Your favorite upscale chain restaurant?
 

This may be antithetical to a travel forum, but what is your favorite fine/casual dining chain restaurant?

My favorite is Olive Garden, but I'm wondering what are some chains that are not as widespread, but nice enough to seem local.

Maggiano's and Houston's Restaurants.
Steve R
Maryland

I seem to enjoy Johnny Carino's. It's like an olive garden, but it seems more authentic.
My fav. dish is not on the menu, but at most locations they will whip it up usually to perfection. Chicken Fetucinne Florentine (the roma tomatoes in the dish bring out the flavors!)
Olive Garden I must admit has the BEST Alfredo Sauce for dipping. My husband orders that with our drinks so that it comes w/ our first round of breadsticks. :)

Il Fornaiao. It's not a big chain, which may be the reason why it's so good. Wonderful bread, and our local Orange County, Ca. location is very pretty as well!
It feels very European!

I'm sorry, but Olive Garden is a culinary horror, pure and simple. As is Buca di Beppo. They're both an insult to Italian food.

Il Fornaio, on the other hand, is actually quite good. I'm a sucker for PF Chang as well, even though it's about as authentically Asian as Ultrasuede. California Pizza Kitchen and Cheesecake Factory are fine in a pinch. Wolfgang Puck Cafés will do for lunch when shopping (I'm burnt out on Wolfie's food, having a WP Express by my office).

Lucille's is a southern California mini-chain of Memphis-style BBQ, and the 'Q is actually authentically wonderful.

But I have nightmares of being forced to have a dinner at Olive Garden. I'm not a food snob, but yuccch!!

I like PF Chang and Il Fornaiao as well but I also enjoy Piatti and Carvers (steaks & chops).

Olive Garden has never struck me as upscale but to each his own.

If you want a real "insult to Italian food" try GOING to Italy and eating some of their not so great food...and some of it isn't so great.

I was very reluctant to try a chain like Cheesecake Factory, but I have to admit I have never had a bad meal there. Great value for salads!

I also like Bucca di Beppo. It's a great place for carbo loading.

Pasta Pomodoro

P F Changs, Carrabas, Roy's (if you get a good one, menu is uneven between them)

I'd have to put PF Changs at number one. They have created a new cuisine. Nouvelle Chinese American, specifically tailored to American tastes. To argue that it is not authentic it to miss its point. They have a fabulous wine list that is reflects attention to the food being served. I've been in fine restaurants where the wine list was just a bunch of expensive wine with no seeming thought about pairing.

I don't think Olive Garden would consider themselves upscale. They are considered a casual dining restaurant, like the Applebees chain. I'm not crazy about O. G. but you can't argue with the success of Darden.

LMF

I will have to try PF Changs if LMF and others recommend it. I don't know who will be insulted by this one, but we like the Italian chain, Macoroni Grill. The food is good and fresh. It isn't Tuscany I'm sure, but our local one plays Italian opera in the background and it has a nice ambience too. (Plus the waiter we regularly get looks like Antonio Banderas, but that's another story.)
Also, I thought Pappadeux's was only in the south, but I went to one in Phoneix recently and I also like them.

My number one pick would be PF Chang's. After that I would have to go with Pappadeaux's and Pappasito's (sister restaurants). From there Bahama Breeze and Cheesecake Factory.

I do not mind Olive Garden. I think their Minestrone soup is wonderful and very fresh. I think their alfredo (although alfredo is not my favorite) is pretty decent. I think Macaroni Grill has better pasta dishes though. As for Carrabas, blech. I have eaten there in three different cities and did not like it either time. For Italian restaurants, I tend to prefer the local mom and pop joints.

Dear Melissa
I like Cheesecake Factories, too.
For Italian chains, my favorite is Macaroni Grill.

I agree with PF Chnag's being very good. I also like Big Bowl.

imho, I must also concur that Olive Garden is utterly horrifying. The only thing there that is remotely edible is their soup, salad and breadsticks.

At my previous job, my boss always wanted to have our business lunches there, and I was guaranteed to be ill if I ate any of their pasta.

I think anyone whose absolute favorite food is Italian would be less likely to find it good.

My husband and I always joke about the Olive Garden commercial that shows the Italian family taking out of town family there for dinner.

We laugh and say "Uncle Vinnie would whack anyone who took them to OG for 'authentic' Italian food!" :)

If you like steak you will love Ruth's Chris or the Palm. Cheesecake Factory is good but the no reservations policy and the wait is not worth waiting for.

Maggianos (do a search and read my story about them in the thread about that restaurant suing a patron inre not paying a man. gratuity)
Cheesecake factory
Roys
Big Bowl
However none of these are that big as chains go really.

Maggiano's just might be my favorite restaurant, regardless of the fact that it is a chain. I also love:
Austin Grill (DC/VA chain)
Cheesecake Factory
Red, Hot & Blue

Isn't upscale chain restaurant an oxymoron?

Sweet Tomatoes -- we've been watching our calories (down 25 lbs. and still falling), and S.T.'s enormous selection of salad and makings is just right for us. Just stay away from the super soups and pastas. Hardly "fine dining" -- but who cares?

NYT, you took the words right out of my mouth! I was scrolling down the write the exact same thing.

Sorry to agree with the Olive Garden haters, but I have to say, that place is more for quantity lovers, not quality. I did, however, enjoy my experiences with Maggiano's and Macaroni Grill. As a family, we always seem to leave happy from Cheesecake Factory, if only for their incredible variety and consistent good service. I've never tried a PF Chang's, but will be open to it in the future. Thanks for the tip!

Interesting thread.

Outback Steakhouse
Cheesecake Factory
Macaroni Grille
PF Chang

PF Chang is my favorite, and we are awaiting the opening of a new one being built in northern NJ!

"Message: Isn't upscale chain restaurant an oxymoron?"
No, nytraveler, that is a totally outdated notion!

Cirque 2000 in New York is a fantastic restaurant and since they have at least four other restaurants that I know of -- it would have to be called part of a "chain". I love their Osteria del Circo in NYC, and their Vegas places get raves consistently.
Some people think that a chain has to be a franchised cheapie -- not so at all.

P.F. Changs really does get it all right! I think they are great. I used to avoid Carraba's because I had a preconceived notion like nytraveler, but then I went and had a couple of really excellent meals! If they did one of those blind tests where they served their food at a really fine expensive Italian restaurant, I'd be willing to bet most people would be thrilled with what they were eating and paying three times the price for.

Olive Garden? Well, I used to get forced to meet a group there, but I'd never do anything except their salad and soup which are fine. Their pastas mixed with cheeze whiz or whatever they are, are a total insult to Italian food.

Had a super meal at Smith and Wollensky's in Las Vegas. I find our local Roy's to be wonderful.
With celebrity chefs opening new restaurants all the time, I think the idea of "chain" has to be totally reinterpreted.

Pf Changs, Cheesecake Factory, Maggianos

I am surprised so many people like Carraba's. I find everything so salty there it burns my tongue and all tastes the same! I forgot about Outback. I like their appetizers and drinks better than their meals. My husband consistently gets ill after eating there - no matter what the location. Maybe something in their spices...

To nytraveler: YES! (unless maybe the context is upscale as in the one in the bathroom)

....couldn't agree with you more.

I think we all have to keep in mind that you can have such differences between various locations in a chain. For example, the Macaroni Grill in Cary, NC and the one in North Raleigh .... outstanding, the one in Winston-Salem is often terrible, so if you'd only eaten there, you'd have a bad impression of the chain.

My other favorites: Maggiano's, Outback Steakhouse, Carrabbas, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (but overpriced, IMO). After reading this thread, I'm going to try P.F. Chang's (I've been told by friends that's it expensive for what you get?) Good thread, designmr!

Our faves are:

Roys
Maggianos
PF Changs
Daily Grill

All have wonderful food and fairly priced. Good wine, lovely ambiance and usually convenient locations. Beats cooking.

OMG, I forgot "Roy's" ... which I love, but that's because we don't have any in North Carolina!

Roy's fits that description so well - definitely upscale, I LOVE the food (at all 5 of the locations I've been to) but it happens to be a chain. The menu is only about a third common to all locations, which I like.

When I think of "chain" I think of Olive Garden (most definitely NOT upscale BTW!) where you can step into one and forget what state you're in. Not only is the menu the same, but the buildings are usually the same as well!

My runner up is PF Chang's.

I'm a food snobbie, but I actually just ate at Olive Garden last night. I'm a sucker for their never-ending pasta deal. And SO cheap!!!

I guess I'll have to try some of these places. PF Chang's in particular. :)

Kehsutton, you're entitled to your opinion of course, just like nytraveler, but I'm curious what you have against places like Cirque 2000 and Roys? Have you ever eaten at either of them? Can you honestly say that either is NOT upscale? It's one thing to have a preconceived idea, it's another to back up that idea when standards change.
Of course if your idea of upscale does not include such places, then fine. But could you please give us an example of what upscale means to you and why especially the two places I've mentioned don't fit into that category? I'm really trying to understand.

Dear chain restaurant eaters:

Go somewhere local. Chain food is designed to go for the lowest common demominator. Salt and sugar and fat - everybody likes those, why try to provide anything else? I swear, if you just try some REAL restaurants owned/run by REAL chefs who care about the food they create, who buy as much of their produce locally as possible, who have a few specialties that they are good at instead of a massive menu of pre-frozen, corporate-designed crap, you will one day see the light. When you start to actually taste your food, and give a damn about quality vs. quantity, you will not only get better food, but you might drop a pound or two as well.

Houstons....BUT, dont like the new "dress code" in the 2 in Dallas....I can wear cargo pants and sandals but I cant wear my cap?However, I do like the cell phone ban.....Most important the food and atmposphere and very terrific and srvice is outstanding.

Litespeedchick, can you be any more insulting and condescending to the posters on this thread? There is a wide variety of healthy food to be had at chains mentioned above. There is certainly some overprocessed food at local restaurants. I think you are off-base in several ways here.

Once again, Beach Boi, I think you're giving an outdated idea of chain restuarant. While there may be some corporate ownership to some of the upscale ones, most are run, partly owned, or managed by a local or individual chef hired from many, many applicants on the national level. I'd rather eat the food created at our local Roy's than that created by most of the chefs at our many individual local restaurants -- as Roy's is one of our best, and we have great restaurants now in Naples, Florida. The supplies are bought fresh and locally except for things like fresh fish which may be flown in from Japan, Hawaii, or elsewhere, hardly a cause for scorn. Get over the idea that because a corporation has expanded their market, that all the foods are frozen in little trays and sent all over the country. Many of these places hire not only a main chef, but individual pastry chefs, etc. as well, and thanks to big buck corporate ownership are able to provide things that a little local place can't possibly afford to do -- such as importing special products, like fine cheeses and wines that wouldn't be available locally.

Anybody who can't tell the difference between a Red Lobster and a Roy's doesn't deserve to eat out of anything but styrofoam! Yet, both are chains, like it or not.

It's been much debated here, but I think the Legal Seafood locations in the Boston area are excellent (I think there might be one now in Chicago?). Very fresh fish, excellent clam chowder which is now available at Fenway Park too.

California Cafe
Palomino
Oceanaire
Ritz Carlton Dining Room

(random order)

As far as I know each of these restaurants has its own local chef. There's a corporate guideline for the menu, but the chef adds specials using local ingredients according to the season and availability.

Particularly the Ritz Carlton Dining Rooms get very high marks for service and food. Yet it's still "just" a chain. To broadly dismiss every chain with one fell swoop is as ridiculous as any other stereotyping.

PF Changs is one of my all-time favorites. Their price performance for quality of food is stellar. Reasonably priced drinks and wine too. Last time I checked in Indianapolis 6.75 for a VO Manhattan around the corner at Oceanaire it's 11.50.

I'm not a big fan of chain restaurants, however in Montreal and Quebec City there is a small chain of vegetarian cafeterias, Le Commensal, that serve very high quality food . Since each one looks different, they are not cookie cutter places, and for cafeterias they are quite upscale.
As for the Olive Garden, for a chain they are really not that bad, and will do nicely if you are just pulling off the interstate for a hearty dinner. Also - where do you draw the line? Olive Garden, Mortons, etc, are found throughout the country and definitely are chains; but what about high quality restaurants that open 3 or 4 places throughout a state, is this really a chain?

I don't know that litespeed_chick's remarks were particularly insulting. Blunt, maybe, but....

Look, US consumers have been force-fed vast quantities of inferior food for so long that we're accepting it as good. Olive Garden and Buca di Beppo exist and succeed because they serve lots and lots of cheap food, and their patrons want lots and lots of cheap food. So what if you're getting Smart 'n' Final Red Sauce in a Drum over Generic Spaghetti? So what if the meatballs are 65% Wonder Bread? It's endless salad and gummy bread sticks and I Can't Believe It's Not Garlic Butter! for less than $12 an entr&eacute;e. Or, in the case of Buca, it's really loud Dean Martin selections (and &quot;Mambo Italiano&quot; every 12.47 minutes) and that picture of Sophia Loren leering at Jayne Mansfield's overexposed chest, with <i>burnt</i> Smart 'n' Final Red Sauce in a Drum.

The &quot;good&quot; chains are not franchises, but manageably-sized collections of eateries, with actual executive chefs overseeing the menus to ensure quality and consistency. That's how Il Fornaio and Cheesecake Factory (both California natives, it turns out) maintain high standards-- and Houston's (another very good chain). The prices skew a bit higher in these places too. And the portions are human-sized, not the ridiculous gut-buster portions in a lot of inferior places (OK, Cheesecake Factory can overwhelm with portion sizes). Oh, another one I forgot-- Louisa's Trattoria is a mini-chain in the greater LA area that's pretty good.