Not really. I can taste the difference between quality food and mass produced things. Eating crap food usually gives me all sorts of ills. I don’t begrudge chains. Yeah food is mediocre and overly sweet, salty, fat filled. But that’s also why they are generically good. Maybe things don’t taste awesome, but they taste good in a comfortable way. So I still go to chains and such. But this Esquire piece reviewing Outback Steak house (the review ends saying it’s not bad), has the following passage:
The clientele was much like you’d find in any mall food court: freaking enormous. Roll after roll of body fat stuffed into XXL T-shirts and baggy blue jeans. But everyone seemed to be having a grand old time, scarfing platters of cheese fries and baby-back ribs, their piggy children stuffing themselves with Boomerang Cheese Burgers from the “Joey Menu.” (emphasis added)
That passage ALONE makes me want to shun Outback and mall food courts and chain, Americana, “‘s” restaurants (e.g. Applebee’s, TGIFriday’s, etc.). Despite the “grand old time” it strikes me as this is the exact kind of person I DON’T want to be. (Nevermind that I almost am already.)
Will I still go to chain places? Yes. Will I do it with the same frequency I do now (rarely)? Nope.