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I prefer local joints but when I travel I like Starbucks, Chipotle and Bonefish. And Tim Hortons, eh?

I don't care much for chains but I second Kelly's, the chili burger is great. Around Clear Lake, I hit Skipper's, Joe Lee's, Stomp burgers and La Brisa near Bacliff, Top Water Grill and Gilhooley's in my home town of San Leon.

I don't know if this counts as a restaurant, but Starbucks allows both open and concealed carry (in states where it's legal, obviously).

I'm glad its getting cooler, because I love sitting next to the fireplace a la Madeleine drinking their dark coffee and having a chicken caesar salad with a cup of tomato basil soup. I don't mind cafeteria style ordering when I can help myself to all the fresh bread I can stand!

If I want to get waited on, I'll second the motion for Saltgrass. Their ribeye rocks.

If you are ever in Granbury, try Grump's. They are great and make awesome burgers. I am there about once a month doing service work and always stop in. The queso burger is the best.
Los Lupes in Bedford is good. Although I think the manager is a little shady. A buddy of mine is a bounty hunter and has taken him in twice.
The Movie Tavern is good to. The food isnt bad and you get a movie.

We don't have too many here in this town.

We're getting a Longhorn Steakhouse....we have Logan's and Texas Roadhouse, your basic fast food chains, Applebee's and Chili's.

I think Olive Garden is the best of all of these we have. If we want decent food, we have to drive south to Brownsville or west to McAllen.

I have been very disappointed in Chili's the last handful of times we've gone. I keep going back expecting it to be as good as 7 or 8 years ago, especially since they have kids eat free nights; forgetting how awful it has been lately. We really don't eat out much, but if we do, I like Carraba's or Tai Pei (not sure if Tai Pei is a chain, but I know there is more than one location).

We do often have the kids, but my kids don't cause a scene or they are removed. There are things I tolerate; misbehavior in a restaurant is not one of them.

Chain Restaurants:
Don Pablo's
Ninfa's
Iron Cactus
Ruth's Chris ($$)
La Madeleine
My very favorite chain restaurant is no more: Steak and Ale.
(The food was great and the atmosphere generally quiet enough to actually hold a conversation with others at your table!)

My favorite non-chain restaurants are hole-in-the-wall Mexican Restaurants!

No one has mentioned "Outback", or did I miss it? The last "Outback" I ate in was many miles from here and a long time ago.

Texas Roadhouse. I've never had a bad meal there. Reasonably priced and a fun place to eat. AND they usually hire great looking waitresses. For those people that rank that,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Carrabba's.

...and while we're on the subject of free range, havoc creating children roaring around at full tilt in retail establishments, Walmart has to rank way up there for their share of these whelps almost always being in attendance...yes, I realize Walmart isn't a restaurant, but good grief why do parents/grand parents, let their repellent offspring plague us with their awful behavior...?

Nothing gladdens my heart more than well behaved adorable little ones - but, undisciplined brats are the scourge of the earth, but to be fair it's not the children's fault. It's the evil parents who believe proper discipline somehow thwarts their precious little darlings...

Now, get off my lawn!

MegaWatt wrote:Texas Roadhouse. I've never had a bad meal there.

You haven't been to the one in Yuma...


I rarely go to sit-down restaurants unless I'm with friends. Typically I get something to go and take it home because eating without watching TV feels like a waste

That being said, here's my favorites...

Tilted Kilt. I've eaten the majority of the stuff on their menu, and just about all of it is excellent. I was EXTREMELY disappointed to learn the one in Grapevine closed. Plus they have Kilkenny beer.. my favorite.

Twisted Root. I had the best restaurant burger of my life at the Roanoke location.

Babe's. Obviously.

Saltgrass. Very good steaks, never had a bad one there... and I stole their Long Island recipe.

Hooters. Love their wings and several other entrees. Too greasy to eat there often though.

...and that's all I can think of right now. I've become disenchanted with most of the restaurants I loved as a kid, seems like quality is WAY down. One day I realized "Wow, these places actually SUCK!". Most of them cater to people who like the idea of the style of food they're selling, but who have no idea of how it should be made

EDIT: OH! Chipotle and Freebirds. I love burritos!

Well, it isn't a chain, but we tried a local pizza joint for the first time today (Sat).

As we were walking up, my wife says, "uh oh, they have signs by the door". As we get close enough to see, it is the "unlicensed carry" sign.

Pazzo! in Flower Mound is CHL friendly and pretty good food.

SATX-Scrub wrote:I'm glad its getting cooler, because I love sitting next to the fireplace a la Madeleine drinking their dark coffee and having a chicken caesar salad with a cup of tomato basil soup. I don't mind cafeteria style ordering when I can help myself to all the fresh bread I can stand!

If I want to get waited on, I'll second the motion for Saltgrass. Their ribeye rocks.

I'm with you Scrub. We also like Las Palapas. There's only about a million and a half "mexican" food places here in San Antonio, most pretty good, but the Las Palapas by us on the NW side
has really good food and a friendly, efficient staff. The manager, Juan, has become a real friend in the past year or two and always takes the time to come over and say hi. And it's only about 5 minutes from us-a real benefit given the traffic!

Statewide, it's hard to beat the reliability of Taco Cabana and any of the Mikeska's BBQ's though Jerry's place in Columbus and Clem's in the Temple area are my favorite. Oops, I see a BBQ battle on the horizon. Sorry......