Thread: No. 1 Chain Restaurant in the U.S.A. ... What is YOUR Favorite ?

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
The worst: Friendly's

South
1. Carrabba's Italian Grill
2. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
3. Outback Steakhouse
The worst: Chuck E. Cheese's

Midwest
1. Olive Garden
2. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
3. Famous Dave's
The worst: Chuck E. Cheese's

West
1. Olive Garden
2. Romano's Macaroni Grill
3. Mimi's Café
The worst: Denny's

[b]Quick Service Restaurants[/b

Northeast
1. Panera Bread
2. Quiznos Sub
3. Boston Market
The worst: KFC

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

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

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

What Do You Let Your Kids Eat ?

What's a busy parent supposed to do? Not only do fast food restaurants help make your kids fat and unhealthy, but also 20 of the most popular chain restaurants do the same thing. You thought it was chicken fingers, burgers, and pizza you were ordering, but the main items on most children's menus are fat, grease, and hidden calories.

That's the accusation made by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group that previously made headlines for branding the evils of movie theater popcorn and Chinese food, reports CNN. Study co-author Jayne Hurley says the healthy changes many chain restaurants have made in adult entrees, have not been made on the kids' menus. "The kids' menus were replicating fast-food menus, except the portions are bigger so the calories and fat content are even higher at the table-service restaurants," she explained at a news conference announcing the study.

Here are the eye-opening findings:

Most kids' menus have little variety and are loaded with food that is fattening.
Hamburgers or cheeseburgers are on 85 percent of the menus.

French fries are served with virtually all meals.

Many of the menu items contain a whopping 1,000 calories in one meal. That's 500 short of the amount kids ages 4 to 8 need in an entire day. Add in free refills on sodas and a sundae for dessert and you could easily top the day's limit on calories and saturated fat.


The Center for Science in the Public Interest named names and got specific about the good, the bad, and the ugly on children's menus at leading chain restaurants.


Bad: A Denny's cheeseburger and fries has 760 calories and 39 grams of saturated fat.
Better: Skip the fries and get the vegetable of the day, which will bring the calorie count down to 380 and the saturated fat to 19 grams.


Bad: An Applebee's grilled cheese sandwich and fries has 900 calories and 21 grams of saturated fat.
Better: Skip the fries and bring it down to has 520 calories and 14 grams of saturated fat.


Bad: Red Lobster's old favorite Popcorn Shrimp with fries clocks in at 430 calories and 14 grams of saturated fat.
Better: Red Lobster's new children's menu featuring grilled mahi-mahi and snow crab legs.


Bad: Chili's No Baloney Macaroni 'n Cheese has 400 calories and six grams of saturated fat.
Better: At least it doesn't come with fries.


Bad: Outback Steakhouse's Boomerang Cheese Burger with Fries has 840 calories and 31 grams of saturated-plus-trans fat.
Even Worse: Add in a sundae for dessert, and your child has eaten 1,700 calories and 58 grams of saturate fat--at a single meal.


Good: Cracker Barrel's grilled chicken tenderloins with a vegetable side contain just 160 calories and one gram of saturated fat.

Good: Olive Garden's option of spaghetti and tomato sauce with a side salad has 420 calories and just two grams of saturated fat.


Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate to require large chain restaurants and vending machines to provide basic nutritional information about standard menu items. "This study shows that when it comes to diet and obesity, American parents are woefully uninformed," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. "Parents still lack basic information on the calorie and fat content on the meals that they and their children eat at restaurants."

The National Restaurant Association called the survey "another stale and worn-out attempt by CSPI to sensationalize an issue" and "vilify the food industry. Our nation's restaurants have long provided a wide variety of options that can meet any individual's dietary preferences."

Olive Garden's number one with us! Me and Jaime go there a lot- anniversarys, birthdays, we even ordered out there for prom. Mimi's is pretty good also.

Did you watch Dateline last night, it makes you think twice about eating anywhere...lol

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6083318/

the link to your local favorites..

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3474373/

I love the Olive Garden!! Also Craker Barrel, there's nothing like a country style type of meal when going out.

Outback Steakhouse (steak), Applebee's (all you can eat BBQ riblettes), Cracker Barrel (chicken n dumplings & au gratin taters), Domino's Pizza, Wendy's baked taters with all the fixins.

But a favorite is Old Hole In The Wall. Red clay flower pot hanging lamps, karaoke sometimes, all beverages served in Mason canning jars. Very local yokel But it's a regional "chain" of 2

I love Olive Garden. Just went to Outback for the first time the other night. I thought it was okay. But I really like Mimi's and for those of you out west, Claim Jumper is one of my favorites.

lol, If I can pick anywhere it is McDonalds! lol

Originally Posted by catssass

Did you watch Dateline last night, it makes you think twice about eating anywhere...lol

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6083318/

the link to your local favorites..

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3474373/

I was just thinking that! But the results... it makes me never want to eat out again!