Time was there was little better family outing than a trip that ended at one of America's major chain restaurants.
O'Charley's. Chili's. Applebees. Red Lobster. TGIFridays. Shoney's. Ruby Tuesday. iHop (or Howard Johnson's) for breakfast. Later additions like Longhorn's, Texas Roadhouse, Logan's, Olive Garden, Wild Wings, Outback and others added to the mix.
Lately, though, more of those seem to be shuttering than thriving. iHop disappeared years ago from here. So, too, did Shoney's. O'Charley's in Mobile and Daphne abruptly closed with no notice to staff. Yesterday the Red Lobster in Mobile closed. Again with no notice to staff, just "bye." The Chili's in Mobile suffers from a dingy interior and indifferent staff. I haven't darkened the door of an Applebees for years because of the same.
I remember when buffet chains used to dot the landscape. Ryan's/Quincy's. Piccadilly. Morrisons. Western Sizzlin'. Various Chinese buffets under a variety of localized names. Those have all but vanished now. Only Golden Corral hangs on and the last time I was in one of those it was DIS-GUS-TING.
Is it changing tastes? Is it a product of less patience in a digital world? Or is it just mis-management? I'll admit that my last experience with all of these places -- Shoneys, Applebees, Chilis, Outback, TGIF, Red Lobster, iHop, Ruby Tuesday -- had the same "never go back" markers. Dirty interiors. Filthy carpet. Unappetizing food choices. Slovenly staff. Poor service. Unclean dishes. Poorly prepared microwave quality food. I've recently encountered the same with Outback, Logans, and Olive Garden. No intention of going back to those places.
Is the day of the restaurant chain over? Will they, too, become dinosaurs like the buffets have?