Chains: Usually there is an exception to the rule.

My standard reply when asked about "chain" restaurants and bars is to echo my hero, Lew Bryson, and respond: Death to Chains.

However, there was a thread on the Louisville Restaurants Forum asking which chains the purported foodies there regularly visit, and what they ate when visiting, and so I peered deep into my soul for this:

For the most part, I'd rather gnaw on fallen tree bark rather than give my money to multinational chains, but at the same time, I've never denied going to the regional chain Skyline Chili for a five-way, and as many others here have noted, alcohol mixed with White Castle is inevitable a couple times a year. It's the bane of professional drinkers everywhere, and somewhat unavoidable.

That's pretty much it.

I strive to find a local alternative -- coffee boiled in an unrecycled lard can rather than Starbucks,or NA's own locally-owned Honey Creme rather than Krispy Kreme -- and stick with it. Admittedly, integrity is harder while traveling the purposefully barren Interstates, and in airports and sports venues, because the latter are permitted to use spaces constructed with public money to enforce chain monopolies, which frankly sickens me.

But there it is.