Languish.org

Personally, can't stand Denny's.  Food always seemed more reheated than cooked. 

Der Waffel Haus is a guilty pleasure, but they don't sell scrapple, and that's simply un-Confederacy.  So, IHOP it is.

QuoteWhy IHOP and Denny's are leading a roadside diner revival
by Drew Harwell
Washington Post

America's roadside diners, pancake houses and coffee stops have enjoyed a sweet ride in recent months. Within the past week, IHOP and Denny's said their average restaurant's sales last year climbed 3 percent over 2013, the biggest year-over-year jump in a decade. Denny's emboldened investors pushed the stock for "America's Diner" to a 17-year high this week.

They have none of the newness, hype or prestige of fancy eateries or fast-casual chains. But amid super-low gas prices and an improving economy, analysts said, diners offer something far more attractive: Cheap menus, unavoidable restaurants and a direct line to the all-American appetite.

"Folks who go to family dining restaurants, these are not people making a million dollars a year," said Mark Kalinowski, a research analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott. "These are everyday Americans, and when they leave the gas station with $20 more in their pocket, a little bit of that finds its way into the cash registers of the family dining chains."

Mild winter weather, cheap gas and a better job market have helped persuade more hungry Americans to go out to eat. The chain-restaurant industry in the last quarter saw the best same-store sales growth in six years, Black Box Intelligence data show. The conditions also have pushed Americans to take more road trips, where they'll pass diners on nearly every highway exit.

At Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, where more than 80 percent of its southern-fried Americana eateries are plunked directly next to interstate off-ramps, sales at the average restaurant soared 8 percent in the last three months. The chain's stock has also climbed to its highest point since publicly debuting in 1981.

"Our demographic is average American, good working people," Bruce Dean, a co-founder of the Black Bear Diner chain, told industry journal Nation's Restaurant News. "Money has been tight traditionally. Wages are relatively flat. But if gas prices go down 30 percent, you just got a raise."

Decades-old diners have made clear that they are not ready to go quietly into retirement. IHOP's parent company, DineEquity, said Wednesday that franchisees nationwide will open, on average, a new diner every week this year. Waffle House is partnering with a sharing-economy app, Roadie, by turning its diners into pit stops for travelers who deliver packages along their drives.

Denny's, the South Carolina-based chain famous for workaday fare like the Grand Slam and Moons Over My Hammy, opened two dozen restaurants in the last three months of the year and even reopened some shuttered diners, including a Denny's around Thanksgiving near the Las Vegas Casino Royale.

The chain is busting into the fast-casual market pioneered by Chipotle with a millennial-targeted spin-off, called The Den, one of which opened last month near a college campus in San Diego. But it's also going upscale, opening its first diner in New York City with a full bar and a $300 Grand Cru Slam, a brunch for two that comes with a bottle of vintage Dom Perignon champagne.

Denny's, which calls itself "the world's largest full-service family dining chain," is also pushing heavily to expand worldwide, and it now has 100 diners across Canada, Curaçao, Honduras, New Zealand and other countries. The food, however, is not just flapjacks: In Japan, Denny's has offered up rich plates of massaman curry, promoting it as "the most delicious food in the world."

That push has taken the humble homestyle brand into unexpected territory. The chain plans to open 30 diners across the Middle East over the next decade. This year, a franchisee plans to open the first Denny's in the United Arab Emirates.

"Our unique 'America's Diner' brand positioning serves as that foundation ... (for) a differentiated and relevant brand," Denny's chief executive John C. Miller said in a call with analysts last week. "It provides the warm welcome that we all want, that place to be ourselves, and that place affectionately known as Denny's."

As with most diners, the chain has won lots of business and customer loyalty simply by keeping its food cheap. Denny's "$2 $4 $6 $8 Value Menu" has been a rousing success, Miller said, and was "very helpful during the tougher economic time."

But with improvements in the economy and consumer confidence, the chain is now also profiting both off subtly raised prices – for example, a $2 biscuit, gravy and egg breakfast that now costs $4 — and guests who are opting to splurge on pricier-but-still-cheap dishes, like steaks and salmon.

Denny's has stretched its marketing across all ends of the consumer spectrum, from extending long-running seniors' discounts to launching a Millennial-targeted animated Web series. To reach Hispanics, the diner's fastest growing demographic, the chain has run Spanish-language advertising and social media campaigns, like a Denny's Latino Facebook page. (In 2012, the chain sponsored a spoof video in which "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan is seen "taming an unruly Denny's Sizzlin' Skillet.")

The diner chains, analysts said, are also just getting better at knowing what customers want. IHOP dropped pot roast, tilapia and other unpopular dishes in recent years to better focus eaters' appetites (and chefs' time) on its better-selling dishes. Denny's launched a new menu last month that Miller said features "more pictures and opportunities for up-selling."

Even simple changes, applied on a national scale, have proven to be wildly profitable. When IHOP added prices on the menu for all its appetizers, orders of the dishes climbed, research analyst Kalinowski said, because patrons could see just how cheap those Monster Mozza Sticks really were.

Denny's has credited some of its growth to a massive "new Heritage" remodeling project, in which the chain's outposts will be made to look more like an old-fashioned diner. But it offers more than just looks: Among the upgrades are floors that are easier to clean, helping save workers' time and keep eaters happy.

The roadside-diner business will always remain vulnerable to climbing gas prices, bad weather and volatile food costs (though prices for bacon, a diner staple, have recently plunged). And some of those changes could happen quicker than others: Gas prices have climbed every day for the last month, AAA data show.

But diners have a few fundamental strengths, too. They offer so many things on the menu that they're more insulated when food prices shift: A diner could shake off the same climbing beef prices, for instance, that would make a steakhouse sweat. And many are open 24-7, guaranteeing them a consistently captive audience late at night.

Yet the sweetest part of the diner business, analysts said, may be how easy it is to love: by all ages, at all price points and at all times of day.

"If it was just blue-hairs in the restaurant, I'd be worried about where the sales would be 10 years from now," said Mark Smith, a senior research analyst at Feltl & Co. "But they have customers coming in as kids on the weekend with their family, who then grow up into college kids stumbling in during the middle of the night, who then later come in and bring their own kids. They're able to keep that lifelong customer, which is very appealing when you're looking long term."

Pancakes >>>>> waffles

I wanted to pick that last option but I'm not European. :(

The best are diner's where the food is made with fresh ingredients and the passion & care that only a true owner-operator can give, fuck all that franchised bullshit.

I wish Cracker Barrel would get rid of that knick knack maze you have to get through to get a table.

Quote from: garbon on February 27, 2015, 12:35:56 AM
I wanted to pick that last option but I'm not European. :(

Oh look, it's the Cunt McMuffin.

IHOP has crepes.  Do the others?  Fuck if I know, I stopped at the crepes.

Waffle house, good menu of artery-clogging fare  :cool:

Germany has Autobahnraststätten instead. :x

I do the Black Bear thing once in a while.

Quote from: MadImmortalMan on February 27, 2015, 04:16:09 AM
I do the Black Bear thing once in a while.

Rummage through random people's cabins in the woods?

I loves me some Cracker Barrel.

Can't decide between Waffle House and Cracker Barrel. :hmm:

Chain diners.  :yuk:

I prefer going to legit establishments. My two faves in Dallas are Norma's and Mama's Daughters.

Are these the same as "family restaurants"?  :unsure:

Jim's

Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 27, 2015, 12:05:57 AM
Personally, can't stand Denny's.  Food always seemed more reheated than cooked. 

Der Waffel Haus is a guilty pleasure, but they don't sell scrapple, and that's simply un-Confederacy.  So, IHOP it is.

Der Waffen Hausen is my choice. Ihop being #2

Quote from: 11B4V on February 27, 2015, 11:02:07 AM
Der Waffen Hausen is my choice. Ihop being #2

I'll have the "Panzers Over Poland", please!

Never did enough roadside dining to develop a preference for any particular chain. They're all fine as far as I'm concerned.

Denny's, though, is one of the few 24-hour joints in Vancouver so do good service post-clubbing/ post-show... or they did back when I went clubbing/ went to shows.

http://www.huddlehouse.com/ , even better than Waffle House.

Quote from: lustindarkness on February 27, 2015, 11:10:08 AM
http://www.huddlehouse.com/ , even better than Waffle House.

Protip: Avoid the one in Harlan Kentucky. Srsly.

Dennys is the only one I've tried. Its alright. Not much choice though, like most such family restaurant places.

My favorite diner was in Newark, Delaware on main street.  It was in the classic style and was run by some Turkish dudes.  They made some kick-ass late night cheesesteaks.

I had never been to a Waffle House until last December.  Food was actually edible, but service was pretty bad.

Why is there no option for a non chain diner?  Those are the best.

Another comment about the European option.  The Italians flock to their Autogrill restaurants just off of the freeway.  We made the mistake of bypassing the Autogrill at the freeway exit and trying to find a nice place to eat some lunch in the small town a short distance a way.  The locals pointed us back to the Autogrill.

Quote from: crazy canuck on February 27, 2015, 12:29:45 PM
Why is there no option for a non chain diner? 

Because I knew people would post them anyway.

Quote from: Tyr on February 27, 2015, 12:19:18 PM
Dennys is the only one I've tried. Its alright. Not much choice though, like most such family restaurant places.

:blink: Their menu is like 12 pages long.

The Canadian options is probably Husky.  Pretty good gas station diners where available.

No love for Perkins?  :mad: It was our staple for going out for food after the bars closed at 2am location...

If I'm listing a favourite, I believe I am obliged to answer that it is my mother-in-law's restaurant.  They opened up their restaurant in their tiny town of 100 people - it's one of two businesses in town (the other is the local hotel).  It serves simple, diner-type food, like your standard breakfast menu, burgers, and a few different entrees (it's where I get my annual liver and onions fix).  It really is a one-woman show so she doesn't scratch make everything (she buys her bread and buns, fries and fried chicken are frozen), but it's simple food well made.  Even with their fairly erratic hours (there's no other cook, so if my mother in law needs to take a day off they simply hang a Closed sign up front) they still have a small but loyal client base.

Plus, because I'm family, I don't get charged and I can order off the menu if I want. :)

There's a bit of a trend for hipster diners at least in Edmonton, and I think in other locations, which I sort-of like, but still find a bit pretentious.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 27, 2015, 12:32:11 PM

Quote from: Tyr on February 27, 2015, 12:19:18 PM
Dennys is the only one I've tried. Its alright. Not much choice though, like most such family restaurant places.

:blink: Their menu is like 12 pages long.

Not in Japan.

Lets exclude Cracker Barrel because it really doesn't belong in the list.

Dennys is the place we'd go for breakfast after church on sunday morning. It is respectable. Same thing for IHOP.

Waffle House is a place for drunks at 3 in the morning. Waffle House is ghetto. It is a lot cheaper. It is the place that a cook once yelled at me threateningly while pointing a knife in my direction after I complained about how my steak was cooked. Why would I ever complain about a Waffle House steak? Because I was drunk, which is as it should be in the Waffle House.

Waffle House easily wins this. You can have experiences in the Waffle House. I used to go to Dennys to study for tests in college.

Quote from: PRC on February 27, 2015, 12:34:58 PM
The Canadian options is probably Husky.  Pretty good gas station diners where available.

Husky House is a good one, though I haven't been in one for years.

For the Americans, Husky is a chain of gas stations, and Husky House is a restaurant attached to some of their gas stations along the highway.

Humpty's is another Canadian chain, though not one I'd list as a favourite.

I can't think of a single chain present in the Montreal region. Quebec regions have the Normadin chains but in Montreal, I'm drawing a blank.

Quote from: Barrister on February 27, 2015, 12:38:01 PM

Quote from: PRC on February 27, 2015, 12:34:58 PM
The Canadian options is probably Husky.  Pretty good gas station diners where available.

Husky House is a good one, though I haven't been in one for years.

For the Americans, Husky is a chain of gas stations, and Husky House is a restaurant attached to some of their gas stations along the highway.

Humpty's is another Canadian chain, though not one I'd list as a favourite.

Yeah, Humpty's sucks.  I prefer the hipster diners or the one of a kinds like your Mother-in-Laws but I recalled that I ate at a Husky House in, I think High Level, almost twenty years ago and it was pretty good. 

Quote from: Barrister on February 27, 2015, 12:38:01 PM

Quote from: PRC on February 27, 2015, 12:34:58 PM
The Canadian options is probably Husky.  Pretty good gas station diners where available.

Husky House is a good one, though I haven't been in one for years.

For the Americans, Husky is a chain of gas stations, and Husky House is a restaurant attached to some of their gas stations along the highway.

*Cal starts planning road trip to investigate*

Quote from: Grey Fox on February 27, 2015, 12:39:22 PM
I can't think of a single chain present in the Montreal region. Quebec regions have the Normadin chains but in Montreal, I'm drawing a blank.

Cora's is from Quebec no?  They're pretty okay.

Non-chain diners can be very much hit or miss.

The exception I think is diners run by ethnics.  I've never had a bad experience in a diner run by someone with an accent.

Cracker Barrel isn't a diner, chain or not.

A real diner completely pwns a chain diner, for the record- I even consider The Golden Pigeon (our local divey kind of place) to be better than any of the chains.  For chain diners, it's a toss-up between IHOP and Bob Evans (which you neglected to add, sir :angry: ).  Denny's and Friendly's (also missing from the list) suck, and I get sick whenever I eat at one, regardless of location.

Quote from: PRC on February 27, 2015, 12:40:38 PM

Quote from: Grey Fox on February 27, 2015, 12:39:22 PM
I can't think of a single chain present in the Montreal region. Quebec regions have the Normadin chains but in Montreal, I'm drawing a blank.

Cora's is from Quebec no?  They're pretty okay.

Does that count? It's only a breakfast & lunch thing. They are close by 3pm.

Quote from: Barrister on February 27, 2015, 12:35:31 PM
No love for Perkins?  :mad:

My personal favorite "family restaurant", but it's very spotty in some areas;  51 locations in Pennsylvania, but 1 in Georgia?  C'mon.  Hence, the choice for regional chain, kinda like Black Bear Diner and the like.

Bob's Big Boy belongs on the list too.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 27, 2015, 12:40:50 PM
Non-chain diners can be very much hit or miss.

The exception I think is diners run by ethnics.  I've never had a bad experience in a diner run by someone with an accent.

I'm always concerned about the cleanliness of those places.

That's probably my favourite part of my MIL's place - there's no door to the kitchen, everyone can see how immaculately clean she keeps it.

Quote from: DontSayBanana on February 27, 2015, 12:41:22 PM
Cracker Barrel isn't a diner, chain or not.

It was mentioned in the article; therefore, it went into the poll.

QuoteA real diner completely pwns a chain diner,

Agreed, but unfortunately the Languish poll method does not provide the ability to list all 674,000+ possible options.

QuoteFor chain diners, it's a toss-up between IHOP and Bob Evans (which you neglected to add, sir :angry: ).  Denny's and Friendly's (also missing from the list) suck, and I get sick whenever I eat at one, regardless of location.

Bob Evans is a family restaurant with regional weaknesses as well.  So get over it.   :P   Friendly's doesn't count, period.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 27, 2015, 12:42:46 PM
Bob's Big Boy belongs on the list too.

That's it.  Fucking poll is fucking closed.

Corrected and reopened. :)

Fuck you, you fucking fuck.

Quote from: Barrister on February 27, 2015, 12:44:34 PM
I'm always concerned about the cleanliness of those places.

That's probably my favourite part of my MIL's place - there's no door to the kitchen, everyone can see how immaculately clean she keeps it.

I don't think any diner in our area is run by WASPs.  The best is run by Greeks (along with many, many others), there are a few Italian/Sicilian owners who cling pretty tightly to their mediterranean backgrounds, but they tend more toward pizza shops around here.  The diner with the most cleanliness problems around here is run by Turks (still an okay place, though- many, many hangovers after late-night drinking have been averted by grabbing a wee-hours breakfast there).

Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 27, 2015, 12:40:50 PM
Non-chain diners can be very much hit or miss.

The exception I think is diners run by ethnics.  I've never had a bad experience in a diner run by someone with an accent.

The best road side diners I been to are located in smaller rural communities along major highways. 

Quote from: DontSayBanana on February 27, 2015, 12:52:10 PM
I don't think any diner in our area is run by WASPs.  The best is run by Greeks (along with many, many others), there are a few Italian/Sicilian owners who cling pretty tightly to their mediterranean backgrounds, but they tend more toward pizza shops around here.  The diner with the most cleanliness problems around here is run by Turks (still an okay place, though- many, many hangovers after late-night drinking have been averted by grabbing a wee-hours breakfast there).

You ever been to the White Dotte Dairy Bar or Vincentown Diner in Vincentown (duh)?  They're both pretty good.

IHOP out of those choices.

There is a good local place called the Nighthawk I go to from time to time.  It used to be very widespread in this area but there is only one left now.

Quote from: Barrister on February 27, 2015, 12:35:31 PM
No love for Perkins?

The first time I ever skipped school, it was to go to Perkins. I was a senior in high school.  :P

My first time was as a senior too. Not much fun to skip school when there's a parent at home and you don't have any wheels.

Most of the Perkins are gone now that were near me.  :cry:

We only ever had one Perkins in Louisville, and it burned down about seven years ago or so after some jackwagon threw a lit cigarette into the mulch out front.

The former location is now an IHOP. :sleep:

My favorite non-chain:
http://www.cottagecafespokane.com/menu.html (http://www.cottagecafespokane.com/menu.html)

(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cottagecafespokane.com%2Fimages%2Fseating1.jpg&hash=4798f3dc2d46f6d59799f4bd443473a4211b129a)

Quote from: citizen k on February 27, 2015, 11:19:19 PM
My favorite non-chain:
http://www.cottagecafespokane.com/menu.html (http://www.cottagecafespokane.com/menu.html)

(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cottagecafespokane.com%2Fimages%2Fseating1.jpg&hash=4798f3dc2d46f6d59799f4bd443473a4211b129a)

These non chains are probably the best