Friday food

OK. I'm going to go out on a limb here, and I'm ready for the (metaphorical, please, not literal) tomatoes to be thrown my way.

I'm going to propose that not all chains are evil, soul-sucking, world-destroying venues.

Don't worry, I'm not going to make a case for McDonald's. But here are some of the chains (local, regional, national) that my household likes and happily returns to.

In the category of "well, they didn't start out to be a chain" is Punch Pizza. Those big red ovens! The firewood stacked in the entry! That delectable crust! The olives! The proscuitto! Oh, those Twitter coupons (if you're not following them on Twitter, you should be)! What's not to like?

Panera Bread. Hearty sandwiches and soups. Tasty baked goods. A decent Greek salad. Free WiFi. "Reliable" may not usually be considered a compliment, but I do mean it to be in this case.

It hardly gets more family friendly than Noodles & Co. You have to love a place that offers something as simple as buttered noodles for the pickier eaters in your family. Me, I'm fond of the pasta fresca, with tomatoes, red onion, spinach, parsley, wine and broth, but I've also become a fan of the mushroom stroganoff after reading Girl Detective's suggestion to add sriracha sauce to it. That is a pretty fine dish right there.

Quite possibly one of my favorites in the chain world, and likely the one to make me feel the least guilty (except for the calorie count), is Chipotle Mexican Grill. Chipotle continues to work, when they can, with local providers of meat, and to seek out farmers that raise animals humanely, on vegetarian diets and without antibiotics. They've also just begun looking into "green" buildings. That's all well and good--very much so--but if their food sucked, I'd never go. However, the vegetarian burrito bowl, with the yummy cilantro rice, black beans, peppers and onions, with pico de gallo and moderately spicy green salsa, constitutes a serious craving item for me.

Finally, a family favorite that will make some people cringe, no doubt, but hey--I'm being honest here: Old Chicago Pizza. Buffalo wings and double decker pepperoni pizza. 'Nuff said.

What are your guilty pleasures when it comes to eating out?

Comments

[kmkat]

If there were a Chipotle within 20 miles of me I would never cook. Love their food.

[Eileen]

Another point in Panera's favor:

The Panera in Uptown donates baked goods every week to Pathways, so that the folks there (mostly clients, people with debilitating chronic or terminal illness) can have a nice muffin or cookie or bit of bread while attending a class/treatment. They donate so much, in fact, that often the clients are able to take some treats home to their families.

It's not earth shaking, I know, but it's a bit of kindness that means something to people who are generally not having a great time in their lives. It's nice to see a company that believes in reaching out in those small-but-meaningful ways towards the community.

[Laura]

Mmm. . . Chipotle. And my family loves Punch. I know they have multiple locations, but Punch still feels like a local restaurant to me. A local restaurant with really good pizza.

[Debbie]

Another great local mini-franchise that I really like is Dunn Brothers coffee

[Crystal (Cafe Cyan)]

I'm not going to lie...my guilty pleasure is fast food, specifically McDonalds (although incredibly rare). Not sure if it's because I worked there years ago, but I have a soft spot in my tummy for them and my memories of eating fries by the trayful. Hence, the soft spot in my tummy (hee hee).