We ended up eating this evening at a Friday's, despite my better judgment. We were out with Simon, and he was getting desperate for food. The original plan was Carrabba's, which is probably the last Italian chain restaurant that I like, but they had a half-hour wait. Friday's was the next closest thing. I just don't know what I was thinking. I'd rather have a pissed off toddler for another 20 minutes on the way to anywhere else. Part of my issue is that I just don't know what's around here anymore, beyond a few places we frequent.
Here's what I don't understand though. How is it that these shitty chain restaurants like Friday's and Applebees can't get the most basic food right? Microwaves are meant for transmitting radio signals, not heating food. If there's one thing you can learn from the cooking shows that turn around restaurants, it's that fresh, real food, prepared that day, is cheaper, and tastes better. And it's not even an issue where economy of scale wins out for profit margins. Chipotle, as fatty as it might be (depending on your burrito preferences), demonstrates that you can use quality ingredients on a low-tech line and charge more for it.
And it's not just the chains, either. When we moved to Seattle, we systematically worked our way through the various Italian places nearby prior to Simon's arrival, and they were all bland and shitty. Seriously, chicken isn't that hard to make tasty. Whatever you let it sit in, it takes on that taste.
It's not all bad news, of course. I think at this point, everyone has celebrity chef restaurants in major metros. We have Michael Symon (his burger joint is near us), and he makes some delicious stuff. Some of the smaller chains do OK as well (we need to go back to Stir Crazy). And honestly, I still believe that Buffalo Wild Wings has the most consistently tasty bar food. The local chain, Winking Lizard, also has a great menu that is pretty basic, but almost always delicious and inexpensive.
Obviously, we need to start finding interesting places. Cleveland has a shockingly good set of restaurants, but they're mostly downtown or otherwise not convenient. I'm still surprised that Symon opened a place out in the burbs, but it's crazy popular.
The long-running bar food places (Chili's, Fridays, Applebee's) have really gone downhill in recent years in terms of quality and service. Chili's is about the only one that I'll still frequent because the quality is at least better than the others, but their service is still pretty spotty.