I don't mind updates, but I get bored with the interminable sameness of All Restaurants, now. If they have zero personality in the decor or food, I'm not likely to come back, or even wander in in the first place.
Translates as "dated and sticky" to me. undecided When it comes to chains, I'll always prefer ones that will reinvest and update. Otherwise they become blight magnets.
When I was little, I always thought the original interior of "Houlihan's Old Place" was fascinating, with the polished dark woods, backlit stained-glass domes, warrenlike up-and-down floorplan with tables in nooks and crannies, waterfalls down windows and plants everywhere. Now that chain looks exactly like this one, just beigebox postmodern buildings and bland interior decor.
Why bother going to a restaurant if they all look exactly the same? One of my favorite restaurants in this area is Margarita's, because in their locations, they went for the unusual. One is built into a 19th century brick powerhouse, and kept the feel of that. The other is in an old jail and courthouse, and you can eat in the cells. The bar is the former courtroom, a downstairs area for parties was the former drunk tank. That's just seriously cool.
