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   The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.

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Topic: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A. (Read 707 times)

lakelady
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The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 6:38am »

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The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
When we go out to eat, we not only want great food, but also excellent service. J.D. Power and Associates did its first ever study of customer satisfaction at national restaurant chains and found that Olive Garden is No. 1 in the West and Midwest with Outback Steakhouse taking the top spot in the Northeast and Carrabba's Italian Grill considered the best in the South.

What makes a customer come back again? It's not the brand image. It's not a propensity to be loyal. It's the customer experience. Here's a quick view of the J.D. Power and Associates' Restaurant Satisfaction Study results, which evaluated customer satisfaction with more than 100 major restaurant chains in the United States. The survey is based on 55,000 customer responses collected over a four-month period.

Best Family/Casual Dining Restaurants:
Northeast
1. Outback Steakhouse
2. Olive Garden
3. Red Lobster
4. Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar
5. Bennigan's Irish American Restaurant & Pub
The worst: Friendly's

South
1. Carrabba's Italian Grill
2. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
3. Outback Steakhouse
4. Romano's Macaroni Grill
5. Olive Garden
The worst: Chuck E. Cheese's

Midwest
1. Olive Garden
2. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
3. Famous Dave's
4. Red Lobster
5. Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon
The worst: Chuck E. Cheese's

West
1. Olive Garden
2. Romano's Macaroni Grill
3. Mimi's Café
4. California Pizza Kitchen
5. Outback Steakhouse
The worst: Denny's

Quick Service Restaurants
Northeast
1. Panera Bread
2. Quiznos Sub
3. Boston Market
4. Wendy's
5. Subway
The worst: KFC

South
1. Chick-fil-A
2. SONIC, America's Drive-In
3. Quiznos Sub
4. Subway
5. Arby's
The worst: Dairy Queen

Midwest
1. Panera Bread
2. Quiznos Sub
3. Papa John's
4. Subway
5. Wendy's
The worst: Hardee's

West
1. Papa Murphy's Take n' Bake Pizza
2. Panda Express
3. Quiznos Sub
4. Subway
5. Pizza Hut
The worst: McDonald's

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bec
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #1 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 7:03am »

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can I assume that "Out back steakhouse" is meant to have an aussie flavour to it Huh

?

We have "Lonestar steakhouses" here and subway

My daughter LOVES subway and up until 2 years ago my brother was the manager of the local Lonestar steakhouse here!...I really loved lonestar especially the deep fried tumble weed onion....YUUUMMMMY!

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luci
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #2 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 8:23am »

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So that's what they call the deep fried onion in Aussie land? Wink

My husband love it, I like it also, just can't eat too much of anything fried or I get nauceous Lips Sealed

LL, we've eaten at every one of thos restaurants, except Panda Express, which has a bad rating for cleanliness in our area. Never heard of Papa Murphy's!

Yes, Bec, Outback Steakhouse is 'supposed' to have an aussie flavour to it. You should see the 'knife'! ....and of course the menu has Aussie names. WE LUV their appetizers.

USA does have the Lonestar steakhouses. Does the one in your country let folks throw the peanut hulls on the floor?

SALTGRASS is a new chain and they have absolutely scrumptious appetizers.

Friendley's? LL, do you mean Friday's or is this a new chain which we've never heard of before?

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lakelady
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #3 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 8:36am »

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Must be one we've never heard of luci. I've never heard of SALTGRASS either.

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bec
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #4 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 8:38am »

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Lonestar used to allow customers to throw the peanut shells on the floor until one stupid woman in Melbourne slipped and hurt herself. She then sued Lonestar caliming it was the peanut shells that made her trip.....so after that all Lonestar steakhouses had to stop serving the peanuts!!!

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yesteach
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #5 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 8:49am »

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Was reading through that list, especially the "southern" part, I've never eaten at a Carraba's. For breakfast I like Cracker Barrel. We have a Logan's Steakhouse (sort of like Lonestar - peanuts and all). I like that they have baked sweet potatoes on their menu...

And I LOVE Saltgrass, they marinate their steaks in Shiner Bock... and well, anything with Shiner attached to it can't be bad... Grin

As for the "fast food ones", I'd have to agree with the Chick-fil-A - or as we like to call it "A little piece of heaven on a bun" Tongue

(and the Chicken Biscuits are great for breakfast!)

« Last Edit: Mar 16^th, 2005, 8:49am by yesteach »

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yesteach
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #6 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 9:00am »

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on Mar 16^th, 2005, 8:36am, lakelady wrote:

Must be one we've never heard of luci. I've never heard of SALTGRASS either.

Friendly's is a northern chain. Our local DJ has mentioned them before, which is where I heard of them. Anyway, did a search and found that they tend to be based down the eastern coast: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont.

And, according to their little "about us" stuff, they started in Massachusetts as an ice cream place in 1935.

Sounds like Braum's/Steak and Shake sort of place to me...

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Boradamer
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #7 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 10:21am »

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Papa Murphy's is a take and bake pizza chain. You order your pizza from them then take it home and cook it.

Prices are very reasonable and the pizza is great. We have two in town and I am working to get a 3rd in one of my listings. I never thought a take and bake would do well in a small college town like ours but it has been very successful.

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navywife65
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #8 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 2:51pm »

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I can't believe they put Friendly's on the list. I've always had excellent service at every Friendly's we ate at. It's a very nice place to take your kids. I remember one time my son got sick there, he had a tummy bug, and they were so nice about it. They made us more food, sent it home with us and also gave us ice cream for free.
The Lonestar still serves peanuts here. They give you an extra bucket to put your shells in. Sometimes you have to ask for them though.

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luci
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #9 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 5:26pm »

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LL, you would love Saltgrass, for they have the mmost delicious appetizers Cool

I never cared for the peanut shells thrown on the floor, for it made the place dusty and a dirty feeling to me. We heard they had a lawsuit filed over a fall also.

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Rhune
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #10 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 5:30pm »

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I completely disagree that Panera Bread is the best chain in the midwest...

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AoM
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #11 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 5:42pm »

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Friendly's are all over the place on the east coast.

They are most well known for their Ice Cream (that's why most people go, for the dessert). But on the whole, Friendly's are HORRIBLE restaurants. The service is the problem. It's just lousy across the board. I don't think they are horribly organized. Just getting seated (if there is no one in front of you) can take up to 20 min. And I am not talking isolated incidence. Everyone around here will tellyou the same thing.

That's why most people only go if you really really want ice cream

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Rhune
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #12 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 8:31pm »

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I want to add my objections to Olive Garden as well. They used to be quite good, but over the years they have switched from cooking in their own kitchens to a central kitchen that cooks everything and then freezes them in portions. Typically what you get in the restaurant is frozen and then microwaved. Considering what they charge for this glorified TV dinner.... Roll Eyes

I suspected this about them after the quality of the food went down and then later met someone who had worked for them for 9 years and he confirmed that was the case in the stores he worked in, they have definitely gone to frozen foods cooked somewhere else. The only real exception to this is their stuff that has to be cooked fresh like the breadsticks. So, if you're gonna go there, get the soup salad and breadsticks, anything else is a waste of good money.

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Pau
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #13 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 9:43pm »

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oww... one thing I'd say with the Austin restaurants (branch) we've eaten like Olive Garden and IHOP is that their service are good... very good I'd say... well I'm not sure if its just their service or its the Southern way.... I loved that they chat with their customers, I feel like they really want to be of service to us... Grin

that's why I'm glad to leave a tip to them... well.. it's required to leave a tip right?...'coz here its not part of our custom to leave tips.. that's why they add a service charge in our receipts..

KFC also has a very bad service here in Manila... counters have very long lines due to their bad service...

uhmm.. luci.. Panda Express has a dirty image in Texas Shocked

ohh my... I liked their food when we ate in their Parmer South branch... well.. its the nearest Asian food around which is affordable for us.. Cheesy

« Last Edit: Mar 16^th, 2005, 9:52pm by Pau »

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Rhune
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Re: The Best Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A.
« Reply #14 on: Mar 16^th, 2005, 10:34pm »

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That's just Texas, Pau, not the food chains! Grin

I went to college in Austin and in my experience it was just one of the friendliest places I ever lived. When you walk down the street and catch someone's eye, they smile and ask you how you're doing, not look away, etc. I remember the service was always good when I lived there, it's that southern hospitality.

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