I couldn't agree more about Piazza Bella. As a matter of fact, i recently shared my opinion of it on Yelp, the review site where it has gotten consistent rave from trixie and Chad:

When I first moved to Chicago five years ago, somone at Gourmet Magazine had just named Piazza Bella one of the best neighborhhod restaurants in America.

So, I went to try it.

I left convinced that someone at Gourmet must like eating big plates of orange colored shit. Because that's what I was served.

Haven't been back since. Won't go back again.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Twin Anchors' ribs, the McRib of the Chicago barbeque scene.

Cheesecake Factory
Tango Sur

Penny's Noodle Shop. I just don't get it.

Interesting thread and it can really drive out ones tastes, phobias, etc...

To some extent, I'm just not a sheeple kinda restaurant customer. I would say that I have been to less than 25 percent of restaurants reviewed by Phil Vettel within the last five years. I think a lot of those places are what MAG had in mind, no? On the other hand, I seem to like a lot of places others call Sheeple. Am I a Sheeple or not?

See, many of the places mentioned aboves I like (a lot). How odd! Carsons, Billy Goat, Ann Sather, Bongo Room, all of these are places I enjoy and would surely re-visit.

Now, for me, the place that most comes to mind is LTH the restaurant. I know a lot of people have longstanding ties to the place, and their attachments are beyond the food. I know that LTH can put out some good dishes, and I know in the thrall of LTH community bonhomie, it can be a nice place. Still, I feel the food at newer places in Chinatown is so much better, that the reverance for LTH to me, seems like my idea of sheeple.

I won't bore you all with the story, but I was long subjected to regular business travel to a backwater burgh in the south, where for many years the "best" restaurant choice for dinner was the local Outback Steakhouse.

I've changed careers and am no longer subjected to the travel torture, but I am enduringly amazed that, even in major cites with veritable plethoras of dining alternatives, so many sheeple flock to the Outback (and it's genre).

Grizzly wrote:...I was long subjected to regular business travel to a backwater burgh in the south, where for many years the "best" restaurant choice for dinner was the local Outback Steakhouse.

I'm living that hell right this moment. I spend 4-5 days a month at company HQ, and I've stopped asking other road warriors -- or even the locals -- to join me for dinner, because they always flock back to Outback, Macaroni Grill, Chili's and the like. Sure, suburban Jersey isn't a chow Mecca, but there's better, more interesting food around (see related topics I've authored in Beyond Chicagoland, search terms Morris or Parsippany).

I've run into the same mentality on vacation, when a gas station/minimart attendant couldn't think of a better restaurant than the Applebee's at the mall on the turnpike, or the hotel manager that said the Dairy Queen was the best food in town (actually, this was the case, as the nearest table service restaurant was 1/2 hour away).

I *used* to spend 200+ nights a year on the road on business (for four years straight). Let's be blunt. There ARE culinary deserts in this country where the chains provide the most reliable decent food available.

When I would work in Logansport, IN, the local places were bad ... and unless you wanted to drive to West Lafayette, IN (45 minute OW trip), you were stuck with fast food or mediocre diners.

In Elyria, OH, we used to do a lot of entertaining at Mountain Jack's as the food was on average pretty good and reliable.

blipsman wrote:Cheesecake Factory

Apparently, there's a big market for vast menus and obscene portions delivered by robo-servers. And Cheesecake Factory (with its all-too-accurate name) represents the kind of flashy mediocrity many people have come to accept, even expect. Personally though, the mind-numbing ordinariness of the whole experience just depresses me.
Oops, gotta go--the Domino's guy is at the door.

Does anything that Ditka does/own/endorse fall into this category?

JoelF wrote:

Grizzly wrote:...I was long subjected to regular business travel to a backwater burgh in the south, where for many years the "best" restaurant choice for dinner was the local Outback Steakhouse.

I've run into the same mentality on vacation, when a gas station/minimart attendant couldn't think of a better restaurant than the Applebee's at the mall on the turnpike, or the hotel manager that said the Dairy Queen was the best food in town (actually, this was the case, as the nearest table service restaurant was 1/2 hour away).

Oh, you've got that right! Yep, sometimes there isn't much and the chains are the best options. But, not most of the time. Especially not when in a larger location. I go out of my way to say that I'm not looking for a chain, but want something local, maybe a mom and pop, something that reflects the local cuisine or is a good example of a different cuisine. The hotel staff, the gas station attendant, [insert other person to ask] will say, "Oh, right, I think you'll love this new place down the road. It's called Applebees." Yeesh.

Maybe it's the consistency. Maybe they don't realize how ubiqutous these places are. Or maybe these somehow represent success in a way that the local place doesn't. But they are very important to the majority of Americans' food-psyches I'm sad to say.

1. Potbelly's. I mean, it's not BAD, but I don't know that it's GOOD either.

2. Starbucks, I don't think I even need to explain this one.

3. Non-chain choices:
Club Lucky in Bucktown (Club Sucky or Club What The #$%-y as it's called in my house).

4. Cafe Laguardia
5. Filter

And, I also agree that Bob-San is NOT overrated if you focus on the quality of the fish, which is pristine, rather than let them upsell you on the eel sauce mayo tempura rolls.

ViewsAskew wrote:Maybe it's the consistency. Maybe they don't realize how ubiqutous these places are. Or maybe these somehow represent success in a way that the local place doesn't. But they are very important to the majority of Americans' food-psyches I'm sad to say.

If the majority of the people don't eat out regularly, or the only place to eat is a local diner, maybe a new Applebee's IS the most attractive and exotic option.

Lots of people don't get out much.

bananasandwiches wrote:1. Potbelly's. I mean, it's not BAD, but I don't know that it's GOOD either.

Against my will, I had a work lunch at Potbelly's today. I stood in a long line like a sheep until I consumed a sandwich completely devoid of flavor.

For it's astoundingly long lines, devoted fans, and sub-par food, Potbelly's gets the Golden Sheeple award in my book.

Best,
Michael

Tango Sur
Kitsch'n On Roscoe
Hackneys

eatchicago wrote:

bananasandwiches wrote:1. Potbelly's. I mean, it's not BAD, but I don't know that it's GOOD either.

Against my will, I had a work lunch at Potbelly's today. I stood in a long line like a sheep until I consumed a sandwich completely devoid of flavor.

For it's astoundingly long lines, devoted fans, and sub-par food, Potbelly's gets the Golden Sheeple award in my book.

Best,
Michael

I would love to have a short video clip of you trying to be gracious and inoffensive while waiting in line for and eating something you really didn't want to be anywhere near. I been to that kind of lunch, bro, and I find it best to switch off the "taste" (literal and figurative) centers of the brain and just focus on, you know, dinner.

David Hammond wrote:

eatchicago wrote:

bananasandwiches wrote:1. Potbelly's. I mean, it's not BAD, but I don't know that it's GOOD either.

Against my will, I had a work lunch at Potbelly's today. I stood in a long line like a sheep until I consumed a sandwich completely devoid of flavor.

For it's astoundingly long lines, devoted fans, and sub-par food, Potbelly's gets the Golden Sheeple award in my book.

Best,
Michael

I would love to have a short video clip of you trying to be gracious and inoffensive while waiting in line for and eating something you really didn't want to be anywhere near. I been to that kind of lunch, bro, and I find it best just to switch off the "taste" (literal and figurative) centers of the brain and just focus on, you know, dinner.

I could easily re-enact it for you. It's me, standing completely silent. The expression on my face is 70% stone-faced annoyance, 20% cynical culinary elitism, and 10% hopefulness and optimism.

The 10% portion was dissolved completely after my first bite of the sandwich. If not for the medium-heat giardineria, I would not have known I was actually eating anything.

Best,
Michael

I know everyone here will call me a heathen, but I have to place Gene & Judes in this category. It's not the best hot dog in the city, nor is it the best fries. And other than tamales that you can get anywhere, you just heard the whole menu. Yes, it's a good hot dog and the fries are good. And yes, for the money, it's a good deal. But not to stand in line for 20-30 minutes at lunch.

Gotta throw Portillo's in here also. Every location I've been to - Downer's Grove, Palatine, A.H., Schaumburg - have ALWAYS been packed to the gills at lunchtime. I really don't get it.

I totally understand why Portillo's is jammed. Solid, though unspectacular Chicago standards done fast, several steps above McDonalds and the like, very consistent quality and a highly efficient drive thru system. It's a model for fast food places everywhere.

It's easy to knock Portillo's, but their burgers, dogs, and beef are a lot better than many other places in the city. I have no problem with them.

Pompeii -- mediocre enough but why are all these people standing in line?

Rosal's on Taylor -- You get to match your favorite pasta with your favorite sauce -- Who would think that's a good idea?

Come to think most Italian restaurants that I've been to in Chicago. The deep-dish syndrome is epidemic. Over-sauced, gooey and gloppy. Too much garlic and onion and chile in every single dish. No sense of proportion or subtlety or restraint. And enough for a whole meal tomorrow!

Eatchicago wrote:

Against my will, I had a work lunch at Potbelly's today. I stood in a long line like a sheep until I consumed a sandwich completely devoid of flavor.

Not to pick on EatChicago, but all-the-current-rage Grant Achatz has praised Potbelly on various occasions:

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/int ... ant-achatz

Q: What restaurant would you want to eat in once a week?

A: If I could eat at Potbelly Sandwich Works once a week, I would. They're all over Chicago [and elsewhere in the country]. You can't beat it. For three or four dollars you get awesome toasted bread, great meat, fresh vegetables.

I also heard a podcast interview with him as well where he said Potbelly sent his kitchen a lunch after Gourmet awarded him with best restaurant of the year honors. He likes the ham & swiss.

Make of that what you will... just throwing it out there to perhaps act as a pretension alert for this thread... I like to bitch about pedestrian tastes, too, but whether it be food, art, literature, music, architecture, etc., I'm sure we all have our guilty pleasures that we know aren't cool or refined...

dfawley wrote:Not to pick on EatChicago, but all-the-current-rage Grant Achatz has praised Potbelly on various occasions:

Dfawley,

I've also read that Charlie Trotter likes to take his kid to McD'. Still doesn't make McD's any more appealing to me.

Enjoy,
Gary

Right; like I said, make of it what you will... I just hoped to provide a little perspective.

dfawley wrote:Right; like I said, make of it what you will... I just hoped to provide a little perspective.

Having dined at Alinea twice, Grant's Potbelly affection speaks volumes to me.

I hereby nominate Alinea for the Sheeple's Choice Awards.

And, while I'm at it, I'll nominate Schwa too.

In the words of my friend, Rob S., "Schwaow," should really be "Schwasn't."

E.M.

Much above I agree with (Penny's) and much I don't (Portillo's). Two (relatively non-inflammatory) choices:

Joy Yee's.

Vernon Park Tap.

Don't get these.

Erik M. wrote:I hereby nominate Alinea for the Sheeple's Choice Awards.

And, while I'm at it, I'll nominate Schwa too.

I'd love to hear more detailed grievances on either place (maybe not here, I guess, but in their threads).

I always think it's very helpful when places with lots of accolades have a contrary point of view expressed in context.

Most of the places in this topic aren't LTH faves, but the above would apply to all those that are, I suppose.

G Wiv wrote:

dfawley wrote:Not to pick on EatChicago, but all-the-current-rage Grant Achatz has praised Potbelly on various occasions:

Well, next time I'm forced to choke down the leaden pile of tasteless matter of a Potbelly's sub, I'll chant the name "Achatz" as a calming mantra.

How can anyone complain about a place that allows you to create your own sandwich? I mean the bases are there but you go up and ask for other condiments to be put on the sandwich to your own taste.

HoofaH wrote:How can anyone complain about a place that allows you to create your own sandwich? I mean the bases are there but you go up and ask for other condiments to be put on the sandwich to your own taste.

Hello HoofaH and welcome to LTH.

Can't agree with the reasoning here. It's like saying "How can you complain about Old Country Buffet? You can choose your OWN dinner!"

That said, I'd rather eat at Potbelly than, say, Subway, but that's a distinction without much of a difference. With so much excellent food to be had in this city, my guess is that most of us would rather relinquish valuable tummy real estate to only the tastiest morsels.

Hammond

La Scarola

Timo (nee Thyme)

Blackie's

Reza's

John Barleycorn

Wildfire