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Comment by ng12 | Hacker News Reader

The value proposition really isn't that great. It's not any cheaper than food from a local Italian joint. What you're paying for is that Olive Garden experience, whatever that is worth to you.

A good example is the Olive Garden in Times Square. It's _always_ packed despite there being better Italian places a few blocks away. Not to mention, if you're willing to hop on the subway there's significantly better Italian food available in the outer boroughs for much cheaper. Olive Garden isn't that cheap, that nice, or that tasty which makes it a mystery to a lot of people.

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Part of that value prop is predictability. There are a lot of people who like to know exactly what they'll get, even when (especially when) travelling, and this is also why highway rest areas and airports so often have national fast food & coffee chains.

I would argue the cost is not much higher than fast food, but the quality is arguably still a large step up. Obviously these places get a lot of points for their excellent choice of bread (be they sticks, biscuits, etc.), and there's arguably something to be said for going to a restaurant and knowing they have food you like.

If you go to these restaurants a little more regularly, you also can stack up the rewards benefits, sometimes you can get discounted gift cards, etc. All of which you will not find at a non-chain restaurant.

Which is to say, if I can get a sirloin for the cost of a Whopper, it isn't much of a mystery why people go there.

Olive Garden's appeal in Times Square is the same as McDonald's: you're in a strange place, but you know what you can expect to find inside, and you know your kids will eat it while you have a glass of mediocre wine.

FWIW, if you go to McDonald's in some foreign countries you will be in for a shock as they serve many region-specific items. (Though in Paris, it's a pleasant shock, it's mostly the same but all of the food is better/healthier.)

Source: Yes, I traveled to the capital of a country known explicitly for it's exquisite food and did patronize a McDonald's.

FWIW, if you go to McDonald's in some foreign countries you will be in for a shock as they serve many region-specific items.

I still remember getting a surprisingly nice pepperoni pizza at a McDonald's in the US many years ago. Undoubtedly the nicest thing I've eaten at a McDonald's anywhere in the world.

Yes, I traveled to the capital of a country known explicitly for it's exquisite food and did patronize a McDonald's.

Some of the, by far, worst restaurants I've ever eaten at have been in France so there's a chance that McDonald's wasn't the worst choice you could have made.

i stopped in at one in new zealand for shits and grins. got some sorta tandoori wtfever chicken thing. it was vile. but it was exploring the unknown known.

also: walmarts in mexico are a step up from the ones in the us.

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