Gross Chain Restaurants Baby Boomers Just Love

Do you cringe when your grandma calls to invite you to dinner at that nasty restaurant they’re always going to? Well, you’re not alone. Baby Boomers have a taste for some less than yummy food. It seems like the only demographic keeping those nasty chain restaurants open are those who get that senior discount. 

Maybe their taste buds got too old and fell off? We’re not quite sure what the appeal of these restaurants is to these seniors. Listen, cooking for two is a little difficult, and it’s much easier to eat out most of the time…but those on a fixed income should take a few notes from Dave Ramsay and stop wasting money on to-go. 

From greasy buffets to the all-familiar chain restaurant that we’re quite sure only cooks with a microwave, these are the disgusting chain restaurants Baby Boomers just can’t get enough of. Did we leave off your favorite restaurant? Let us know how you really feel in the comments!

Ahh, Golden Corral. One of America’s original all-you-can-eat buffets. Older folk love Golden Corral because they think they’re getting a major value for the money. Here’s the problem…Golden Corral can afford to serve you as much as you want because they’re serving low-quality food. 

Younger adults are starting to have major concerns about the quality of food they’re putting into their bodies. Meanwhile, Baby Boomers are shoveling those cream-cheese-loaded mashed potatoes down their faces as fast as you can say senior discount. 

We’re not quite sure if Applebee’s even cooks their food or just heats it in microwavable plastic pouches. Several years ago, a viral video leaked showing what the kitchen in an Applebee’s actually looks like…and well…let’s just say there wasn’t much of a kitchen to be seen. 

If you’re a college student taking advantage of those dollar margaritas, we get it. But, the only people still choosing to chow down at Applebee’s are the sixty-five and up crowd. It’s not like the food is cheap either, so our only explanation is that Baby Boomers have had a few too many dollar margaritas with the college kids! 

Baby Boomers absolutely love Chick-fil-A. It’s fast food and southern cooking. It’s seasoned like a bag of flour, and you can usually find them right outside of a mall! Those are all things Baby Boomers enjoy. If Chick-fil-A started doing meals on wheels, Baby Boomers might not ever leave their homes again!

We get it, though. Those chicken minis have a hold on the rest of us too. However, all good things in moderation, right? Eating all of that greasy fried chicken and buttery bread will start to catch up with you! Next thing you know, the lord’s chicken is sending you to meet your maker. 

Have you been in a Chilli’s lately? If so, did you stop and look around at the clientele? Well, if you do…you’ll notice a greasy 16-year-old welcoming you at the door immediately to meet the 50 year old divorcee at the bar, and the fun-loving sixty-five and up crowd having lunch after church. 

Chilli’s is tex-mex without the spice. It’s like if you took some salsa and poured some water in it. Their food looks like it’s seasoned, but really, it’s just salt and pepper. When they switched to those table-top tablet menus, we’re surprised there wasn’t a mass uprising. Well, that would be pretty hard, considering it takes a while to stand up after turning 60. 

“Roadhouse” restaurants really became a big deal in the 2010s. Everyone started ditching their mom-and-pop diners and opting for the commercialized chain Texas Roadhouse! Texas Roadhouse convinced the most vulnerable of us that paying twenty dollars for a burger means it will be really good. 

Baby Boomers can totally afford that because they’ve been hiking our rent prices since the ‘90s! They also save a lot by only tipping two dollars on a hundred-dollar ticket at the end of a meal because their server didn’t smile at them enough. 

Wendy’s is another restaurant that’s closing a lot of stores. The only people who are still keeping this greasy hamburger shack alive are those Baby Boomers who never learned what real food tastes like. Wendy’s keeps that whole old-fashioned thing going on, and we guess that’s what keeps the Baby Boomers coming. 

Wendy’s is going through somewhat of a hard time financially. Think about it, when is the last time you and your friends all said, “Hey everyone, let’s all go to Wendy’s for a delicious meal.” Probably not in the last 15 years. Food is just way different these days, and Wendy’s didn’t keep up. 

The thing about chain restaurants is that they have a handy ability to pop up at the most convenient places everywhere! Any town of a decent size is going to at least have one Outback. Baby Boomers are always hunting for a good steak house. And that free bread? Well, they always love a freebie. 

To most Baby Boomers, Outback is a nice place to take your spouse, have a birthday party, or have any sort of celebration. It’s nice, but it’s not too nice. They love it. The rest of us cringe whenever Grandma and Grandpa force us to sit through another dinner at this tacky-themed restaurant. 

Baby Boomers took “When you’re here, you’re family” a little too seriously. When they need a place to have a nice dinner, their first thought is Olive Garden! Here’s why Boomers absolutely love Olive Garden: Free bread sticks, unlimited salads, unseasoned food, and massive portions. 

Those of us who give a hoot about our general health and well-being know to stay far, far away from Olive Garden! Their food is chocked full of sodium and carbs. Any dinner there could easily be 5,000 calories. That’s enough to feed a horse! 

Where does a Baby Boomer go when they want to feel like they’re in a bar, without actually going to a bar? Friday’s, of course! Here’s the thing. Baby Boomers need to feel included in everything, but they need a watered-down taste of what it actually is like. 

They couldn’t put down their judgments and morals to step foot in a real sports bar, so to Friday’s, they go! They play pretend at the bar, order some appetizers, maybe an overpriced cheeseburger, and get to live the experience we do on our Friday nights.

What is it with chain restaurants and themes? Sometimes they’re subtle; other times, they’re straight-up tacky! That’s the case with Rainforest Cafe. Without a chain restaurant like this, where are you going to take your grandkids for that once-a-month obligatory visit? 

Kids like animatronic animals looming in the corner while they eat a chicken strip, right? Well, ask any Baby Boomer and they’ll tell you kids love it! We wouldn’t step foot in a Rainforest Cafe! There’s no telling what kind of gross things are hiding in all that foliage…and we’re not just talking about the monkeys! 

Baby Boomers absolutely love a drive thru. There’s only one thing better…a Sonic drive-thru! Sonic is modeled after one of those old-fashioned drive-up restaurants where servers on roller skates brought your food to your car! These days, Baby Boomers don’t have the patience for that, so they just go through the drive thru. 

From greasy cheeseburgers to corn dogs that bring you back to the county fair, Sonic has appetizing bites only someone with half of their tastebuds could love. Sonic is pretty gross, but don’t be surprised to see the seniors in line for half-priced drinks at Happy Hour.  

It feels like it’s been a while since you’ve eaten at a Ruby Tuesday; it probably has. With only 209 locations left in the world, your chances of having a meal at this strange wanna-be Friday’s are pretty slim. 

So, with only a handful of locations left…who is still eating at Ruby Tuesday? We know exactly who it is…Baby Boomers! The only people who still darken the door of these forgotten chain restaurants are those with nostalgia for what it once was. 

One thing all Baby Boomers look for in a meal is something free. If they feel like they’re getting a deal…they’re there! Red Robin has a nifty gimmick of handing out unlimited french fries! This has the senior discount crowd hook-line-and-sinker! 

Red Robin has a large menu of burgers and even has milkshakes. Again, with a twinge of nostalgia of the good old days when you took your girl for a milkshake, Baby Boomers love something that feels familiar. 

As every Boomer’s go-to chain restaurant on Sunday mornings, we’re hard-pressed to find a place so dedicated to tradition as Cracker Barrel. Entering any of their stores is like taking a ride through a wormhole and transporting yourself into a dimension of cornbread, country CDs, rocking chairs, potatoes, and novelty toys. 

Boomers cling to Cracker Barrel’s familiarity like they do the rest of the foods on this list, and it's easy to get used to the establishment as it can be found along the highway in over 40 U.S. states. Talk about consistency. Rocking chairs lining the walls outside and wallpaper decorated with old-America paraphernalia act as a second home to Boomers who long for the “good ‘ole days.”

It’s probably been ten years since most of us have been in the dark, grubby, grips of a Red Lobster. However, if you have been in recently…you might notice a very specific group of customers still lurking in a corner booth. 

While we love those cheddar bay biscuits, you can’t even get through the door without waiting in a 45-minute-deep line of Baby Boomers chomping at the bits for some microwaved sea food. Here’s what Red Lobster does for the Boomer crowd: They’re comfortable fancy, their food isn’t really seasoned, and it’s overpriced to make you feel like you’re doing something nice.