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Disdain for the Chain

Written By: David Snyder on Thursday, May 31, 2007

Is The Olive Garden Always A Bad Thing?

Chain restaurants are often portrayed as the dark overlords of the dining world. But is there an upside to having a chain in your neighborhood?

About a year and a half ago, our relatives from Italy did a whirlwind tour of the states to visit family scattered all over the country. Their last stop was here in Philadelphia to visit my wife and I.

Our Italian relatives are passionate about food and wine; in Italy it is a way of life. And given Philadelphia's vibrant restaurant scene, we were looking forward to sending them home in style by treating them to a meal they would reminisce about for years to come. But things didn't go exactly as planned.

They were a little burned out from eating their way across the country and wanted to end their trip with some lighter American fare. In a strange twist of events (not to mention culinary fate), they wanted to take us out to the restaurant they had discovered on their own here in Philadelphia and dined at the night before. It was only a few blocks away, they said, but they couldn't remember the name. As we continued to walk past more and more of Philadelphia's most notable eateries, I began to wonder exactly what restaurant they were taking us to.

When we rounded the corner, I got my answer.

After the initial surprise faded, I still didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The "American" restaurant our Italian relatives brought us to was, in fact, The Olive Garden.

Chain restaurants touch a serious nerve with foodies. Often maligned for their standardization and lack of creativity, chains have been accused of such evils as homogenizing the restaurant scene, "dumbing-down" the American palate and driving independent restaurants out of business. But could there be some upside to having a chain in your neighborhood, at least in an urban setting?

Actually, yes.

First, if a chain restaurant has decided to open in your neighborhood, it's a sign of a healthy economy. Restaurant chains usually are not pioneers; there's risk in that. The standardization that chains are known for can be costly to set up, and the chain is not going to go through the expense of doing so unless it has a principled basis to believe it can succeed. Usually, that means there’s an already-vibrant restaurant scene in place or a solid flow of tourists from which to draw its customers. Either way, it means your neighborhood is doing well.

Second, just because the restaurant is a chain does not inherently mean that the food is bad. In fact, some of the chain fare can be quite satisfying, especially at the smaller boutique chains. One example is The Oceanaire Seafood Room, which has twelve locations across the country and five more on the way. You may not be hooked by the minimalist way Oceanaire prepares its fish, but the wide selection of oysters at its raw bar is certainly notable.

Whether the restaurant is a chain or an independent venture, it all comes down to whether it can deliver a quality meal that’s worth the money. Some chains can and some chains can’t-just like “regular” restaurants. And for those discriminating diners who feel passionately about this issue, it’s not enough to express your views with your voice. You need to express them with your wallet, too.

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