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Millennials are killing chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebee's
- Thread starter alr1ght
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Snowybreak
Member
If I want wings, I'm going to the pub, not to a chain place. If I want American casual, I'm also going to the pub.
There are like... 15 different pubs in my city that each have rather fantastic food. Plus I'd rather actually have a choice in my beer.
There are like... 15 different pubs in my city that each have rather fantastic food. Plus I'd rather actually have a choice in my beer.
giancarlo123x
Banned
Or those places should stop serving shit food, I do love chilies and their 2 for 1 long Islands.
Blackleg-sanji1
Banned
Aw I like apple b's...
Hell yeah
No one bitches about us for anything because we are too small to matter
Killing_Joke
Member
Not surprised. Applebee's menu is shit and overpriced.
Only been BWW once and was disappointed. There's so much competition including 24/7 diners that I'm shocked half these places are still in business.
Only been BWW once and was disappointed. There's so much competition including 24/7 diners that I'm shocked half these places are still in business.
Fourth Storm
Member
My own anecdote is similar. I used to visit Applebees all the time in my teens and early twenties. Likewise with the other big chains like Outback and TGI Fridays. BWW was cool for getting the guys together for a game. They had a solid bar and the wing sauces are pretty tasty. Applebees was always lower-tier...Crapplebees. We went to drink and eat cheap apps after class or our part-time jobs.
I've got a family now and my budget is much tighter. The appeal of these chains is completely lost...unless you count the nostalgia one feels for simpler times I suppose. The last few times I went to Outback and Olive Garden, the food quality had obviously gone down hill and the waitresses seemed to rush us through. I'd rather enjoy some home cookin' and craft brews, which I can buy at my local liquor store for much cheaper. Five Guys is also close and a solid choice for grease burgers.
I don't really feel bad, because I've read articles about Olive Garden thinking the answer to their falling revenue is to increase customer turnover--as if people are just dying to get in and they can't serve people fast enough. It's kind of amazing that they want to pretend we're not wise to their frozen menu items. If they got with the times a bit, maybe they'd stand a chance.
teruterubozu
Member
The local Buffalo Wild Wings is filled with teenagers, it's like THE place t go for them.
Maybe not Millenials but they seem to be popular with the upcoming generation.
Maybe not Millenials but they seem to be popular with the upcoming generation.
TheChocolateWar
Member
What obligation do we have to support failing business models? None.
SoRuffShoNuff
Member
I wish I could find these Buffalo Wild Wings that aren't packed as hell all the time.
entremet
Member
Just like Applebee's. I remember that was my goto date spot in HS, but you eventually outgrow it lol.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Millennials can't both be irresponsible for not saving up for a house because the eat out too much and also killing off restaurant chains because they cook at home too much
Justin Bailey
------ ------
Food trucks are killing a lot of casual dining places, especially ones that don't serve good food.
You get hot-off-the-grill food that's restaurant quality, on the cheap.
You get hot-off-the-grill food that's restaurant quality, on the cheap.
AdmiralSnackbar
Member
Applebee's has sort of rebranded and mafe a big deal of "look you can just get a burger fries and a drink here for kinda cheap"
I decided to give it a shot and looked up thier online ordering. Turns out none of those prices apply to carryout and it's still pretty expensive. You're better off going to the Wendy's, burger King, or McDonald's next door.
I decided to give it a shot and looked up thier online ordering. Turns out none of those prices apply to carryout and it's still pretty expensive. You're better off going to the Wendy's, burger King, or McDonald's next door.
Adam Sadler
Member
This odd. A lot of Millennials here LOVE BBW. I don't really care for their wings honestly.
Dahellisdat
Member
Yeah I can't even justify eating at BWW anymore, especially if it's not on a Tuesday. It's like $15 god damn dollars for a dozen wings. It's absolute shit value.
Even the Tuesday deal is shit now. It's still like 80 cents a wing. That's not a deal, it's just slightly less of a total ripoff.
Current Tuesday special is half price traditional wings. I pair that with the $4 happy hour appetizers (usually fried pickles) and a drink for a good size meal for about $10.
Talking to my wife, she's say I've definitely been propping BWW up as a millennial.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Buffalo Wild Wings is fine. I like their mango habanero wings.
Applebees, on the other hand, is pure shit.
Applebees, on the other hand, is pure shit.
SDCowboy
Member
I don't ever get wings at wings places anymore. I just get the buffalo strips. Wings are ludicrously expensive suddenly now, and they have little meat on them. I don't get the point.
DudeWithNoName
Member
Yep, I agree this is a great thing. Applebees and TGI Fucking Fridays? No tears shed.
I'm a millennial and we go out to eat at least once a week but I live in an area with great non-chain restaurants that are probably only 10-20% more expensive than the shitty chain ones so I never go to Wild Wings, Applebees, Chilis etc. Their food is generic, the atmosphere cheesy and you're still walking out of there spending $30-$40 a person if you get appetizers and a couple drinks, no thanks.
Yeah none of these places want to get better, they will try every other option they can think before improving quality or decreasing price.
Olive Garden is another great example that has fallen from grace. When I was younger it was a real treat to go there. Especially since there were no good Italian restaurants in the area I grew up. It was my favorite restaurant. But I've learned how to make everything at home for a fraction of the price.
Between our tight budgets and low value proposition for eating at the restaurants what do they want us to do?
PrivateWHudson
Member
Applebies is the only place I've ever been that couldn't even get mozzarella sticks right. Everything tasted off. Don't know if it was just bad, or some signature spice blend, but I will never go back. And yeah, that was 15 years ago, nothing to do with millennials.
The Albatross
Member
Thank you, millennials.
I am an old millennial (1984) who worked at the big chains throughout high school and college. I always appreciated their existence, but haven't willingly eaten at a major chain restaurant in 10 years. Life's just too short and the options are just too plentiful. Went to a Buffalo WIld WIngs once when it first opened in my area and it was an experience that i'm not interested in repeating again. I think they serve a purpose: a meeting place for families after childrens' soccer or little league games where the kids will be happy with the menu and the parents can get a much needed drink.
I've never had BWW's wings/boneless, but as a bit of a wing lover, I understand why people like boneless strips. It's still chicken, which is debatable for mcnuggets, and many people don't like working for the meat. I prefer bone-in because they almost always taste better, but I'll occassionally get boneless if I'm getting a very hot variety of sauce, in which case the bone-in hotness would get all over my hands and face, in my fucking beard, and it'd stick with me for an hour or get in my eyes. My wife likes boneless because she doesn't like the sinew/cartilage that is intrinsic with really cleaning a bone. It's like getting a rib sandwich vs. getting ribs at a restaurant... People like the taste of meat cooked as ribs, but don't want to work for it. And I get that.
Good boneless strips can be really, really good.
I am an old millennial (1984) who worked at the big chains throughout high school and college. I always appreciated their existence, but haven't willingly eaten at a major chain restaurant in 10 years. Life's just too short and the options are just too plentiful. Went to a Buffalo WIld WIngs once when it first opened in my area and it was an experience that i'm not interested in repeating again. I think they serve a purpose: a meeting place for families after childrens' soccer or little league games where the kids will be happy with the menu and the parents can get a much needed drink.
I've never had BWW's wings/boneless, but as a bit of a wing lover, I understand why people like boneless strips. It's still chicken, which is debatable for mcnuggets, and many people don't like working for the meat. I prefer bone-in because they almost always taste better, but I'll occassionally get boneless if I'm getting a very hot variety of sauce, in which case the bone-in hotness would get all over my hands and face, in my fucking beard, and it'd stick with me for an hour or get in my eyes. My wife likes boneless because she doesn't like the sinew/cartilage that is intrinsic with really cleaning a bone. It's like getting a rib sandwich vs. getting ribs at a restaurant... People like the taste of meat cooked as ribs, but don't want to work for it. And I get that.
Good boneless strips can be really, really good.
I call bullshit. Your can't buy 30 wings at the grocery store for 6 bucks. So unless they're losing money or have the best supplier ever, your not getting that many wings for that price.
DontBeThatGuy
Member
I'm a pretty good cook.
This is why I would never go there again after being dragged by a friend. I thought they would be like chicken tenders but they were crappy nuggets. The lunch special wasn't a bad value if my memory is correct. The beer list sucked as it was basically "IPA's are cool bro".
old
Member
Or in other words, millennials aren't interested in paying tips. Probably one of the reasons Uber got so popular too.
And who can blame them. Tipping has gotten out of hand. It went from voluntary to practically mandatory on top of always increasing. 10% then 13% then 15% then 18% now 20% and even then most act like anything under 25% is a total dick move.
GoldenEye 007
Member
That sounds about right for a grocery store. About 15 whole winds in a pack at your standard Kroger our something. But yeah that would mean basically no profit for a restaurant.
For 30 wings at a restaurant, I would expect at least $25.
Lil'DigiOp
Member
I go to Chilis all the time, I swear this "millennial" crybaby bullshit needs to end.
20% has been the "norm" for a long time, and how is it mandatory? Unless you have a large group of people where they automatically add gratuity, you don't have to tip a cent if you don't want to. (Whether doing so will make you feel like a shithead is another question but that's guilt, not something imposed on you)
0ptimusPayne
Member
Eating out constantly is such a waste of money its not even funny. Don't get me wrong I love going to local restaurants/food trucks when I can but I make my food at home 95% of the time. Nothing worse than paying $10-$25 for shitty service and then having to tip 20% on top of that at a chain restaurant.
Well that's certainly a good way of looking at it
Does that make us assholes morally for not being that into tipping? 🤔
No that can't be. It's the US culture that is wrong. Tipping is pretty anxiety causing though. Am I giving enough? Am I giving too little. Is the waiter going to die because I gave 15%. eeek. Just pay people a fair wage and be done with it.
Bubbavelli
Banned
Buffalo Wild Wings is the worst. I don't think i've ever left there satisfied. Wingstop, on the other hand, has some pretty solid wings
capitalCORN
Member
It's not about the shit quality, it's the customer base that are failing the industry!
The Albatross
Member
There's a good wing place near us and yeah, 36 wings is $32, but their wings are large and high quality. 36 wings is also a lot of wings for 3-4 people. We go out for wings and beer after bball games sometimes, and usually get 36 and we're all stuffed.
$6 for 30 wings can't even be chicken. Like, there's a bottom price somewhere and if it drops below that price, you're not getting human-grade food.
Depends on where... There's a few Wingstops throughout the North East and the three I've been to are all terrible. It's a franchise though so I imagine the quality differs.
outunderthestars
Banned
Kaneda Shotaro
Member
Good. Applebees is garbage and BWW has terrible wings. This is why I avoid most (not all) chain restaurants. I don't feel like eating microwaved food.
Yeah, this is the reason bdubs wings have went up so much in price. Wings in general have went up a lot in price.
Fwiw, I still eat st B-Dubs and Applebees, and both still appear to do a good business where I live. There are two of each within 5 miles of my house.
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