Non chain restaurants

[Tracy1581]

WE just returned from Phoenix Arizona where our son lives and OMG the restaurants were soooo good. We didn't eat in a chain restaurant the whole time we were out there and it was fabulous!! The food was so good I thought I was on a cruise ship.

I'm tired of the chain restaurants. Anyone else feel the same and of course this is directed at those who do dine out often. ???

[kittygilchrist]

wow, anybody?

[Lbmb24101]

Chain restaurants are not all bad: you know what you are getting.
Yes, of course it gets a bit tiresome, but I have no control over what eateries are or are not available
By driving more, i am sure one can find non chain restaurants.
But that also entails a bit of a risk, an adventure.
Convenience vs adventure
Some people have told us that Chicken Time in Belleview, is good for a bit of Cuban taste for LUNCH. We will try it soon.

[njbchbum]

was so tired of dining at chain restaurants that i started to cook at home!

[Tracy1581]

I KNOW and the THOUGHT of cooking at home! lol

[jnieman]

I actually enjoy several chain restaurants. Carrabas, Bonefish, longhorn to name a few. I like the consistency. Bahama Breeze is great and it is a chain. The list goes on and on.

[Phanatic Luvr]

Totally agree with you Tracy1581. I'm originally from a Philadelphia suburb and would go out every Friday night without fail. When we got to the end of our street, it wasn't where do you want to go, it was which way should we turn. There were so many unique restaurants no matter which way we turned. Here, its the same old thing, one chain after another, none you can really get excited about, no speciality restaurants, no diversification.
We were just in Savannah and the choices were endless. How I miss such choices here in TV's. Maybe someday, I can hope.

[BarryRX]

I agree too. While you get a known quality at the chains, you very seldom get that "wow" meal. You know, the one where the chef is so great that every bite makes you moan in pleasure so that the people at other tables are doing the "I'll have what they're having" routine. Check out the Villages Gourmet here: The Villages Gourmet Club Restaurant Review Site (http://thevillagesgourmetclub.com/) If nothing else, you can see all the restaurants in a large area that are available to you.

[lovsthosebigdogs]

That's one of the things I adore about the French Quarter- no chain restaurants and hundreds of wonderful places to eat. My PA home area has nothing to offer in the way of decent restaurants. In fact they are so bad that I welcome the consistency of a chain. At least I know I can eat the food I'm served. That's why I rarely eat out in PA and would rather cook at home. The food is better!

[Tracy1581]

the Amish in PA cook yummy meals !! wish I could cook like those women do but they must spend hrs in the kitchen. I only have a kitchen because it came with the house

[CFrance]

the Amish in PA cook yummy meals !! wish I could cook like those women do but they must spend hrs in the kitchen. I only have a kitchen because it came with the house

My friend calls it her "resale kitchen."

What part of PA, lovesthosebigdogs?

[Indy-Guy]

We have a number of non chain restaurants here in The Villages.

BoniFay
Cane Garden
Glenview
Hacienda Hills
Havana
Lopez
Mallory Hill
Orange Blossom Hills (soon to reopen)
Palmer Legend's
Tierra del sol
Light House
Red Sauce
VKI Japanese Restaurant
Tia Ruby
Athens NY
Cattle Baron Club
McCall's

Plus I may have missed some. Not to mention the ones just outside The Villages

[donb9006]

Anyone know WHY the food is so consistent at the chain places? Many times the food is prepackaged and just heated up. Paying all that money for "Stouffers", "Schwanns".

[Bill32]

you get what you get when your spending $10 to $14 in one of the village restaurants.......not bad for the price but don't expect much more...

[billethkid]

I personally think the qualifying term chain is misleading.

For example:
Morton's of Chicago
Ruth Chris Steak House
J Alexander's
Season's 52

To name a few.

We can all name some family restaurants that are onesy twosy only that have no equal.

The great separator/distinguishing factor, chain or otherwise, is the experience and culinary expertise and dedication/commitment to excellence of the owners/managers of individual establishments.

Unfortunately there is way too much mediocrity in too many dining venues.

What is missing in TV, in my opinion, is an eating establishment that qualifies as "fine dining".........

btk

[maryanna630]

I do think that this same thing is missing in many places. It seems that mediocre is quite acceptable. Yes, i have been to so many little chef owned restaurants in Greenwich Village, Vermont,Philly,Brooklyn, Phoenix etc etc but it is really difficult to run a good small restaurant today. It is very hard to compete with the chains but I have wonderful memories of great small restaurants and they were simple places with outstanding, home cooked food and yes, sometimes I just have to cook at home! I think the Villages does quite a good job with pretty good restaurants and there are some decent ones outside the bubble as well.

[bonrich]

My wife and I would like to see a Cheddars restaurant open up in our area. Great food, large mix of choices and reasonable pricing. We feel it would do so well in TV or close by.

[lovsthosebigdogs]

[/B]

My friend calls it her "resale kitchen."

What part of PA, lovesthosebigdogs?

I live west of Reading PA, between Reading and Lebanon. And I am NOT a fan of Amish food. That's just my opinon. If you want quanity it's ok but in my opinion it's just too bland and heavy for me and it's primarily meat or protein based, something I don't care for so it's not my taste. You don't find a lot of Amish crab or seafood.

That's so funny that she calls it a "resale kitchen." I think I am in the minority that I bought my house in TV because I loved the kitchen. I find cooking relaxing and love to cook.

[sunglow]

It would be great to have some good chef owned gourmet restaurants! Cotillion in Wildwood is very good. Living in The Villages would be divine if we had great restaurants!

[asianthree]

i just don't see a resturant that the average is $100 for two doing well..fine dining is an event but needs the right area

[CFrance]

I live west of Reading PA, between Reading and Lebanon. And I am NOT a fan of Amish food. That's just my opinon. If you want quanity it's ok but in my opinion it's just too bland and heavy for me and it's primarily meat or protein based, something I don't care for so it's not my taste. You don't find a lot of Amish crab or seafood.

That's so funny that she calls it a "resale kitchen." I think I am in the minority that I bought my house in TV because I loved the kitchen. I find cooking relaxing and love to cook.

Me too. My friend with the resale kitchen loves to go out to eat. I love to spend an afternoon or even a whole day cooking, and while I don't like to cook every day, I have been known to choose (our last three) houses for the kitchens. I sorely miss my duel-fuel stove in MI--gas burners on top and two electric ovens. It's my dream to have propane here and replace that stove. We're in a section that doesn't have gas. I doubt I will push that one through the financial planner.

And Amish cooking is not one of my faves either. I just wondered what part of PA. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have wonderful restaurants and food sources for cooks.

[maureenod]

Amish food is not fine dining and neither is cruise dining. Best is home cooked if you want to put in a little effort. With all the cooking shows, especially Ina and Giada, you can make great meals. Good to have a barbecue grill also. My fav CC is Glenview.

[Villages PL]

I enjoy cooking at home. When I get hungry I get creative and I like the process. Preparing food keeps me on my feet and I think that's a good thing. If it wasn't for cooking my own meals, I'd be sitting too much. And the best part is that I serve healthier meals than any resaturant I know.

[Auntmimi]

Yes, we agree. As much as we love living here, we sure do miss the quaint individual type of restaurants.

[Russ_Boston]

Anyone know WHY the food is so consistent at the chain places? Many times the food is prepackaged and just heated up. Paying all that money for "Stouffers", "Schwanns".

What? You think Bonefish or Olive Garden or Carabba's buy from Stouffers or Schwanns? Seriously?

Not saying they're great but they do their own preparation and cooking from well established recipes. Maybe not the best ever but certainly of their own doing.

[Indydealmaker]

Yes, we agree. As much as we love living here, we sure do miss the quaint individual type of restaurants.

Tons of mom n pop restaurants to be enjoyed. Just get out of the bubble.

[kinky]

I agree with Indydealmaker. There are a lot of good restaurants if you just get out of the bubble!

[VT2TV]

Like????????

[Mikeod]

Think about it this way. Where I used to live, there were several "non-chain" restaurants that I used. One of them was Mexican food and it was great. But, someone who likes Tex-Mex would probably not like it because most of the entrees were not that style. Think about the disagreements about pizza.

Now, here we have people moving from all over the country. What type of restaurant would have the best chance of succeeding with all those disparate tastes? A national chain, of course. One that has been successful in different areas of the country. And how do they do that? By having food that is acceptable to people with a variety of tastes. It's the nature of TV that tilts the scale toward chains.

Let's see how the new Italian place in Brownwood does.

[Bogie Shooter]

Like????????

Here is a list of 700 , In, Near, and Away from The Villages.
The Villages Gourmet Club Restaurant Review Site (http://thevillagesgourmetclub.com/)

[LndLocked]

Some people have told us that Chicken Time in Belleview, is good for a bit of Cuban taste for LUNCH. We will try it soon.

not bad Cuban for N. Centro Fla which is not exactly a bastion of cuban cuisine.

[jhrc4]

Since you asked: Chain Restaurants are OK for breakfast and lunch but really that's it especially in the Villages.

Now with one or two exceptions the restaurants (all) are pretty much run of the mill, with limited menu offerings. Bonefish for example their claim to fame is " Bang Bang Shrimp " the menu is extremely limited. Everywhere here the opinions are pretty much the same for going out to dinner.." A Disaster ".

Of course the die hard followers of their favorite place will disagree with this but the majority will concur. The Villages Restaurants offer Bland, run of the mill food,that is uninteresting, cheap, and take it or leave it approach attitude.

You see I accept it for what it is, and the owners know full well that most people go out to dinner no matter what..ya lose 10 people ya gain 10 people..so for the owners to change and offer quality food, add some imagination, customer service, actually put some thought into what they are offer...Zero Incentive for the reasons I have stated.

Straight across the whole ethnic food selection it is all the same.

Stick to Breakfast, Lunch... and when going out to Dinner ?? Grin and Bear it, and should you be unlucky to have leftovers, skip the " Doggy " bag you will only toss it out the next morning.

[Auntmimi]

Phanatic luvr, We also had homes in PA in Bucks Co and Montgomery County. The restaurants in the burbs and in the City were fabulous. What fond memories of dining at all of those incredible restaurants. We love the Phanatic as well.

Some of the chains are decent and consistently good, but it isn't the same as going to individually-owned family restaurants.

[sharonga]

I hate chain restaurants. Like groundhog day for restaurants!! I too cook quite often