If you’ve ever had a hard time deciding which of America’s full-service restaurant chains is actually worth your money, Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema is here to help.
Over the past several months, Sietsema dined at America’s 10 highest-grossing, full-service, casual restaurants, reviewing them as he would independent establishments.
Sietsema dined at each chain two or more times and sampled a cross-section of menu items to determine which chain the best. His mission took him to popular chains like IHOP, Olive Garden, Denny’s, Cracker Barrel and Outback Steakhouse. Given the unique nature of the corporate enterprises, broadly popular letter grades rather than the Post’s usual stars were assigned to each brand.
“Knowing that you can wake up to the same fluffy pancakes from Denny’s whether you’re in Miami or Minneapolis, or sit down to the identical warm breadsticks at Olive Garden, no matter which of its 800-plus branches you find yourself in, speaks to the chains’ charm offensive: no-surprise comfort,” he writes. “But not all chains are created equal.”
