Please wait...
Oh, i bet its truthful, but not for the reason she implies.
They are scared. They know once it happens their customer base is gone. "how much longer do i have left in business" is why they are calling her.
Sat Aug 23 2025 16:39:00 UTC from IGnatius T FoobarThe CEO is doubling down, claiming that store operators are blowing up her phone asking when they get their remodel, but she's probably lying or maybe talking about one location.
Well that time of the year again. Time to make cola flavor. ( not syrup ).
Not hard, just tedious since the measurements of oils are in the .5 ml. But far easier than the old days when i would boil down fruits, spices and herbs myself..,
When I run the smoker, I like to run it full!
So brother wanted to go to the 'cheesecake factory' for thanksgiving. Been there a couple of years ago for a retirement party. Wasn't 'bad' food, but not good either. I remember buying a cheesecake to go, same thing it was 'eh' but was expensive and not really worth it. I could make my own far better for far less.
Fast forward to today, same experience with the food, 'eh', and didn't bother to finish it. "ill need a couple of boxes to take this home" "and ill take one of these cakes in a box to go" when i leave. "Ill set one out to thaw, you want it to sit for a couple of hours". "ok"
Time to leave ( just as the snow storm hit. lol ), she brings out the boxes + cheesecake + the bill. 75 dollars.. for a freaking cake. WTF ( and 15 more for the borderline pathetic food ) . I didn't want to make a scene in front of the nieces and nephews and their mates, "look: grumpy old man", and they already set it out an hour for me, so i took it and moved on. But they lost a customer, forever. And i hope they collapse. Sister bought ONE piece to take home. 17 bucks.. again. WTF.
And unrelated to the food, due to where i sat i could see more of the main room this time. Such an odd place. Had some watercolor 'foodish' painting, which made sense. Some abstract watercolor on the ceilings, not food related at all, sort of odd, but not that much. They had also pedestals in the 4 corners of the main dining area that looked like carved Egyptian priestesses on the top.. and at each of the 'booths' a tower, with what looked like the eye of Sauron... wtf. Ironically we were at the same table as i was last time, but i choose to sit looking towards the main room, not away from it.
Fast forward to today, same experience with the food, 'eh', and
My experience has been much the same. The salesperson and I took a client there, years ago, food was okay but the price was very high. The client (from Norway) insisted that the cheesecake was better at his corner bakery. I'm sure he was right.
I'm finding the same story a lot at chain restaurants these days. We try to avoid them, unless we're on the road and need a quick bite. Better to look for something local, even if the price is a little higher, the quality is worlds better and I like to support small businesses. In fact, we're headed for the local Mexican eatery this evening, the only Mexican around my wife is happy with.
Yeah. Most of the big chains have fallen victim to the same game. Some private equity firm gobbles them up, then needs to "increase shareholder value" so the prices go up and the quality goes down.
So - this is one of the things I've noticed about crossing a threshold in economic status...
I haven't gone to a Cheesecake Factory or a Chili's or an Olive Garden or a um... jeeze, I can't even remember the name of the other place... any of those places the IBM guys take you when they want to sell you a SAN - in YEARS.
My wife and I were camping a year or two back in Flagstaff and I twisted her arm hard to go to Outback Steakhouse and... it was GOOD that night. Blooming Onion and steak medallions - but... it was also... it wasn't the Michelin rated steakhouses we go to today with aged ribeyes and A4 wagyu that is $300 an oz.
Don't get me wrong. I still frequently go to Denny's (oddly) for a Patty Melt (it isn't a menu item anymore, and many have no idea, but if there is a good Mexican cook back in the kitchen, he'll whip you up one that will blow your mind...) and eat fast food - Taco Bell, Wendys, In-N-Out. Every now and then I get a craving for Cracker Barrel. But when we go out "fancy" - it isn't going to be Red Robin or Red Lobster. That mid-level corporate chain restaurant just feels so mediocre to me. I ate so much of that on corporate lunches and dinners in IT coming up - maybe THAT is the reason. "Bottomless Fries with Cluck sauce! Yum!"
They're like the purgatory of eating out. Maybe that is it... Give me Morton's or Ruth's Chris or give me Denny's - but preserve me from Olive Garden and Buca di Beppo.
There is one place, it is like Marie Calendar's - but I can't remember the name. Kind of the poster-child of these kind of places. Applebee's I had to look it up. I haven't eaten their "pasta in a bag" dinners in a decade. I mean - they sell of "value" - right? You order, you're going to take half your dish home, it is tasty - but I feel like I can get the same meal in the frozen food section of Albertson or Safeway or... Aldi's - whatever - in a bag I throw in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes.
I did like Spaghetti Factory - and the one near me in Chandler closed - so now I have to go all the way to Phoenix to scratch that itch. You guys probably don't know about it. It is more of a West Coast thing - there is one in Columbus, I think.
And I sometimes see people going, "$48 for a Wagyu burger? This is the definition of a fool and his money will soon be parted," kind of conversations where they go, "I can get a whole Big Mac Value meal for $14.
It is SO worth it - if you can afford it. Even Shake Shack and The Habit and Bobby Flay - Gordon Ramsey Fish and Chips on the strip in Vegas - tastes like real pub Fish and Chips in London... and almost all American Fish and Chips shops get that wrong - it is TOO fried and too crisp like tempura or fried chicken. It should be soft and a little doughy.
Once you've had real fish and chips in England - Gordon Ramsey's is the next best bet in America - and Long John Silvers is absolute shite. ;)
There was a group of Uncensored users who had a monthly dinner at Applebee's sometime around the turn of the century (this was when there were a lot of us in the local geo). It was decent then. Pretty good food for the price.
When my kids were little they liked it too. Now, the food is way worse, the prices are far higher, and I haven't seen the inside of an Applebee's in probably over a decade.
We don't do a lot of super high end restaurants (unless I'm out on business and someone else is paying). But if I'm taking my family out to dinner, it's going to be a good local place. Here in NY we have really good Italian restaurants everywhere. I'm also a sucker for a good diner (a *real* diner, not Denny's or IHOP).
If someone eats at Olive Garden ... well, you can safely assume that they don't really like food.
I'm also a sucker for a good diner (a *real* diner, not Denny's or IHOP).
What about Waffle House?
P.S.: No that's not a serious question.
Depends on which kind.
The 'country style restaurant' version, while it was great and i actually used to go there often decades ago, it wasn't huge in the first place, and is long gone. All that is left is the 'truck stop' style. The struck stop version, 'eh'.
Funny story - was dating a manager and her daughter from another state, mother was the manager and daughter was one of the 'workers' at one of the truck stop versions ( actually 3 of her kids were.. ) and had been for years, and they had never even heard of the 'restaurant version'. Took them to the one near me one weekend they were here in Indiana visiting and they were speechless.
It was sad to see them close that arm of the business down back then. ( and as far as i know it never was revived, none around these parts if they did )
I'm also a sucker for a good diner (a *real* diner, not Denny's or IHOP).What about Waffle House?
P.S.: No that's not a serious question.
And since its not a bazillion degrees out, i get to cook again.
Tonight's menu. Real pizza, 2 layer. ( and yes, that is a plate from the 1970s.. no one should be surprised about that )
I realized a while back I've moved to a new income level - where I *never* eat at chains like Chili's or Red Robin or Appleby's or Red Lobster.
I'll still eat fast food - all of them. Because of convenience. But when I'm going out to a sit down place... Ruths Chris is entry level and feels like... Denny's. It takes a special event like a breakdown while RVing to get me at an Outback Steakhouse.
I go to one off places that are very expensive and exclusive and I don't valet my M4 because it would be embarrassing to have it parked next to the McLarens and Aston Martins and Bugattis - and while I'm having a $1500 4 person dinner - the guys in those cars are having $10,000 dinners. Michelin rated places.
But still, my wife and I will go to Denny's after a night out drinking and get a Grand Slam and a Moons Over My Hammy.
The super expensive, exclusive stuff is better - by orders of magnitude - and if you don't know, it is best not to. You don't even know what you're missing. Really rich people eat *better*.
But in the long run - I don't know if it matters - for how much more it costs to eat "rich". We were broke down in Flagstaff recently and went to one of the last Sizzlers in the country - and that salad bar is the f'kin BOMB. Then softserve icecream for desert after. With candy sprinkles. I haven't been to one 5 star Michelin restaurant that had that.
I think Ig once talked about how wheat based dining is "peasant" food - and he is right. High Carb grain based dinners are for the poor. Wealthy people eat a lot of red protein. Wagyu steak and Foie Gras and seafood like Octopus.
But man - I like my bread and butter and sandwiches and beans and rice and other peasant foods that I was raised on. They're terrible for you - but they taste good.
"Because you live so far away from New York that you don't know what pizza tastes like."
With that out of the way ... I think there's a place for fine dining, and a place for greasy grub. Sometimes you've just gotta have a burger and fries, or a philly cheesesteak, or one of those chicken sandwiches ... or an omelette and hash browns from the diner ... and some of those things get *worse* when a self-important chef tries to gussy them up. Yeah, I love gruyere cheese too -- but don't put it on a philly or I will stab you with the Liberty Bell.
In the middle -- not even in the middle but claiming to be in the middle -- you've got slop like Applebee's and Olive Garden and all the "fast casual" places that just heat up food that was manufactured in a central commissary somewhere. They weren't that good to begin with, and after the private equity cancer metastasizes, the quality goes down and the price goes up, making everything even worse.
But rolling up to an all night diner at 2AM for bacon and eggs? I don't care what else you can afford, there's nothing like it.
Same sort of thing us Chicagoans say. lol
Wed Dec 24 2025 04:34:38 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar
"Because you live so far away from New York that you don't know what pizza tastes like."
Every region is snobby about what their claim to fame is. Chinese food, for as much as New York prides itself - nowhere I've been can touch the Northern California Bay Area. That IS Chinese Food central. It is the truest Chinatown in the United States - and you'll never have Chinese food anywhere outside of California as good as you can get at a mediocre place in SACRAMENTO. I imagine Chinese food in STOCKTON buries the best New York can bring. Not talking about upscale boogie Chinese either. Talking about family style, little boxes and wooden chopsticks mostly takeout places that serve prawns and foil wrapped chicken and chow mein and kung pao. I know New York thinks they're good at this. I also know they're not as good as Northern California.
Some things, regionally, like Spaghetti or Chili Dogs (dogs in general) are SO regional that you can't compare. Chicago does the best CHICAGO dog. You get one somewhere else, they're not as good. But a Weinerschnitzle chili dog is better than any dirty water chili dog from a street vendor in any city that does that. It is better than anything called a "Coney dog".
You'll also never get fish-and chips as good as from a chippie cart in England. Or chips, cheese and curry, for that matter.
California Mex is also better than Arizona Mex - and either is better than anything you get and call Mexican on YOUR side of the Mississippi. Mexican food on the East Coast actually *sucks*. But... I also know that if it isn't CALIFORNIA Mex - which isn't really Mexican - but absolutely a Californian take on Mexican food - my next choice would be Tex-Mex before Arizona or New Mexico Mexican food. Arizona meanwhile, does Sonoran Dogs - which no other State does as well. It is their little CORNER on Mexican food. And... to be clear - Mexican food in MEXICO isn't necessarily as good as CaliMex or TexMex. It may be more authentically MEXICAN - but that doesn't mean it is better. Texas and California add their own little spin that elevates the food. New Mexico dishes based around hatch chilies are also something all their own.
Pizza comes in so many different varieties - and even in Chicago - despite how many different places are famous for their take on the Chicago deep dish - I prefer Pequod's pizza. Philly has the same kind of thing going on about Cheesesteaks - where they don't just argue that they have the BEST - but they'll argue which places ARE the best in their own city... Personally - I feel the best Cheesesteaks I've had weren't the ones I had in Philly.
BBQ is another one. Southern Carolina vs. Texas seems to be the big one. Again, I lean Texas.
But SO much of this comes to what you were introduced to first - and developed a taste for - and then you go somewhere else and go, "this isn't right."
Phoenix is weird because people from all over the country want to winter here - and so we end up with a lot of operations that open a second place out here. There is NY bagel place out here - and they filter the water to add the same chemical profile as New York tap water to make their dough - and my friend from New Jersey swears they've nailed it. This seems right... because my Nephew in England a long time ago said, "Everything starts in the dirt - and if you get a pizza from Pizza Hut in London, the wheat was grown in a field in England, the meats were fed the grains that were grown in dirt in England - the dairy comes from the cows, the veggies were grown in the dirt - so it'll NEVER taste like a Pizza from the US - and you'll taste the difference and it won't be right."
I think he is on to something there. So, if you're from New York - pizza from the rest of the country is going to taste like shit - because it doesn't taste like what YOUR mind thinks it should. But we've got Lou Malnati's here - we've got Portillo's here, we've got dozens of other of out of state places that are famous for the food that is famous in their original region. Even THOSE places can't get it quite right compared to having their same dishes in their home states/cities. Locals from those places will say, "It is good, it is close, but it isn't as good." But locals here will go to those places and go, "It is wrong here, it doesn't taste right. I don't like it as much."
There is a place in Sacramento called Zelda's that has a famous deep dish Chicago style pizza - and it is my first experience with that kind of pizza. When I went to Chicago and tried pizzas all over there - none of them were quite the same. The crust at Zelda's is flakier and more like a pastry, not as dense and moist - generally. I honestly prefer Zelda's - but it is probably just what I was accustomed to.
Then you get like, Cincinatti style spaghetti - which is just WEIRD to everyone from anywhere else. It isn't spaghetti at all, really. They love it in Ohio. I couldn't ever find a taste for it.
But yeah, in the middle - those places are terrible - uniformly, everywhere you encounter them - for the most part. I don't mind some cheesy rolls at Red Lobster or a Blooming Onion at Outback Steakhouse every now and then... and there is something about a salad bar at a Sizzler's (we still have one in Flagstaff) - that always hits the spot. But I can't ever find a reason for a Chili's or a Olive Garden or a Chevy's. I've only got so many meals like that left in me - I don't want to waste myself on places like that.
Wed Dec 24 2025 04:34:38 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar
In the middle -- not even in the middle but claiming to be in the middle -- you've got slop like Applebee's and Olive Garden and all the "fast casual" places that just heat up food that was manufactured in a central commissary somewhere. They weren't that good to begin with, and after the private equity cancer metastasizes, the quality goes down and the price goes up, making everything even worse.
I often find that true.
"wait, that isn't Chicago.. that's an import" And of course they wont agree. lol
Thu Dec 25 2025 07:27:18 UTC from ParanoidDelusions
Pizza comes in so many different varieties - and even in Chicago
2025-12-24 04:34 from IGnatius T Foobar
You know I have to say it, right? :)
"Because you live so far away from New York that you don't know what
pizza tastes like."
I remember watching a map of meal acceptability per country, according to Italians (from Italy).
I remember Italy being marked as green (perfect acceptability), then most mediterranean countries were marked as dirtier green (works ok, but could be more Italian), and most everywhere was red (crappy food).
China had a big red sign that read "Fake pasta". America had another one, which read "Fake pizza".
Italian Pizza sucks.
Don't order it there. Get pasta - preferably with boar.
Pizza, I don't think is really "their" thing. It is OUR thing. We do it better. It is an American dish. Theirs is a pale imitation.
Thu Dec 25 2025 15:49:39 UTC from darknetuser
China had a big red sign that read "Fake pasta". America had another one, which read "Fake pizza".