What are some of the restaurant chains that you would go to while on the road?

Bonefish Grill
Romano's Macoroni Grill
Cosimos

 

Haven't heard of #1 or #3, so they must be regional.

#2 is fine, although upscale for me when I'm truly "on the road" -- we don't tend to look for "real" restaurant dinners when we're trying to make miles. (And Romano's, one of which I've been to somewhere, seems a lot like another Macaroni Grill chain that we have an outlet of here in Boca, Carraba's. Does anyone know the difference? Is there one?)

Anyway, out west there was K-Bob's, which, despite the name, was predictable and had salad bars and good soup. On our trip here, God help us, we wound up stopping at several Cracker Barrels, which cured us of that forever. We nicknamed them the "Cheese Palace" for their tendency to serve big slabs of Longhorn Cheddar with everything. ("Hmm. Yes, well, I'll have the oatmeal and a bowl of mixed berries for breakfast, please." "Sure, honey. Want cheese with that?")

When we're feeling adventuresome, we don't stop at the chains, opting for clearly local places instead. But the chains are quite useful when you're in a hurry and want something predicable. HPH

 

We'll eat at:

99's
Applebee's (usually only for a salad)
Olive Garden

Wendy's a for quick lunch

Never heard of the ones you mentioned, Jim.

 

For dining while on the road:
(Breakfast, Sandwichs and Salads)
Applebees
Ruby Tuesday
Perkins
Uno's
Wendy's for a burger and baked potato


For dining in unfamiliar areas and wanting a nice dinner:
Bonefish Grill (East coast chain (Fla. to NY)
Romano's Macoroni Grill (This is aka Macoroni Grill)
Cosimos (East Coast (smaller chain))

 

Lainey,

If you are near Burlington, Meuthen or Reading Ma. then I would recommend you go to Romano's Macoroni Grill.

Boston Locations

 

I don't think Carrabba's and Macaroni Grill are owned by the same people. I think Carrabba's and Outback are actually owned by the same people, from what I remember.

I like Ruby Tuesday, TGIF etc for lunch. We also have Bertucci's, Macaroni Grill, PF Chang's and a bunch of others within 15 minutes of our house, so the choices are endless.

I usually end up with the local Chinese place, which is fantastic, or King of Pizza.

 

We watched "Supersize Me" the other night so we're probably going to eat at home or some local restaurants for the next few weeks. At least until the shock of the movie wears off.

All kidding aside, we've always found consistancy to be the most important feature of dining while on the road. We tend to stop at those chain restaurants that we've tried and liked. Its reassuring knowing what to expect. Even stopping at a McDonalds, as vile as it is, feels safer than stopping at an unknown restaurant. Most of the the chains that we'll stop at have already been mentioned.

The irony of it is that that very same consistancy makes us get tired of the chains when we're at home. I suppose the difference is that when we're at home we feel safe in the alternative smaller places that we know.

 

The +1 and I met at the Ruby Tuesday's up the street yesterday after work. But only for strawberry margaritas. Yum...but the food isn't bad. Don't eat at too many chain places.

 

We really don't enjoy eating out as much as we used to. Since I've taken a lot of pains to learn to use a lot of fresh herbs and good seasonings in our food, we've gotten horribly spoiled. We really like fish and chicken prepared simply (ie grilled, broiled, etc.) and lots of nice fresh vegetables that aren't cooked to the point of goo. We don't like a lot of heavy greasy things and its just plain tough to find food that we enjoy as much as what is served at Casa B (our house) . If we're really in the mood for Italian, we kind of like Olive Garden (mmm -- good salads), but on the road we generally try to find a Subway and just get a veggie sub.
Any more I've found that its easier just to quickly grill something at home with a little lemon or lime and some good herbs straight from the backyard to enhance the flavor and I keep a big bowl of salad basics handy in the fridge all the time. We such homebodies -- if it weren't for the Vintage meets, we'd probably never leave the house.

 

Are you sure about that? Carraba's originated in Texas. Martha knows just about the entire family. I'll have to ask her about Outback.

When we're on the road, we usually stop at the burger/fast food joints off the highway since we're usually in a hurry to get to where we're going (I guess I won't be doing that anymore). We also stop at Cracker Barrel quite a bit when traveling.