State Of The Onion: This Chain's For You

We like to stray away from discussing restaurant chains in this blog. We prefer to stick to what is unique to Barrie, and what makes it's restaurant scene special.

However, Barrie is but a pinhead when considering restaurants on a macro. There is a whole wide world outside of this town, even with chains.

The goal of this post is to identify three chains that would be successful in Barrie's restaurant scene.

#1: Les 3 Brasseurs/The 3 Brewers

Les 3 Brasseurs can be found all over L'ile de Montreal. The restaurant is designed to be part brewery and part pub. Stills and piping for the purpose of brewing beer can be found throughout the restaurant, and is accented by the decor. The menu is designed to compliment the beer that is served, typically in four variants: Dark, lager, whie and blonde.

Priced around the same mark that you would find at a Kelsey's or Boston Pizza, and offering a more diverse menu, The 3 Brewers would be an excellent alternative when shopping for a new restaurant.

The restaurant has seen some obstacles in marketing itself outside of Quebec, and that is it's concept is centered around the consumption of alcohol. This alienates the brand from a large segment: families. However, there is currently one location in Toronto, and the company is planning on growing the brand outside of Quebec.

#2: Pizzaiolo
Pizzaiolo has almost 20 locations around the GTA, and for good reason: they make quality pizza at a decent price that actually tastes good. Pizzaiolo serves gourmet pizza at the usual pizzaria price.

Of the three chains mentioned here, this one is the most likely to see entry into the Barrie market. What I like most about Pizzaiolo? Their Capone Pizza: Chicken breast, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, parmigiano, mozzarella and pesto sauce.

Mama Mia!

#3: Olive Garden

You're probably wondering "why Olive Garden"? And I'll tell you why. Because for the money, Olive Garden beats any other chain in terms of quality, service and ambiance. At least the ones I've attended.

Located only south of the border, Olive Garden gets a lot of flak from Americans for being cheap. Considering the variety of food vendors our friends to the south have, it is no surprise. In a nutshell, what Americans may consider mundane, may be considered exotic to us canuks.

The best part of the Olive Garden: When you're there, you're family. What other restaurant in Barrie can claim that?