Somewhere between the mega-chains and the mom ‘n pops lies a gray area of eateries. They have multiple locations and standardized menus, but they lack the corporate consistency and allow for variations between outlets. They are…duh,duh,duh…the regional chains!
That’s right, I’m talking about Piatti, Bandera, California Cafe and, my personal favorite, Scott’s Seafood. (Sorry, did I just blow your mind? You didn’t know that Bandera was part of the “Los Altos Grille” chain? Well wake up and smell the jalapeno cornbread sucker!)
What all of these establishments have in common is (feel free to disagree with me) consistent, delicious, moderately high-priced food. And tops on this list would have to be Scott’s. In my many years in California, I’ve eaten many meals at Scott’s Seafood, at Loehman’s plaza, in Folsom and in Oakland. In all those visits, I’ve never had a bad experience.
Take this last Friday, for example. We arrived for a late dinner at 8:30 and we quickly seated at a very nice booth. The after golf/tennis/bridge crowd from Rio Del Oro and Del Paso was fully in their cups by now so the bar was raucous and the diners were slurring their words when ordering their cheesecake. We watched as one woman got up to stumble to the ladies’ room and her friends immediately started doing “drink math” to figure how many their friend had had. “I only had one dirty martini and you had that glass of wine. Did she have two martinis? Well, she was out in the sun all day.”
Anyway, our waiter Jack, who apologized for making us wait all of 2 minutes, gave us fantastic service the whole night. The appetizer, an ahi tuna take on the lettuce wrap, was fantastic, with red cabbage slaw and onions. Our entrees were beautiful, mine a southern style snapper with grits and greens and my lovely wife’s a salmon special with chilled vegetables. When Jack found out it was our 3 month wedding anniversary, he generously comped us dessert and gave us heartfelt congratulations. From beginning to end, it was a fantastic meal. Nothing but accolades for Scott’s. The service, food and experience were all top notch.
Scott’s Seafood
Munroe and Fair Oaks, Sacramento
Food**** Service**** Ambience****
The Sac Rag 
Another good regional chain: McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant.
I think it’s Portland-based, and will be in Sacramento soon. (If not already.) On a March business trip to San Diego, I was so busy at a conference I ate multiple meals in the San Diego McCormick’s, in the Omni Hotel (where I was staying) across from PetCo park. I loved the restaurant’s hand-made potato chips, but they’re only for lunch.
We asked for some for a late-night snack on a Saturday night, and were told we couldn’t get them. Lunch only. My dinner companion said, “I bet I could get them if I were Tony Gwynn.”
The waiter said even Tony Gwynn couldn’t get them after lunch. Don’t know as we believed him, but we found something almost as yummy. We’ll be back there in August (Padres-Giants) and will have some of those chips, please. For lunch.
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Yes, rumor is that they’re moving into the old BPOE building on J and 11th. However, I don’t know if it will be known as McCormick and Scmick’s or McCormick and Kuleto’s (the more popular bay area version of the name). However, I’m not sure if this would qualify as a regional chain since the restaurants are located all over both coasts with over 20 locations. Maybe I should come up with some strict perameters that distinguish regional chains from regular chains. Hmmmmm…
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My bad. I didn’t check. I just thought they were West Coast.
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No prob. They’re a strange group, though, at M&S. They not only have name brand restaurants, but they buy up existing establishments. The most well known example here is Spenger’s Fish Grotto in Berkeley. That would be like Morton’s buying the Broiler, and keeping it as the Broiler…just kinda weird.
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I think a good classification would be “regional restaraunt group” or just “restaurant group”. Maybe “regional boutique restaurant groupe” (adding the e in group might make it more upscale). Il Fornaio could probably go on that list even though they’ve expanded out of California.
When I signed up for my California Cafe frequent fattie card a long time ago, their literature indicated that I could redeem my points at the California Cafe at the Mall of America (in case I found myself in Minnesota).
Speaking of California Cafe, I always mistakenly called it “Cafe California” because of a Valentine’s Day dinner at the Cafe California that was in Davis.
Wasn’t there going to be a Buckhorn Restaurant on L Street in that new apartment building across from the Distillery?
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