I have shut down many restaurants as a part of my job and as a result, I will not eat in any non-chain restaurant that I cannot see the kitchen. I cannot tell you the disgusting things I have seen in local restaurant kitchens, from greasy spoon diners to fine dining, they are all the same. layers of grease that coat everything, rotting food left next to cooked food, overflowing toilets next to the kitchen without doors on the bathroom, cigarette butts stuck in grease to the backsplash of a flat-top grill, broken walk-in cooler? no problem just stick that shit in the back room with the broken window, it's winter after all, raw chicken leaking all over everything else under it in the cooler, I have opened refrigerators and almost vomited from the stench of rotting food that was posted on the special menu for that night.
chain restaurants don't bother me because at least I know there is some corporate oversight with far more stringent cleaning regulations than are required by the health board. I have known many many people who have worked in both chain and local restaurants and they all agree that chains are far cleaner. I guess I'll trade off crappy food for the peace of mind that the kitchen has been cleaned sometime in the past decade.
This is a great point, and one of the reasons the chains/franchises with such horrible tasting food are everywhere. The QC/QA is done at the corporate level down, so while a chicken sammich at applebees is simply a frozen, pre-cooked piece or rubber. It's likely not past expiry date.
I used to go to a dentist next to a "soup" place. They would hack at frozen meat OUTSIDE on a dirty table next to pigeon poop, and next to trash barrels and grease barrels. Place was open for longer than I was going to that location, at least 3+ years.
Most people I know that do work travel, and are from the midwest or south , prefer chains even in foreign countries, the main reason is trust. They know they wont get food poisoning at the Olive Garden.
OTOH, every single thing at the olive garden is pre-cooked, frozen and tastes exactly the same... like a stoufers out of the freezer. Add in that the OG in my area hires mostly high school and college kids, understaffs, and is always busy and that = Major profit for the owner and more for the corporation. Pay employees next to nothing, serve up pre-made meals... instant money
wait... are you saying that you watch tv in a restaurant in the US?
tv is popular here too, plenty of people watch it. at home. the only eating establishment I ever visited where I saw a tv is at a snackbar with a few tables wich is a few doors over from a bar/pub I used to go often. it was a very small tv, high on the wall, always at a channel with boring/stupid stuff. I always felt like it was mostly to entertain the people working there, since often there would be no other customers when I came in.
If it's a "pub" or "adult" restaurant, it HAS to have HDTVs, small places are hot/cold. Most new places that open, chain or not, have like 4-10 HDTVs to draw in people.
For the US, this means more $$ from drinks and apps. Smart set ups have people wait for tables near the bar area, with huge TVs so they have something to do while waiting, and hopefully order lots of drinks.
In general, NFL games, NCAA football, are the biggest draws.
Even some of the old tymey places around my area have added HDTVs albeit minimally.
The only places that had TVs in Euro were specifically sports pubs or tourist areas.
, it will probably be even longer before I go back now.