You lie. Papa Johns is good nowhere. Chileans think Applebees and TGIF are good though so not surprised Papa Johns is also praised.
#FightMe #ElitistGringoQl
Applebees was good once upon a time. What happened to it it's what happens to pretty much all American franchises. Slowly the quality and standards start to deteriorate, until it's a shell of its former self. They invariably start cost cutting measures that kill any semblance of quality.
The worst offender by far is Denni's. When it first opened it was pretty decent, it had 24 hour service (something pretty rare over here). After the first shipment of sourdough bread ran out they simply replaced it with regular sliced bread in the sandwiches that used it, without even adding a bit of extra seasoning, just a plain white bread. The seasoned fries were changed by regular fried with a disgusting powder for which they have the nerve to charge you like $1.500 more. I don't think it opens 24 hours anymore, but I haven't checked since you'd have to pay me to eat there nowadays.
Same thing has happened to TGI Fridays, Applebees, Ruby Tuesday (Always ask if the ribs are imported or local, they'll never be imported), all fast food restaurants with the recent exception of McDonald's.
McDonald's is interesting. It faced the same issues as the other fast food joints. Food was horrid because they made it several hours before they served it to you. The only way you could get something halfway decent was to make it special (like no pickles, no onions), so they were forced to make it on the spot. Fries would still be horrible obviously. Sometimes when you went to their drivethrough, at something like 5 in the morning they would tell you no special orders and you would know they were serving you shit they made 10 am the day before and couldn't sell. Just a total shit show. But recently that has changed. I'm thinking people from corporate came down on each franchise about maximum time on the window for food and other quality standards because now it's much, much better. I mean it's still McDonald's so it's not like it's good, but now it's at least edible and way better than other fast food restaurants.
A good quick test to know if the restaurant is shit is if they serve Pepsi or if they've made the switch to Pepsi. Pepsi in Chile is just about the worst of the worst. It's not even close to the American version. It's also much cheaper, so restaurants looking to cut cost will make the switch, even though the quality is much lower. Applebees recently made the switch and it has gone to shit in recent years. So did Burger King.
Popeye's is still pretty good, since it's relatively new in the country (about 2 years I think). It's infinitely better than KFC, which I wouldn't feed to my dog, let alone a human being. It's worse than McDonald's was at its worst about quality standards, that should tell you everything you need to know.
Still though, Popeye's standards have started to slip. It's good if you go at a busy time, lie 2 pm were their rotation is high. If you go later they'll leave their chicken out there to die for hours. Be sure to ask they make you new ones and be willing to wait the 15 minutes otherwise it's shit.
Johnny Rockets standards have also started to slip, but it's much less pronounced. I would say has about 3 years in the country and the quality is almost as good (but not quite) as when it first arrived. Still the service is pretty good and they always have a manager that will fix any issue you have promptly, but still I have received stale fries, something that wouldn't have happened on 2013.
Well that was longer than I initially expected, but it will hopefully provide some perspective on the state of fast food and chain restaurants in Chile.
Edit: As for pizza chains.
Pizza Hut used to be really good, now it's impossible to get them to put motherfucking sauce on their pies. I've asked repeatedly and even offer to pay more, yet the pizzas arrive and there's no sauce to be found (like it's evaporated) or they throw a bucket of sauce on top of it, which is just ridiculous. After that last experience I haven't ordered Pizza Hut in a couple of years, so I don't know if it's seen a McDonald's like improvement.
Papa Johns seems to be about the same, but for some reason I'm really tired of it. It's probably the cheapest option with the discount from El Mercurio. Domino's is not very good, but the one I order. Given the decrease in quality, I'm ordering a lot less pizzas than before. I live a few blocks from the Tip y Tap in San Crescente (among the best in the franchise), so I do a lot of my takeout from there.
Their Churrasco Italiano with Tenderloin is among the best and it's pretty big (It's 8 lucas though). If you order fries make sure to ask them extra crispy, otherwise they'll be raw.
