I try to stay away from chain restaurants in NJ for this reason

Sometimes, you just get a craving for something like Red Robin. Maybe you get a craving to go to Longhorn Steakhouse. Or Outback. Or Applebees.

It's easy to think with your stomach and not your mind. Hell, it's happened to me a couple of times recently.

Last weekend, I had a craving for Olive Garden that I couldn't shake. So I decided to go there.

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This weekend, I had a craving for Red Robin. And once again, I thought with my stomach and not my head and decided to go there.

I want to make one thing clear: I'm not saying that the quality of food at these chain restaurants is bad. I thoroughly enjoyed my burger at Red Robin. And I liked my soup salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden.

But when it's stacked up against the mom-and-pop type of restaurants in New Jersey, it simply doesn't compare. These big chains have so many locations spread across the entire country that the effort doesn't have to be there when it comes to ensuring that someone's meal is perfect.

Red Robin can afford me not liking my food and never coming back. The corner pizzeria might be a different story.

The owners of those mom-and-pop places rely on us liking our meals and coming back. They put everything they have into each dish to make sure you have a good experience. You don't get that at chain places.

Maybe all of this is obvious, but it struck me recently. No shade to chain restaurants but I want to avoid them from now on if I can.

Well, until I start to think with my stomach again.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5's Kyle Clark. Any opinions expressed are his own.

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