Tales & Trails of a Traveling Wiseguy

In my previous blog I wrote about chain restaurants. We visit them sparingly, prefering local restaurants which are often way better— especially in our area. But sometimes we have a taste for chain food, and when traveling we're more likely to opt for chain food because it's a known quantity in an unfamiliar place. When we were traveling around Colorado a few weeks ago we visited more than our usual share of chain restaurants. Here's a rundown of what we visited during the week & what we thought:

Qdoba: Our first chain food was lunch on Saturday. We picked Qdoba, which is in the same niche as better known competitors Baja Fresh and Chipotle, because we wanted Mexican food. Also, neither of us had been to a Qdoba in at least 10 years, so it was kind of like trying something new. How was it? Meh. The quesadillas we bought came heavy on cheese and light on meat/veg. The cheese seemed to be low quality with a weird aftertaste. We won't go back to one for at least another 10 years.

Pizza Hut: "The 'Hut" is a guilty pleasure for me. I think their pizza is actually good. Well, not good-good, but the one near my home is reliably 3.5/5 stars, occasionally reaching 4/5. I ordered pizza from one in a small town on Saturday night not because it was my first choice but because it was my thirteenth. How was it? Not as good as the one near home, but it got the job done. One of the things I like about Pizza Hut is that, with their online deals, I can virtually always get an excellent amount of food for a very reasonable price. On this Pizza Hut delivered. Well, not delivered, because I went to pick it up, but figuratively delivered. 😅 Also, as an example of why I don't blanket-dismiss chain food, when I bought pizza at two different local restaurants later this trip, one of them was clearly better than Pizza Hut but one was not quite as good— despite positive Yelp reviews.

Dairy Queen: This ice cream chain is a guilty pleasure for both of us, and the guilt here is mostly the "OMG how many calories did I just ingest?" kind. I know from visiting a number of them that DQs vary in selection and quality, though at worst the quality is still at least barely acceptable. How was it? This trip we visited three DQs, using Yelp to avoid a few of the not-so-good ones. As with past experience, the worst we visited was still okay. The other two were like, "OMG that was delicious... but how many hundred calories?"

Famous Dave's: We ate at one of these chain barbecue restaurants Monday night when I was ready for some "red meat therapy", as I like to call it. It was either Dave's or Outback; we picked Dave's because, like Qdoba, we hadn't been to one in about 10 years, so it was kinda like trying something new. How was it? I shared a photo a few thoughts already. Basically, it got the job done. Not great, not quite good, but definitely okay to okay-plus. I could see going back to a Famous Dave's in less than 10 years.

Del Taco: Del Taco is one of those chains we'd eat at more if there were any near us. Instead we look for them when we're on the road in the southwest US. "What's a Del Taco?" you might ask if you're not from this region? Imagine it being like a Taco Bell but with way better food. ...Yeah, I know that's damning it with faint praise. It's still fast food, but we like it. How was it? The store we visited had marginal reviews on Yelp but we found it was exactly what we expected, no more, no less. The negative reviews were likely from people who either don't grasp the decidedly Mexican-American style cuisine they offer (e.g., meals come with fries on the side, not beans and rice) or don't grasp the idea of fast food vs. full service.

Village Inn: This diner we ate at on Friday was actually my first experience with the chain. Inside, the restaurant is decorated in a motif of pale orange and teal, seemingly an homage to the popular Howard Johnson's restaurants of 40+ years ago. I figure that's deliberate as this kind of restaurant caters to people who remember fondly the restaurant scene of 40+ years ago. How was it? I found the menu uninteresting... unless you want breakfast all day or a burger. I'm not much of a breakfast person, especially at 1pm, so I ordered a burger. It was okay. I have no interest in returning. Hawk wanted to go again a day later; I insisted we choose a local diner, specifically one with a broader menu, instead.