What's your favorite "chain" restaurant treat?

While I love finding unique desserts here and there, I still have quite a few things I like from the chain restaurants and fast food joints. Here are some of my highlights:

Chili's Caramel Apple Tart - an awesome version of the apple crisp ala mode thing, but it has been discontinued. It was a square pastry, covered in sugared apples, a dollop of vanilla ice cream and lathered in caramel. Good memories.

Red Lobster - Key Lime Pie (w/ Raspberry sauce)
Arby's - Cherry turnover (best of the fast food pastries) and the jamocha shake
Boston Market - Hummingbird Cake (try it!)

I haven't been impressed by a good chocolate dessert from any place - any suggestions?

Dearfolk,
Not to have to patronize chains unless I want to or have to... that's my favorite treat there.
Not To Eat Is To Eat, Third Eye Half Blind Ort.
P. S. Mom-and-pop eateries are the cat's pyjamas!!!

Without a doubt, hands down.....A Oreo Blizzard with a shot of blueberry from Dairy Queen! Yummy!

quote:

Originally posted by Ort. Carlton.

Dearfolk,
Not to have to patronize chains unless I want to or have to... that's my favorite treat there.
Not To Eat Is To Eat, Third Eye Half Blind Ort.
P. S. Mom-and-pop eateries are the cat's pyjamas!!!

Ort. I'm with you! Mom-and-pop joints ROCK. Fuggatabout those nasty chains with the frozen pre-cooked jiz (can't call it food). I wouldn't be caught dead (well I might go to the little girls' room in a McD if there aren't any outhouses around) in one of them much less eat there.

I like about everything sweet the Dairy Queen has.

The new stores they are opening in the south are really nice.

I particularly like their ice cream dipped in caramel or chocolate.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Well, now, I'm not one to promote chains...but...there are times (and you ladies understand) when it is 2 am and a girl just HAS TO HAVE chocolate! The jack-in-the-Box chocolate cake and Fatburger's chocolate milkshake will do in a pinch. In fact, Fatburger has great burgers and you have a choice of skinny fries or fat fries.

None, I don't eat at chains! However, there is a local chain here in Rhode Island called Greggs. They have approx 1/2 dozen locations and are known for their desserts. Their carrot cake is just out of this world!

A large strawberry milk shake at DQ.

Ok ... I'm gonna admit that I like (no .... I love) McDonalds French Fries !!! (oops can I say French yet ???? or are we still using Freedom ???) I don't want to go to jail !!!!

I luv them hot and salty !!!!

Is there a 12 step group I can join ???

Desserts can be hot and salty .... NO ???

The desserts at The Cheesecake Factory are to die for.

Yup, a DQ Blizzard, if you please (chocolate with Heath Bars). Although Mrs. i95 would agree with scbuzz and say McDonald's fries.

This topic should be renamed to "What's is your guilty pleasure?" LOL!

Guilty Chain Pleasures: Waffle, cheese n' eggs, and raisin toast from Waffle House and Onion rings and sauce from Hard Times (a local chain that I think is about to expand nationally).

The seasonal McDonald's milk shakes are good. Our favorite is EGGNOG. Luckily they are not available year-round...

I'd probably have to opt for a Cinnabon. It's a clump of sugar, a clump of dough, and cinnamon. What's not to like?

quote:

Originally posted by Phil J.

I'd probably have to opt for a Cinnabon. It's a clump of sugar, a clump of dough, and cinnamon. What's not to like?

Gosh, how could I forget this one. Best time to get one is in the airport when heading out somewhere!!

A DQ Blizzard with chocolate ice cream and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! Unfortunately the DQs in town all closed. I have to go to the suburbs to get one.

The Volcano at the Rainforest Cafe! We split one for my son's birthday last month and three people could not finish it!!! At about $12.00, it's a pricey dessert, but a great presentation and fun to eat, especially for chocolate brownie lovers!

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

DQ. Depends on the mood. Peanut Buster parfait, or a butterfinger blizzard. Although, the chocolate with the heath sounds tasty, i've only ever had it with vanilla.

Peanut Buster Parfait - my favorite!

In addition to the Cinnabon I mentioned earlier, I suppose a steak from Morton's or The Palm would rank high if we consider those places to be chains. Or are they considered franchises?

Go with the Porterhouse, cottage fries, and creamed spinach. Or have the 5lb. lobster.

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

Our office party is next monday at the Palm. I've never Palmed before. Any thoughts or ideas about what I should have?

Not that I know of.

No mashed potatoes?

Their cottage fries are well known and loved.

quote:

Originally posted by CheeseWit

Their cottage fries are well known and loved.

Agreed, CW, but I'd still opt for the Palm's scrumptious spuds. We may just part ways on this one, my culinary friend.

I used to like the parsley sprig served with the roast turkey at HoJo's.

I feel your pain, clothier. LOVED HoJo's. Miss the clam strips.

And the ice cream counter at HoJo's was a favorite stop on vacations....

We had a HoJo nearby until about two years ago, when it was razed and replaced by an Applebum's.

Good gosh, it all sounds good...forgot how much goodness they served!

As a lad, I just could not get enough of the buttered rolls. It was fine dining at it's best for an 8-year old.

My first job, believe-it-or-not, was as a HoJo's bus boy.

My fave treat at a chain restaurant is the coconut shrimp at the Outback steakhouses.............no one does them any better!!

Much of this HoJo talk was covered in a thread already. Long lost chains was the name I believe. Look it up...there's lots of good stuff in it.

Hey Grampy,
If you had a table near the entrance and exit from the Kitchen, you could have swiped the unused Parsley Sprigs as they returned to the Dishwasher station...

On another subject...The one the thread calls for, One of my favorite bar foods is the 'Coconut Shrimp' served at Outback. At times a couple of orders of those little devils and a couple of American Foster's make me a happy snacker. (CHEEEZZZZZ Sorry I didn't see your similar post above....but I agree with you 100%)

About Howard johnson's... I, like I-95, had a job early in my life cooking on the 4pm to closing shift at the HoJo's on rt 95 north of Boston. I think the best meal in the place was on "Fish fry Nite" I recall that it was all the flounder , Fries and slaw you could eat for a Buck (1963-64). That WAS good fish.
For ice cream, ButterCrunch was my favorite...But HoJo was the only company who has ever made a Peppermint flavor ice cream that didn't taste like Mylanta.

I mention the parsley because I picked up a sprig of it as a joke and bit into it. Nobody in Queens that I knew ate parsley in 1960 -- "parsley is garsley," as Ogden Nash said. My parents thought it would give me a stomach ache. From what the Mayor says, they were right. Whatever, the ice cream was a cure.

I thought that HoJo's was especially sophisticated because they had whipped potatoes, not mashed.

quote:

Originally posted by Ort. Carlton.

Dearfolk,
Not to have to patronize chains unless I want to or have to... that's my favorite treat there.
Not To Eat Is To Eat, Third Eye Half Blind Ort.
P. S. Mom-and-pop eateries are the cat's pyjamas!!!

Dearfolk,
Don't get me wrong... I'm not particularly anti-chain, I just find that mom-and-pops serve better, if more quirky, individual food - and often at cheaper prices. Plus, there's wads more to learn by eating at such establishments than at anyplace that could be anywhere, not just where they are. All too often, chain places are like Gertrude Stein's apt description of Los Angeles: "There's no THERE there!"
Besides, right now, with lettuce prices soaring as high as Ben Franklin's thunderstorm kite, Waffle House's chef salad is a hard-to-beat bargain. And there are others similar....
Clarifyingly (Not Quite Like One Does With Butter, Though), Ort. Carlton in Clear-As-Crystal Athens, Georgia.
P. S. I don't own any chain restaurant t-shirts except for one Gyro Wrap one that dates back 11 or 12 years. (David Carter, the local franchisee, says mine is the oldest wearable one he's seen lately.) I did. however, spring for a Normaltown Cafe' shirt today.
What I really collect is obscure beer t-shirts, but that's for another ramble....

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen

Hey Grampy,
If you had a table near the entrance and exit from the Kitchen, you could have swiped the unused Parsley Sprigs as they returned to the Dishwasher station...

On another subject...The one the thread calls for, One of my favorite bar foods is the 'Coconut Shrimp' served at Outback. At times a couple of orders of those little devils and a couple of American Foster's make me a happy snacker. (CHEEEZZZZZ Sorry I didn't see your similar post above....but I agree with you 100%)

About Howard johnson's... I, like I-95, had a job early in my life cooking on the 4pm to closing shift at the HoJo's on rt 95 north of Boston. I think the best meal in the place was on "Fish fry Nite" I recall that it was all the flounder , Fries and slaw you could eat for a Buck (1963-64). That WAS good fish.
For ice cream, ButterCrunch was my favorite...But HoJo was the only company who has ever made a Peppermint flavor ice cream that didn't taste like Mylanta.

Great discription and an even better memory, ATMB !!

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

Wow.

That's cool.

Not like batboy for the Tigers or the Orioles cool, but cool.

Can you feel the excitement over the Tejada signing? Have you re-upped your season tickets yet?

While they're interchangeable (Boston vs. Baltimore), I'm actually a displaced New Englander and a card-carrying member of the Red Sox Nation. Chowder Heads Rule !!! Watch-out in 2004 !!

P.S. F@#% Babe Ruth !!

The kid's size cheeseburger at Roy Rogers
Breakfast biscuits at Hardees
Chicken and Biscuit at ChikFiLet
White Castles
Biscuits and Gravy at Bob Evans
Hash Browns at the Waffle House
Green Beans at Cracker Barrel
Any breakfast at First Watch

Oddly, I don't like the donuts at Krispy Kreme...although I have seen raves from others about them

I'm partial to the chocolate pies at Baker's Square. The entrees there, which I've never tried, look pretty mediocre. Does anyone remember when this place was called "Poppin' Fresh Pies"?

O'Charleys has a great butterscotch pie. I use to go there, but since they had the hepatitis problems a few months back, I have not returned.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

quote:

Originally posted by i95

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

Wow.

That's cool.

Not like batboy for the Tigers or the Orioles cool, but cool.

Can you feel the excitement over the Tejada signing? Have you re-upped your season tickets yet?

While they're interchangeable (Boston vs. Baltimore), I'm actually a displaced New Englander and a card-carrying member of the Red Sox Nation. Chowder Heads Rule !!! Watch-out in 2004 !!

P.S. F@#% Babe Ruth !!

You're a Chowd? That explains a lot. I mean alot.

How about that Curt Schilling then, eh?

Clothier-hoping the Tigers manage to lose "only" 100 this year.

Let's just hope they can hold onto to Garciaparra.

NNNOOOOOOOOMMMMMAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!

Most anything at a Steak "N Shake.

Wally

My fav far and away is La Madelines, French Bakery Cafe,
Their out of Texas I belive, Wood burning Ovens for all of their baked goods,
And a nice jop on all the entres . Good and very inexpensive.

Is it my imagination, or does the plate of lobster appear to be floating in midair above the plate of steak? I wanna go there!

I wanna go here, too...

Cinnabon is a good one for satiating a hungry sweet tooth. We used to like the fruit rollups at Perkins, but the local Perkins all closed a few years ago. They just built a new one, and the staff there never heard of fruit rollups.

Blueberry pancakes at Bob Evans are great. One of the few places that mixes them into the batter instead of just serving a blueberry sauce on top.

Yeah, real nice pics! Ohhhhh, Floating Lobster, my favorite! Maybe they here having a seance and levitated it......the two guys in the picture look suspicious.

clothier, if you paint your roof orange, you can't have ET cuz it'll clash with her RED HAIR!!!

And you'll have to sign a contract saying you'll promise to make Fried Clam Strips every Friday night.

That's actually very funny! "Wiggie", was my unfortunate childhood nickname. We used to have a family business and had a "special" employee who had ingested a few too many illegal substances in the 60s. One day he was trying to coerce me into leaving the book-keeping to go play basketball with him out back. He enticed me with the basketball, "Look, don't you want to play with it...it's so big, and shiny, and ORANGE..." When I ignored him he got angrier and angrier and finally shouted, "Oh, c'mon, you BIG ORANGE WIG!!!" That has been my even more unfortunate nickname ever since.

But if you're offering clam strips, I'll climb right up on your big orange roof...

Elise, what else are you gonna climb on? Huh? Naughty red head!

That was not a double entendre!!!

OH goodness so many to list. Guilty Chain Pleasures
Here are a few good ones!

Quesadillas at TGI Fridays

Tiramisu from Olive Garden

Cannoli from any place that sells it

Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie from Chili's -A warm, chewy bar layered with chocolate chips, walnuts and coconut. Topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with hot fudge and caramel.

Just thinking about these things right now gives me a warm feeling in my tummy

I went to Outback Steak House for the first time this past weekend and tried the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under Sundae I've heard so much about! It was almost to die for and I'm not even a brownie person!!! *drooling*

Chocolate Thunder From Down Under®
Fresh-baked pecan brownie, rich vanilla ice cream topped with hot homemade chocolate sauce, fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

And for the record... their salads are huge, be sure to try the tangy tomato dressing... WOW!

quote:

Don't get me wrong... I'm not particularly anti-chain, I just find that mom-and-pops serve better, if more quirky, individual food - and often at cheaper prices. Plus, there's wads more to learn by eating at such establishments than at anyplace that could be anywhere, not just where they are. All too often, chain places are like Gertrude Stein's apt description of Los Angeles: "There's no THERE there!"

Ort: Gertrude Stein said that about Oakland (her hometown), not Los Angeles, and regardless, like most people, you're misusing the quote. She was referring to the fact that her childhood home had been demolished, not giving a blanket dismissal to the city as a whole. It's a regretful quote, not a snidely dismissive one.

Speaking of snidely dismissive, I do so love the way that certain people always have to be among the very first posters on any chain-restaurant thread to remind the rest of us of how morally superior they are because they refuse to patronize such horrid establishments. Food snobbery's an ugly, ugly thing, folks, and it makes me sad whenever it shows up here.

That said, I gotta agree with the Peanut Buster Parfait. If you could only buy this at one dairy bar in upstate New Hampshire between June 18 and August 26 of odd-numbered years, the food snobs would be wetting themselves in fulsome praise of this treat.

Cracker Barrels Chocolate Cobbler.
It is really warm chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce. It is wonderful.

quote:

Originally posted by danimal15

I'm partial to the chocolate pies at Baker's Square. The entrees there, which I've never tried, look pretty mediocre. Does anyone remember when this place was called "Poppin' Fresh Pies"?

stupid computers. Let's try this again. As far as I understand, Poppin' Fresh Pies, Baker's Square, and Village Inn are all the same, but different for different regions. In IL, it was called the former two. In Orlando, it's Village Inn. Same pies, same names for the pies. (But I agree: french silk rocks!)
As far as the Original question that got buried under a plethera of food fantasies: one of my favourite chain desserts is Chili's paradise pie. They had to wreck it by cheapening the presentation of it-- used to be delivered in a sizzling skillet, and everything got carmelized. It's still good-- but it was better before. Leave it to "Corporate" to continue to live up to our low expectations.

Oh! If anyone is traveling through Orlando...you've got to go to Pebbles restaurant. There's one close to Disney...the food, the Service!, the atmosphere is wonderful. Try the goldbrick sundae. YUM.

Butterscotch or cherry dipped cones at DQ. My absolute favorite though was at a small local chain here called Bob's Burger, which they no longer make called and Orange Whip. It was kinda like an Orange Julius only way tastier, and just on the verge of turning into a slushie....better brain freezes are hard to find.

Ahh just remembered another good one, used to get frozen cokes from Burger King before all the ones on my side of town closed. Very nice for when it's 98 degrees in the shade

My favorite treat at a chain restaurant is the sweet potato pecan pie with vanilla ice cream at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. Delicious!

Old Country Buffet--most of their food is ordinary, even ghastly, but the fried chicken is really good, if (and that is a big if) you get it as it arrives right out of the kitchen. It means you have to locate yourself at a table where you can see what's going on, and it takes some work, but it is worth it.

I also like their insanely oversugared desserts--apple crunch, bread pudding, chocolate something-or-other and peach cobbler. Cookies are not bad either.

I only go to OCB when I am in a mood to flagrantly violate all of my most cherished eating principles as well surrendering any claims to being a healthful eater.


Charlie