re: Anything cheesier than being out of town on business trip & eating at a chain restaurant?

Preach brother.
That's all some people know and all they feel comfortable with. When I'm heading out of town, the first thing I think about is finding good local places to eat.
I understand completely if you are tired from being on the road all day and you are staying at a dumb interstate restaurant in the middle of nowhere and you just want to go to the place next door and it happens to be a chain.

When I'm in a real place with real options, I'm exploring and meeting the locals and their kind of places.