI Friday's - Gone way downhill.
Red Robin - Never been.
Ruby Tuesday - Glorified Applebee's.
BJ's - Idk what this even is.
P.F. Chang's - Never been. I hate Asian food.
Hooters - I will never go to one.
California Pizza Kitchen - Never heard of it.
Carrabba's - Been years since I've been here. Nothing memorable.
Logan's Roadhouse - Mediocre.
Bonefish Grill - Never been.
O'Charley's - Never been.

[Senator Sirius]

I’ve never heard of some of these and been to many great local restaurants here in the apparent food wasteland of Greenville.

[Donerail]

Why the hell would I spend $20 for a bad meal at a boring chain resturaunt when I can spend half that for a fantastic meal someplace local?

Because you live here:

the bleak landscape that is much of America, with so many people dependent upon private motor vehicles to zoom around vast soulless expanses with minimal spontaneous interaction with other humans. The result is depression, obesity, and a lack of appreciation for other people.

[AN63093]

Depends.

Are you on a road trip, especially with kids, and everyone in the car is starting to get hangry and you need to find a place right off the freeway ASAP, where you know what you're gonna get and it's not too fancy so you can bring the kids?  Well then pretty much all of these are acceptable.  Maybe not Hooters if you're with the kids, LOL.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a place for your anniversary dinner, you oughta be able to find something a little more special and memorable, and you don't have to be in Manhattan to do so.  Even in the smallest towns in the middle of nowhere, you'd be surprised what you can find out there if you put even minimal effort into it.

So just depends on the circumstances.  None of them are inherently acceptable or unacceptable.  The more interesting question is which ones are better than the others if you have a choice- e.g., given a choice between say, Applebee's and Outback, the Outback will typically be the better of the two (but not always- not all Outbacks are created equal).

[Santander]

On the other hand, if you're looking for a place for your anniversary dinner, you oughta be able to find something a little more special and memorable, and you don't have to be in Manhattan to do so.  Even in the smallest towns in the middle of nowhere, you'd be surprised what you can find out there if you put even minimal effort into it.

Oh, I definitely agree. Two of my favorite restaurants are in Midway, Kentucky, a town of less than 2,000. They're fine dining, too.

Few cities in America have a great food scene in general, though. You're digging for diamonds in the rough, even in most of the top food cities, whereas in places like France, Italy, Malaysia, even London, the hardest part is choosing where to go.

[AN63093]

Well London is a global city and one of the most cosmopolitan places in the world- I'm not sure that's exactly a fair comparison to your average small to mid sized US metro area.

As far as the rest of your examples.. eh.. I mean, kinda.  You're sorta right.

I've lived in Europe (and not like a semester in study abroad in a controlled environment, but living for real, for years).  I don't know if it's better.  Different maybe.

There's fewer chain restaurants.  I guess that makes it "better?"  But then again, there's also way less variety, particularly outside the larger cities.  Yeah sure, Paris is great.  Paris is also a metro area of over 12 million people.  There are only 2 places in the US that big- LA and NYC.  How about rural France?  

Your average small town in the US, even rural area, the type of area that is full of what Atlas would probably call those evil and awful "deplorables", actually has more variety in cuisine than a lot of Europe.. something I didn't realize when I moved over there, and something I really didn't appreciate until I moved back.  Once the novelty of eating in a foreign county (OMG!  Wow!  Look me on instagram!) wears off, eventually you get tired of eating sauerbraten und spaetzle for the 100 millionth time (the other option being the local McDonalds).  Put another away, pray you never have to try what passes for "Mexican" food in rural Germany.  Just... ghastly.

No offense, but your post reads like someone who just went to these places on vacation for a week or two.

[Santander]

No offense, but your post reads like someone who just went to these places on vacation for a week or two.

I've traveled at least 100 days a year all around the world for the past decade, and have lived in multiple countries in Europe and Asia. Last year, I went to nearly 20 countries. The year before that, about 15. I'm not comparing with Des Moines or Albuquerque - I'm comparing with NY. The restaurant scene in third-tier cities in France or Italy blows first-tier cities in the US out of water.

[AN63093]

OK, well let's hear some examples then.  Please illuminate me as to how the "restaurant scene" in a city the size of say... Padua, blows NY "out of the water."  Are there even any restaurants there that aren't Italian?  Not that I remember, but like I said, perhaps you can illuminate me. 

[Santander]

Of course there's non-Italian restaurants in Padova... they have Japanese, Indian, American, and other restaurants that you can find anywhere. American cities don't even have that much variety in cuisine... it's just the same burgers, steak, Mexican, (fake) South Italian, (fake) South Chinese, (fake) Japanese, (fake) Thai, and North Indian food everywhere. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with eating one cuisine everyday... I eat Indian everyday, not because I'm Indian, but because it's good.

You can walk into the average restaurant in Padova or Vicenza or Brescia, at least 25% of the time, you'll have a really decent meal. If you knew nothing about NY restaurants, and walked around Manhattan, your hit rate would be more like 10-15%. The reason is that Italians take food much more seriously Americans do. I have like 50 restaurants in my rotation in NY, but that isn't that much in such a massive city.

[RINO Tom]

I will try to be very "forgiving," as I would never go to these places "for dinner" with my girlfriend, friends, family, etc.  I have, however, wound up at a few of these places from time to time, and these are the ones that I would even entertain eating at again, haha ... I do not think I have been in any of these in several months, maybe a year:

Buffalo Wild Wings - Not the best wings, but Asian Zing is awesome ... also a lot of beer on draft and multiple TVs for sports.

Texas Roadhouse - Rolls.

Cheesecake Factory - I was forced to eat at a Cheesecake Factory once with my girlfriend's cousin and her husband while we were visiting them, and I must admit that it pleasantly surprised me for what it is.

California Pizza Kitchen - As far as frozen pizzas go, at least, these are some of the better ones.

The others are either offensively bad (Applebee's), I haven't been there in long enough to remember them (Longhorn Steakhouse) or I have literally never heard of (O'Charley's).

[AN63093]

Santander:

Don't know what to tell ya man.  I think you could've made your point in a less exaggerated way where you didn't corner yourself into having to defend a ridiculous assertion.  I mean, listen to what you're saying for a moment.  You're trying to claim, with a straight face, that one of the top global cities and arguably the most multicultural place on Earth, where you can literally find just about every cuisine that exists (yes, including the "real" versions, if that's what you want), where there are some 75+ Michelin starred restaurants, including five 3-star ones.... you're actually trying to argue that's the same as third tier Italian cities of 100-200k people, with zero Michelin restaurants.

:shrug: I.. I don't know what to say.  Incredible.  Well.. you can believe whatever you want, I think you sound silly, and I think you know you sound silly.. or maybe this is what you actually believe.  In which case, hey.  More power to you.  Wasn't my experience.  I found that once you left the big cities (and even in some of the big cities themselves), the selection (and especially the variety) was nothing to write home about.  Most of these places?  You find some really good stuff, but it's usually just variations of the regional cuisine, and the variety is often better in even second-tier US locations.  Speaking of Vicenza though, I will admit there is a pretty good Japanese place that I like going to there.

When you say stuff like "Italians take food much more seriously Americans do," it's just like... come on man.  Talk about sounding like you're trying too hard.  When I came back to the US, none of my peers that also moved back (and were gone for a similar length of time) talked that way.  Now I'm not accusing you of making all your travels up, but I am saying that you sound like a phony.

Just one man's opinion.  I'll leave with you a little story- after years in both Asia and Europe myself, I can't remember how many times I've been to award winning places, the Michelin starred places, and so on.  Honestly, they all kinda blur together after a while.  I only remember a handful of meals vividly.  I'll tell you about one- this one time I had such a sudden and intense craving for a burrito that I picked up my keys, right then and there, and drove all the way to Frankfurt because there's a Chipotle in the mall.  Took hours; made a whole weekend trip out of it.  I hadn't been there and assumed it was going to be awful- Chipotle branded, but not tasting at all the same.  But my god.  I don't know how they did it, but I'll be damned if it wasn't pretty much the same thing.  I probably took like 30 min to eat that burrito since I was savoring every bite.

I would've never thought I'd be saying this but one of the best things about moving back to the US was having some variety in my food again.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I am not a world traveler by any means, but Michelin Star guides sound like a horrible way to measure the quality of food between cities in different countries. I've only been to one AFAIR, but my gut tells me that there would be no or negative correlation. Surely just about anywhere in Asia is superior to New York, right? Maybe my mind is poisoned by podcast people describing their food experiences without doing it myself.

[Dwarven Dragon]

Applebee's - Fair
Olive Garden - Fair
BWW - Good
Chili's - Good
Outback Steakhouse - Excellent
Red Lobster - Good
Texas Roadhouse - Excellent
Cheesecake Factory - Good
Longhorn Steakhouse - No idea
Friday's - Fair
Red Robin - Poor
Ruby Tuesday - No idea
BJ's - No idea
P.F. Chang's - Excellent
Hooters - Food is O.K. but way too sexual. Should be banned
California Pizza Kitchen - Never been because I'm not a socialist
Carrabba's - No idea
Logan's Roadhouse - No idea
Bonefish Grill - No idea
Charley's - No idea

[You Don’t Mess With The Zohran]

I think I've only one I've been to is TGI Friday's. Which is pretty dire as far as the food goes, but at least it's enough of a bar that you can drink at.

[AN63093]

I am not a world traveler by any means, but Michelin Star guides sound like a horrible way to measure the quality of food between cities in different countries. I've only been to one AFAIR, but my gut tells me that there would be no or negative correlation. Surely just about anywhere in Asia is superior to New York, right? Maybe my mind is poisoned by podcast people describing their food experiences without doing it myself.

Well, yeah.  It's just one indicator obviously.  To be honest, I find most of them overpriced and overrated.  But if city A has well over 70 of them, including some of the most well regarded in the world, and city B has zero, then my initial presumption is going to be that city A is going to be the place with the livelier "restaurant scene," if for no other reason than it's going to attract more people trying to make a name for themselves in the business.

Of course, that presumption can (and does) change when personal observation is to the contrary, but in my experience, observations confirmed my presumptions.  Years of personal experience is certainly not going to become undone by vague generalities on an internet message board, which do not dazzle me.  Specifics can, and I'm always willing to try a new spot.  The best meal I ever had in all of Europe wasn't even on the continent but was a fish and chips place in Dublin, so go figure.

As far as your Asia comment goes, I would not say "just about anywhere".. which, I don't know what your basis is for saying that.  But some cities are certainly in the conversation, such as Tokyo.

[Santander]

As far as your Asia comment goes, I would not say "just about anywhere".. which, I don't know what your basis is for saying that.  But some cities are certainly in the conversation, such as Tokyo.

Tokyo, while no slouch, is generally not considered a leading food city in Asia. Penang is widely cited among Asians and Australians (who are wannabe Asians) as the #1 food city in Asia. Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok are usually considered up there, too. In Japan, Fukuoka is more highly-regarded than Tokyo from a food perspective.

Michelin guides are only published for a small number of cities in the world, and are a terrible way of measuring which city is the best for food, and even more so in the context of casual dining, which is what this thread is all about. No matter how much money you have, nobody eats at Michelin star restaurants everyday, nor does anyone want to, and they represent a tiny fraction of restaurants in a city. They're a nice thing to consider when looking for dinner options in a city where you're traveling to, which is exactly the purpose of the guide.