• Hyperreality@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Risk reduction. Safe choice.

      The food will be ok, there’s a relatively small risk of food poisoning, or having an especially shit meal. You know what you’re getting.

      Same business model as chain hotels and blockbusters starring A-listers with name recognition. Customers know it will be just ok, but that’s enough.

      • bbkpr@lemmings.world
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        1 year ago

        This is exactly why I go to McDonald’s when I’m anywhere away from home. It’s almost always the same, and their corporate side is extremely serious about consistency and quality.

        • ivanafterall@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Cracker Barrel took this a step further, providing a generic “home-y” feel anywhere in the country.

          • EssentialCoffee@midwest.social
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            1 year ago

            Cracker Barrel is atrocious though. Absolutely flavorless. It’s the epitome of bland old white people food.

            I’d rather eat Applebee’s. At least they use salt.

      • agent_flounder@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Exactly. Finding good restaurants takes time, too. We had a lot less (none) of that available after we had a kid. So low risk and sticking to what you know makes sense. As she got older we have been able to experiment some.

    • nicetriangle@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      My grandmother always insisted on going to somewhere like Olive Garden or Applebees when I’d go have my regular visits with her. Never understood it, but it made her happy and she didn’t like trying new stuff, so not a big deal. I feel like Boomers have got to be the only people left keeping these places afloat. I don’t know a single person blow 50 who eats there.

      • Frozengyro@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There’s a large swath of people who never try anything new. They’d visit somewhere 3000 miles away and eat at somewhere familiar like McDonald’s/Subway etc.

          • GobiasIndustries@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Checking out foreign versions of American fast food chains can be pretty fun. Their menus are often changed a bit to suit local tastes. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t turn down any chance to eat at a local hole in the wall, but I’ll make a point of getting something from a McDonald’s or KFC that they don’t offer back home at least once if I get the chance.

    • bluGill@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Some of them are much better, some are just as bad. Too many local resteraunts around me have the same Sysco derived menu items. The same coconut shrimp cooked the same way in them all… Sure it is a different name out front and it isn’t a franchise but it may as well be.