#chain-restaurants

#chain-restaurants

I've avoided chain restaurants for years, but I've become more familiar with them since my teenagers started requesting to visit spots like Chili's and Applebee's. My 17-year-old son and his girlfriend often hit their favorite ones on date nights, and have long been singing their praises for BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse - a chain my husband and I had yet to visit.

When people joke about a chain having a store on every corner, the butt of the joke is usually Starbucks or McDonald's, but neither one is actually the country's largest chain restaurant. Of those two, Starbucks is the bigger one, having almost 17,000 stores in the U.S. at the end of 2024.

Chapter 11 can be filed by either the debtor themselves, whoever or whatever owns the restaurant, or be filed by the company's creditors. In either case, it gives a business breathing room to restructure its debts. This can take different forms, including negotiating with creditors, closing under-performing locations, and selling off assets, which may then put it in better financial shape to meet its debt obligations. During this time, the business can continue operating, too.

Going out to dinner as a family of four can cost more money than you might think. Since prices are consistently rising, too, knowing which chain restaurants can be relied upon for a meal that's tasty and affordable is helpful. After all, many chains offer family meals, kids menus, and discounts for older people (among potential deals). Other chains have generally lower prices when it comes to full meals, reducing the likely cost for a family dining experience.

Chain restaurants offer a sense of familiarity and comfort that keeps people coming back. You can visit a location on the West Coast and then fly to the other side of the country and still know the menu without having too many surprises - that's a big part of what keeps people loyal to familiar eateries. There are plenty of chains to pick from, too, whether you like the seafood options at Red Lobster, the popular menu items from Applebee's, or margaritas at Texas Roadhouse.

One of my favorite restaurants is Milk & Honey in Harlan, Iowa, a small town in the western part of the state. The restaurant is run by Ellen Walsh-Rosmann, who is also a farmer and a mother. Milk & Honey has a delicious homemade strawberry jam that's way better than the normal mediocre corn syrup-based jam packets served at most diners. Their skillets include chorizo made from pork raised on Ellen's farm.

My husband and I have never been big on chain restaurants, but our teenagers love visiting them, so we've tried quite a few in recent years. Luckily, plenty have pleasantly surprised us, from upscale steakhouses like Ruth's Chris to surprisingly affordable spots like Waffle House. Now, we sometimes even look forward to checking out different chains - especially on double dates with our son and his girlfriend. The four of us regularly go to see a movie and get dinner at a restaurant near the theater.

Chain restaurants want to do your cooking for you on Labor Day, which falls on Monday, Sept. 1. Here are some deals announced in news releases, on chains' websites or in social media. Most deals are for Sept. 1 only but some are good for as much as two weeks. Also, participation in these promotions may vary by locations. Check out your local restaurant if you can.

Lillie's Q's steak butcher butter seasoning is buttery with a strong flavor profile, featuring salt, garlic, and natural butter flavor, which may dominate other ingredients.

"It was the worst financial decision I ever made," said Scott Raifer, who bought a Dickey's franchise and opened it in Freeport on Long Island.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted operations across the industry, with staffing shortages and health restrictions causing some restaurant chains to close numerous locations or shut down entirely.

The American landscape used to be covered in Benningan's, Arthur Treachers, and Chi-Chi's restaurants, which at one time or another all probably seemed like the next big thing.