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+-- Thread: Judging Upscale Chains (/showthread.php?tid=68140)
Judging Upscale Chains - Old Bay - 10-27-2008
How about a survey??
I like --
Carrino's
Whataburger
Mortons
Capital Grill
I may add more later--
Re: Judging Upscale Chains - HomeCulinarian - 10-27-2008
Old Bay - Haven't personally tried any of these... Hubby likes to tell the story when he was on a business trip to Chicago that he and a colleague went to Mortons. The restaurant didn't appear to be very busy, but there was a 30 minute wait... and they were directed to the bar. They said, "no thanks" and were going to be on their way. Miraculously, a table became available! They enjoyed the dinner.. he said it was about the best steak dinner he ever had. Completely blew his expense account!
Re: Judging Upscale Chains - Old Bay - 10-27-2008
Yep! $$$$ The Lamb is incredibile.
Whataburger is the best chain hamburger place in America.
Re: Judging Upscale Chains - pjcooks - 10-28-2008
Had wonderful meals at Mortons and Capital Grill.
I"ll add Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.
PJ
Re: Judging Upscale Chains - cjs - 10-28-2008
Never been to any of those listed...so I'll be quiet.
Re: Judging Upscale Chains - farnfam - 10-28-2008
Upscale Chains?? We've got a Red Lobster in Watertown, does that count?
Cis
Re: Judging Upscale Chains - labradors - 10-28-2008
Quote:
Upscale Chains?? We've got a Red Lobster in Watertown, does that count?
Only if the other chains are Burger King and McDonald's. LOL!
Re: Judging Upscale Chains - farnfam - 10-28-2008
Actually, Rob, that's exactly which ones they are!!! With a Taco Bell thrown in for good measure
Cis
Re: Judging Upscale Chains - BarbaraS - 10-28-2008
One chain I will warn you about is Shula's. It's not a restaurant, it's a he-man-meat-eating club. And danged expensive!
We were in Disney world for a couple days last Feb when the hubby made reservations there. Now, I like upscale steak houses just like everyone else, and don't mind paying the price for top quality beef, but this one was over the top!
The smallest filet you can get is 12 oz. The smallest cut of ribeye is 24 oz!The smallest cut of t-bone (cowboy/porterhouse cut) is 48 oz!! Catch where I'm going here? So we decided on surf and turf - 8 oz filet, 8 oz tail. I opted for the tomato/lettuce salad which had to have been a whole head of lettuce. Didn't even put a dent in it. Still couldn't finish the entree (@$85 per). The bill, including tip came to $300 and I felted like I had been violated. I couldn't even take the leftovers with me because our room at the Caribbean resort didn't have a fridge.
OTOH, the service was impeccable. I swear, they must have video cameras throughout the dining room because as soon as my water glass reached a certain level, voila!, there was our server. And the food was excellent, just too much. In hindsight, I should've asked if we could have split an entree.
Sullivan's Steak House - very good!
Ruth Chris' - eh
Morton's - got no bells in its review in Philly by the food critic (eek!)
edit to add: when we went to Niagra Falls a couple years ago we dined at The Keg and Barrel a couple times. Very good food and service. Drank some great wines up there, too.
Barbara
Re: Judging Upscale Chains - labradors - 10-28-2008
Quote:
Actually, Rob, that's exactly which ones they are!!! With a Taco Bell thrown in for good measure
Just curious: is there also a Fazoli's? This may sound funny, but my Italian friends in Orlando always considered Fazoli's MUCH better than Olive Garden. LOL!