A
generic term I use to refer to any one of a number of large
restaurant chains that pretty much are
interchangeable and serve the same
mediocre,
overly fried,
multiculturally disastrous foodstuffs, and
stupid signature drinks. Decorated with
memorabilia and
posters, usually with vaguely
early Victorian architecture, or some other
nostalgic theme. Also features a selection of
unremarkable beers and overly gooey
desserts.
One can make a case for the goddamn yuppie chain bar being the quintessential American restaurant since about 1970. The food is a mixed up jumble that represents who we are (and who we're becoming--an increase in Asian and Mexican-style recipes probably correlates directly to those populations growing in number in the US.) While embracing these foods, they also succeed in homogenizing them and placing them into the same bland whole. It's precisely the point that the food is never really bad at these places; it's just not very good, either. They're the Britney Spears of restaurants. There's also the quintessence of the reality of the United States' postwar reality of national chains where you can go anywhere in the country and be assured that you'll get pretty much the same food, prepared exactly the same way. The beauty of what's been able to be accomplished at these restaurants--especially in the last 20 years--is that they don't just produce cookie-cutter mass-produced food, at least not completely; it's at least freshly prepared and reasonably tasty while maintaining consistency. The taste, however, is most likely enhanced by artificial flavors and is dependent of significant amounts of added fat to deliver the flavor--even the "heart healthy" items on these menus will be something like a veggie burger with fries, or broiled fish with butter on the side veggies. It's a step above fast food but shares the same engineering.
Here's a partial list of goddamn yuppie chain bars:
And countless
regional goddamn yuppie chain bars like
Charlie Brown's in much of
New Jersey. /msg me with more.