Are there any chain restaurants that provide the likes of "granny's home cookin'?

[JLM]

Are there any chain restaurants that provide the likes of "granny's home cookin'?

Just wondering if there is a commercial place where one can be assured of a healthy meal

 

[weaselwords]

Not that I've ever found

 

[lone wolf]

Brunet's Truck Stop on Hwy 17 west of Warren - a homey place whose meals are mostly home grown on local Mennonite farms. Great food, big portions ... and they're not insulted if you ask for a "doggie bag"

('cept it's not a chain)

 

[AnnaG]

That depends upon your definition of healthy. If you mean normal food rather than fast food or whether you mean food that hasn't been tampered with, there are a few around.

 

[talloola]

Just wondering if there is a commercial place where one can be assured of a healthy meal

We have 'quality foods' here in the valley, a grocery chain
that also have hot meals, sandwitches, chinese food and
many other foods. everything is cooked fresh, with real
fresh ingredients, lots to choose from, and if one wants
pure healthy real food, it is there each and everyday to
choose from.
They also have a sushi counter, which do the same thing.

We had a couple of their fresh cooked turkey lunches before
Xmas, one can see the turkey, can watch your meal being
sliced from it, and choose whatever you want with it.
The final choice for healthy is in the hands of the 'eater',
as to what he/she chooses.
We have lunch there often, and I would recommend it to
anyone, I am fussy about what I eat, and I love to eat,
but don't want to be fat, so I think 'past' my mouth
before I choose food.

 

[YukonJack]

Yes, any number of truck stops along U. S. Interstate highways.

Sadly, along the Trans-Canada they would be hard to find.

 

[Francis2004]

Just wondering if there is a commercial place where one can be assured of a healthy meal

The issue is not only health but taste..

What one person considers healthy needs to be good tasting as well to keep one in business..

Someone making a lot of money in a type of business will soon attract the attention of others who will either undercut costs and prices to steal away the business. This usually means lower quality or higher prices.. And in today's economy you can bet quality will pay the price to gain new customers.. Unfortunately that is business..

 

[countryboy]

Just wondering if there is a commercial place where one can be assured of a healthy meal

JLM - Your thread title said "Chain"...hmm...need to think about that one, but it's doubtful. I used to own a restaurant and am familiar with how this stuff works. There are definitely some independently operated good eateries out there, but chain restaurants? Naw, I doubt it.

 

[VanIsle]

We have 'quality foods' here in the valley, a grocery chain
that also have hot meals, sandwitches, chinese food and
many other foods. everything is cooked fresh, with real
fresh ingredients, lots to choose from, and if one wants
pure healthy real food, it is there each and everyday to
choose from.
They also have a sushi counter, which do the same thing.

We had a couple of their fresh cooked turkey lunches before
Xmas, one can see the turkey, can watch your meal being
sliced from it, and choose whatever you want with it.
The final choice for healthy is in the hands of the 'eater',
as to what he/she chooses.
We have lunch there often, and I would recommend it to
anyone, I am fussy about what I eat, and I love to eat,
but don't want to be fat, so I think 'past' my mouth
before I choose food.

We also buy Chinese from Quality Foods. At least we used to. We live across the street now from a real Chinese Restaurant and it's easier to just walk over and pick it up. Chinese food isn't particularly healthy (prepared the Canadian way). SOM also serves some chinese. I don't like it. Also have lots of great salads but they are very costly so I bring my own to work. SOM serves a terrific chicken pie but - regardless of how great it tastes, pastry and gravy are not the best foods to be eating. (even though I am making turkey pie tonight). Thrifty's, Super Store and SOM all sell Sushi. Another thing I don't eat. Rice is a lot more fattening then most people realize as well.
JLM: There isn't a chain or even a Mom and Pop operation that serves real healthy food. Places that make food for profit make it off flavour and flavour comes in fat foods like butter and oil and sauces. Olive oil for example is a healthy oil but it's still fat and will make you just as fat as lard if you have too much of it. Everything deep fried is un-healthy eating and most things fried are un-healthy. Better to BBQ at home. No added fat. Too much pasta is bad. Turns to sugar which turns to fat in your body. We ate whole wheat pasta for quite awhile but soon came to dis-like it. Have to watch portions now more than ever since we eat white again.

 

[TenPenny]

My grannys were both horrible cooks, and you'd be more likely to die from food poisoning if you ate their food.

 

[countryboy]

The one place I tend to resort to if I'm on the road and I can find one is Taco Bell. I can handle their bean burrito without too many problems. I know it's all a bunch of processed stuff, but it seems to be the "least of all evils" for me personally. In theory, it's a perfectly OK thing to eat as long as I don't start thinking about the flour and preservatives and other "things" in the tortilla (I can smell them in there), or the stuff that must be in the refritos (refried beans) to keep it all from going moldy, or even the additives in the little salsa packets. When I make them at home, I leave out all the additives and make them from scratch...taste much better. But when on the road, a person has to compromise a bit.

I used to eat at Subway once in a while, but haven't frequented them for a long while. Their mystery meats turned me off, as did their "special" sauces. Ditto the bread, which is a long way from "natural" for my tastes.

Yep, I'm a fanatic alright. I've been at this for so long the old body will no longer tolerate "industrial food." I would eat at fast food places if I could, but the resulting mess on the floor would likely be unacceptable to the other customers. When I say I can't handle it, I'm not kidding.

 

[countryboy]

If your taste buds will allow, a good Indian restaurant will usually feed me well. I realize their chicken or meats are industrial in nature, so I just order vegetarian dishes, and I like 'em smoking hot. They always oblige and I never have "reactions" to their food. Again, they're not chains but they're good.

 

[Francis2004]

Some of the best places to eat are usually small family owned restaurants..
We had a small Chinese restaurant who had been owned by the same people for 22 years.. It was a gold mine.. These are place you should look for, long ownership and high clientèle..

Chains are usually far to "profit" driven due to royalties they are required to pay the franchise owner..

Of course any business is profit driven or they will be out of business quickly..

 

[countryboy]

Some of the best places to eat are usually small family owned restaurants..
We had a small Chinese restaurant who had been owned by the same people for 22 years.. It was a gold mine.. These are place you should look for, long ownership and high clientèle..

Chains are usually far to "profit" driven due to royalties they are required to pay the franchise owner..

Of course any business is profit driven or they will be out of business quickly..

True, true. Also, most franchises don't have flexibility in their menus or ingredients either. You won't see an A & W offering something different than the one down the road, because the stuff all came off the same truck.

 

[countryboy]

Yes, any number of truck stops along U. S. Interstate highways.

Sadly, along the Trans-Canada they would be hard to find.

Hey, YJ...are we talking about places like Shoney's? Yikes, their food is pretty heavy-duty in terms of bad fats and such. I think we're talking "industrial food" supreme, at least at most truck stops I've been to...could be wrong though...it's been a while since I did a long road trip to the U.S.

 

[Risus]

Danny's Siner on 69 near Parry Sound has good home cooked food. There are a couple of other truck stops along the same stretch which are goos but I can't remember their names.

 

[Kakato]

Anyone remember voyaguer restaraunts with the big red hats?
I used to look forward to the drive to saskatchewan as a kid just to hit one of those.

 

[Risus]

Anyone remember voyaguer restaraunts with the big red hats?
I used to look forward to the drive to saskatchewan as a kid just to hit one of those.

There used to be a couple on the 401 between Toronto and Montreal.

 

[lone wolf]

The one at 400 and King is gone too. I think McDonalds has it now

 

[Kakato]

I remember cruising to Estevan Sask from Alberta and we would allways look for the big red hat.
There wasnt many other options back then though once you left Medicine hat.
7/11 on the other hand outsells the KFC here for chicken but I think it's also the busiest one in western Canada or so I have been told.
The KFC here is also the home of their gravey,a little old Italian lady that lives here invented it when she ran the franchise many years ago but they dont advertise it.