re: Sit-Down Chain Restaurant Bracket

Cheesecake Factory vs Hard Rock Cafe
When CF opened at Lakeside some of my friends from Delgado were exceedingly excited. While helping one of them produce a movie for his film class, he decided to thank me by taking me here. I was underwhelmed. It wasn't bad, but I think the restaurant believes the public will ignore the average quality for excessive quantity. There were at least three servings on my plate of salmon. The flavor was okay, but I thought with every bite, "We could be eating Shogun's salmon terriyaki for a fraction of this price and it is a far superior product." Restaurants like Cheesecake Factory, which encourage overeating by serving mammoth sized dishes are a big part of the obesity epidemic in America. Hard Rock Cafe, on the other hand, has one of the best hamburgers of any restaurant. It rarely gets mentioned as one of the top 10 burgers in New Orleans, even I forget it often. But it has for my entire life always had a burger that pushes for inclusion in the top 10. A cheeseburger and chocolate milkshake at Hard Rock is one of the best combos of any chain restaurant in any city. While the t-shirts are no longer en vogue, the hamburgers and shakes are classics that are as good today as in the 90s. Hard Rock Cafe

Denny's vs 99
Denny's makes a passable breakfast. The Grandslam is nice, and Waffle House copied it. 99 is a terrible name and shouldn't be in this competition. Denny's

Benihanna vs Macaroni Grill
Benihanna had a location in the French Quarter in the mid1980s. I have spoken with several chefs at Shogun who worked there before Ms. Peggy hired them to work her hibachi tables. I'm sure Benihanna is better than Macaroni Grill. The last time I went to Macaroni Grill was on vacation and it was terrible. Even the free bread tasted blank. It's no wonder the company will likely no survive this year.

This has nothing to do with the competition, but I just had a momentary spiritual or nous outer body experience. I began to imagine a world where each of us is quarantined in our houses, never allowed to leave our own properties. The military delivers our food. Restaurants do not exist. And we gather on this board to retell our stories of restaurant experiences. What a strange hallucination that was. Okay, I'm back to this world. Benihanna

Logan's Roadhouse vs Pluckers
Logan's is the one that, like OHenry or OBriens or OMallory's or whatever O restaurant was on StC and Carrollton, encourages peanut shell discarding on the floor, right? Another boring chain, but when you measure it against its competition, Pluckers, I guess I have no recourse except to advance it. Logan's Roadhouse

Cracker Barrel vs Famous Dave's
This isn't just. Cracker Barrel a 6 seed? 99.9% of diners are going to choose Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel

Round Table Pizza vs Texas Roadhouse
I've never heard of Round Table Pizza. Why include it but not other pizza chains like Pizza Inn or Pizza Hut or Godfather's or Domino's? Each of these has locations that have dine in options. Texas Roadhouse serves an acceptable steak. I'd even choose it over Outback now. Texas Roadhouse

BJ's vs Primanti Brothers
Another duo of anonymity. The selection committee, at this point, has to be trolling us in Louisiana. Has anyone heard of this junk? I pity such people knowing so many chain restaurants. Had they grown up in a city of culture like New Orleans, they wouldn't be wasting our time with these esoteric selections. Primanti's wins based on its name alone. Primanti Brothers

Outback vs Tropical Rainforest
Outback of the 90s was undisputed champion of moderately priced dine-in chain restaurants. Cheese fries with bacon and ranch, five loaves of pumpernickle bread with butter, a Caesar salad, an large Outback sirloin, and a loaded baked potato was one of my secret treats Uncle would sneak me on trips to Lakeside for Christmas gifts. When Adler's opened in Lakeside, we found the selection for Mother's gifts at that location better than the one on Canal. Now only the Canal location is open. Anyway, the quality of Outback has greatly declined in the last decade. I may have tried Tropical Rainforest once. If I did, I don't remember it. Outback