Seetheworld, my experience at Legal Seafood was not overwhelming either. My son & his friends had raved about it......... and though it was good, it wasn't the best seafood I've ever had by any means. I want to try it again, just in case there was a new chef that night or something.

shaz60, Loved your family story about Shoney's!

McCormick and Schmid's. (sp)

There's so much variety in dining where I live that I don't do chains much anymore. However, I definitely would still go to Flemmings for steak.

I used to think that the lettuce wraps at PF Changs had crack in it, because I craved it so often. Somehow, wraps at other places didn't work as well for me.

But as another poster mentioned, lines at chains are ridiculous as they often don't take reservations. So much easier to go to local place for me.

On the chain and how they do business, where they order from, etc. I don't think there's a hard and fast statement that could be made on this. I mentioned Cozymels and honestly I don't know how they do their ordering. But they have about 16 restaurants spread out across the country, in some pretty unusual towns. To me, I'd be pretty surprised if they went to the expense of trucking packaged ingredients across the country for such dispersed locations.

I remember (a long time ago) working at one of a chain of fast food Mexican places called Zantigos, which was owned at one point by KCF even. Though they had a number of stores in the same city, the local meat and produce suppliers delivered several times per week. You really can't say that chains do this, while others do that and have it be true all the time. I'd rather eat at a local place too usually, as I've had a better meal on average at these kinds of places. I think though a lot of it may have to do with the system of food prep in the back and who's doing that cooking. Assembly line, minimum wage style work doesn't tend to produce a lot of inspiration, including in kitchens.

We have a couple Red Robin's in the Chicago area...awesome burgers & fries!
Not sure if Wildfire is a national chain, it's a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant, but have always had a great meal there, along with Mon Ami Gabi.

I love Subway. It is my very favorite fast food place. However, I usually eat a salad because I am not a huge bread fan. No, I am not a anti carb person because I love pasta and potatoes (oh and rice too) but I have never been a huge bread fan. To me, a sandwich should have thin bread slices and is only there to hold the middle together. That being said, anyone ever had a sub from Publix??? Beats out any sub place I have ever tried. Of course my reasoning is based on the fact that I eitehr eat a veggie sub (or salad) without cheese or a turkey sub (or salad) without cheese so the variety and freshness of the veggies very much appeal to me.

As to the long waits at chains, I must admit, having moved to the surburbs from Midtown Atlanta, hubby and I were shocked that if you did not eat early (5:00pm), you had a rather lengthy wait. In the city, I could eat almost anywhere any time without a huge wait and there were more local places. In the suburbs, there is not much else to choose from other than chains. Once i get home, I am not real jazzed with the idea of battling traffic just to eat at a local joint in town so I opt for the chain. They do have call ahead seating now at most chains (at least in Marietta) so that helps.

Since Maggianos has been mentioned a bit, I must admit I forget about it since it is in Buckhead and I have not eaten there in forever. I adore Maggianos and could eat their Maggianos salad every day.

Now that we have beaten our favorites to death, which is your least favorite (aside from Olive Garden LOL). Mine is Joes Crab Shack. Having grown up in coastal Carolina, I am pretty picky about my seafood, especially my crab and shrimp and the stuff they serve that is suppose to be shrimp look like those tiny frozen salad shrimps that you see in bags at the grocery store. Give me some boiled shrimp from Charleston any day. Oh and their blue crab dip......please......they need to try a sampling of almost any restaurant in Charleston to know what it really should taste like.

stormygirl you are way off base with your over generalizations of chains having great big freezers and buying everything from one place.

Chains must buy locally, hire locally, and they put lots of money back into the local communities.

Chains have the financial muscle to donate tons of money and product to local fundraisers that independents don't have.

My husband, who is an independent restaurant owner, went to one of our local chains to help him with a fundraiser.

My husband cannot afford to donate $5,000 in product to the Cancer Society for a fundraiser but the local Cheesecake Factory CAN do this.

My suggestion would be to please look at all sides of the story before you slam a business that might very well be helping you out this very minute.

Let's also not forget the fact that chains supply many people with jobs. If that does not help a community, I have no idea what does.

I do not understand the fascination with Legal Seafood, in my opinion it was very overrated and expensive for what you get. I would have to say that McCormick & Schmick's is much better and much more reasonably priced.

I've found this thread very amusing. There is such broad range of chain restaurants that could be considered "fine/casual" dining. But I feel that all serve a purpose. My husband and I would be highly unlikely to choose a chain restaurant for "date night", instead opting for a local, upscale spot. But we do choose chain restaurants for many other occassions. When we go out as a family, we usually end up at Legal Seafoods, a spot we often go with friends, as well. Or sometimes Cheesecake Factory. And when I take the kids out by myself, we usually choose someplace more casual, like Applebees, the Outback, or something similar. When you have young children, you're typically looking for someplace that can meet diverse needs--something for all the kids and food that is at least satisfactory and hopefully fairly good for the adults. Considering that many of these chains cater to families, they are often the best choice.
I have to agree with obxgirl about many chains using fresh and local ingredients. Yes, I'm sure that in the mass-franchised restaurants, i.e., Chili's, you're probably eating frozen, nonlocal food prepared then shipped from another state. But many, many chain restaurants aren't franchised, and as someone else stated, hire local chefs. Legal Seafoods is one example. They are a family run restaurant that was so successful in Massachussetts (yes, I admit, they usually do have two-hour waits) that they expanded to the D.C. area and to Florida (west coast). (No, BuzzyJ, there isn't one yet in Chicago.) And, believe me, their fish is never frozen. The same I'm sure could be said for Todd English's chain of restaurants that have branched out from his original Olives in Cambridge. (Absolutely no relation to Olive Garden, if anyone is wondering.) I've never eaten in any of his out-of-state restaurants, but I can't imagine any of them use frozen products, food that is shipped in already prepared, or nonlocal produce.
My personal preferences: Legal Seafood and Ruth Chris. Have never eaten at Olive Garden, as I've always been afraid it would be similar to Vinny Testas (now Vinny T's?), an Italian, garlic-heavy chain which may be local to New England that I find horrific.