European chains/franchises - which do you favor?

I quite liked the Ibis Styles hotel I stayed in in Honfleur. Well-done energy conservation measures. Really good shower.

I like hitting supermarkets when we get to a new town, Coop, Lidl and Aldi of course. In Greece, I liked Goody's Burger House. They are in some of the motorway rest areas, but also in towns. Good solid fast food!!!

Flunch good reliable inexpensive nutritious food in France - where the French family takes the family, how to be a temporary local. You've never lived until you have had a Tennessee Rösti Burger.

We discovered Vapiano in Vienna and also went to one in Basel. It is a good option when one wants a quick and reliable meal, freshly prepared. But like Fred, I wouldn’t go to one in Italy ( do they even have them there?)

Edit: answer is no Vapiano in Italy.

For a quick bite of breakfast, or a take away while in London, we often look for a close by Pret a Manger. Or Paul's in Paris.
We've found Mercure hotels to be reliably consistent on the continent, or Premier Inns in England.

When we lived in Germany, the V Markt and Aldi supermarkets were my first choices, but I still went to the local bakery, butchers, and veg/fruit shop.

Primark is a lot of fun. The first time I went to one was in London and I remember thinking it was kind of like Ikea for clothing with a little bit of housewares thrown into the mix. The location on the Gran Via in Madrid is massive, with over five floors. The prices are good and even though the clothing isn't the best quality, I always enjoy popping in to a Primark for a bit every time I see one in a different city.

I was impressed with Autogrill. Compared to the rolling hot dog grill at our local truck stop, it was great.

But I take issue with the statement:

I certainly do understand the opinion that chains and franchises are not the most authentic and close to the ground ways to as a traveler experience culture

I think they are the most authentic and close to the ground. It's where real people eat (not dine) not the Tucci-places. 🙂

I’ve stopped at a few Paul coffee shops at train stations, and they were a good option.

I usually book a hotel that isn’t a chain, but I’ve stayed at two Mercure hotels, too - nice rooms, comfortable beds and an excellent breakfast- although I had to pay extra for the breakfast.

We stayed at a “Roommate” hotel in Spain. The hotels each have Roommate _____ where the blank is a person‘s name. Again, good room, friendly staff and nice breakfast.

For gelato, Amorino or Grom are consistently decent options. Sometimes Grom is more expensive than the non-chain gelato shops in the same neighborhood, but the flavors have always been good.

I like Pain Quotidian and was excited to find one in Washington D.C.! Good breakfasts, breads, and sandwiches for lunch.

Both Le Pain Quotidien and Amorino are favorites for me. Both have reliable vegan options!!

Moxy Hotels, a Marriott product. I’ve found them in good locations (near Paris Bastille, Milan airport) and usually their prices are not outrageous. Breakfast is extra so I’ll go elsewhere for a local experience (Paris). The Moxy at MXP is adjacent to Terminal 2 so a close walk. Funky interiors. My experience with their staff has been excellent.

I like the Nero coffee shops. Kind of like Starbucks with comfy seating and good wifi. Some good desserts as well.

We discovered Motel One in June. Great prices and modern rooms.

I love Monoprix - great grocery options, and a good clothing section, especially for kids. I think if a chain is patronized by locals, it’s a cultural experience. When we stayed at Premier Inn County Hall, the majority of guests were from the UK, same as when we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth.

Based on the given list, I am only familiar with Nordsee....very recommendable, can't go wrong here. I've been to Nordsee establishments several places Germany, plus Vienna.

In France my votes go to Flunch and Monoprix.

For hotel chains I am very comfortable with the stylish, yet inexpensive Motel One, a German chain. I’m glad to see their well placed hotels popping up in many European city centers.

I don’t seek out many food chains in Europe but I do like the Pret a Manger chain that was UK based but I ran across one in Paris in 2019.

I thought the Swiss company, Mövenpick and Marché Mövenpick was wonderful on road trips, train stations and some cities with their great displays of freshly prepared food.

We ate at the first Wagamama in London 20+ years ago and that chain has expanded and been copied a lot now which is a probably a sign of their success.

Oh yes, the Motel Ones I have stayed in (Prague, Dresden, Vienna) are in great, central sightseeing locations.

asiagourmet, mostly in Germany - I always have steamed rice and mixed vegetables - tops me up.
.
I've had mixed reviews with Nordsee, so many off-putting ones that I no longer patronize them. Everything seafood comes in frozen, and I've had more that a few times where the dish I purchased, the entree wasn't fully heated through - and I now just pass them by.

Some good ones listed for sure! Many I think I haven't noticed when walking past. Now I will, thanks

I will add my name to the list of Motel One fans. I use dm for forgotten items.

Nicolas, competing with supermarket wine stores, in Paris, London and smaller cities.
I stay at either the plain Ibis or slightly up-market Ibis Styles. What they lack in local "colour" is made up for with efficiency and reliability and of course reasonable prices.

Rossmann! It's a German Drogerie chain, similar to DM or Müller. I have their app, so enjoy 10% off when I stock up on various items. Compared to US prices, it's a steal even without the discount.

Nordsee, hm... I'd say ok for the Matjesbrötchen when craving this, and I'm not close to the north sea coast.

McDonald's - across Europe, if only to see what they offer for regional fare. In Germany, they offer belegte brötchen for breakfast, and some even have Torten for afternoon coffee break. And I don't even eat at McDonald's in normal life!

Albert Hein, a dutch grocery chain. They have great premade salads, easy to grab at AMS for train trip.

How could I forget Migros for a fabulous Swiss grocery store experience!?!

Ditsch when you just need a pretzel or mini-pizza. See the FEBO reference above...

I like both! There is no right or wrong answer. The Spanish Meliá chain is wonderful especially at Berlin Friedrichstraße. When I stay in a small town or even a city like York, I love the B&Bs.

We have stayed in Ibis properties in Milan, Rennes (Fr), Budapest. Save for the French Ibis, the breakfasts are really good. The hotels are not fancy, the rooms are small, but the costs are in our budget. We don't go to Europe to spend $350/night on a room we don't spend time in. Ibis does the trick.

I also like Paul. Of course, I own them.

Hank , you may be too young to know about this , they were all over New York City . Ubiquitous in the Thirties through the Sixties, the Horn and Hardart chain of " Automats " . A forerunner of Febo . https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_%26_Hardart

the Horn and Hardart chain of " Automats "

Horn and Hardart was awesome ... it was a treat when we went out to dinner (which was not very often) ... being a young kid in the early 60's, I went right for the desserts to see what piece of pie looked the biggest and camped out next to it until my parents came over ... the important things in life at that age.

Ditsch has the very best pretzels and at the main station in Frankfurt, they are always warm or hot
Kemp is my favorite bakery, has a bit of an edge over Eiffler or Wiener chains
Hans im Gluck has about the best vegetarian and vegan burgers around. The regular burgers are just ok.
NordSee has the best plant based fried fish I have tried. It tastes like scallops. Have no idea how they do this, but yummmm!
Coffee Fellows is a great coffee shop, with tasty treats to rival Starbucks. They may be too tiny though, to be more than local?
Rossman and DM are so similar, that they can be interchangable. Great for shopping and many train stations have Rossmans that are open on Sundays and holidays.
Aldi and Lidl are also interchangable. Shop at which ever one is closer, usually Aldi.

No Vapiano for me. With good, small Italian restaurants in every neighborhood, with tastier food, I don't understand the reason for going there.

"Hank , you may be too young to know about this , they were all over New York City . Ubiquitous in the Thirties through the Sixties, the Horn and Hardart chain of " Automats " . A forerunner of Febo . https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_%26_Hardart"

My mom and dad grew up in Union City NJ in the 50's and 60's (which say a lot about my personality ;) They loves going on a date into the city to an Automat. Pulling a piece of pie out of the wall. Thanks for pointing this out :)

Thanks Hank. Today's earworm with Barbra's lovely voice:

Memories
Light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were

I love this question!

We've come to really enjoy Caffe Nero and Zizzi in Ireland and the UK. Neither are fancy, but they are tasty and feel familiar which is exactly what we need while traveling every now and again.

PQ

This last trip to Italy I kept seeing nice window displays in the clothing store chain called OVS.
I eventually went in and was surprised to find reasonably priced clothing that I actually liked.
I only bought one thing as I only had a small suitcase, but next time I'm there, I'll be sure to have another look.
The chain is in most towns and cities in Italy.

For all the Horn and Hardart fans I can recommend the 2021 documentary “The Automat” being shown all over the world. My family lived in New York and had fond memories of this iconic establishment. The film was a labor of love for all who were part of the Horn and Hardart era.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj9xsPc_I37AhXEI30KHUS2Aro4ChAWegQICBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fvariety.com%2F2022%2Ffilm%2Freviews%2Fthe-automat-review-1235188340%2F&usg=AOvVaw3GFGcH031cJcYjEJpwE2ek
Edited to add: latest screenings-http://automatmovie.com/screenings

Add my vote for Pret a Manger. Have eaten there numerous times in France and England, and NYC and DC. Lovely hot pastries and croissants for breakfast, hot sandwiches, and really good cookies. When I take train out of Gare de Lyon I’ll often pick up lunch to go for train ride.

As always I'm going to have to agree with Jo in general regarding German chains. DM and Rossman are lifesavers (and exist in some other European countries). Never bothered with Vapiano, don't see the point but for a quick easy meal I suppose it could appeal.

Our ritual for long-haul train trips is a baguette sandwich from the German chain "Le Crobag". The just smear an insane amount of good butter on decent-but-not-amazing baugettes and there's a few option for meat and/or cheese filling. But the butter makes it.

Dean & David is popular in Germany for salads, bowls, and sandwiches but I don't find it that great. Not healthy, but the quality of food at American fast food chains in Europe seems to be better than at home. It's also a special nostalgic treat. When I lived in the US I never went to McDonalds or Burger King but here I might indulge every other month or so, especially if there's a special like the current spicy chicken nuggets. And then there's 5 Guys. They're all over major European cities these days and honestly outside of the UK/Ireland it's your best bet in Europe for a good burger.

I love a Monoprix in France and a Waitrose in the UK. If traveling by car and/or staying a long time, any French Hypermarche is going to be delightful to stock up on cheese and wine and all manner of fun items. The brand doesn't really seem to matter. I was really pleased with the Sklavenitis hyper market in Greece recently, just as nice as a US supermarket with great prices and not just grocery but home goods as well for great prices. Was really a one stop shop for us on our last trip.

Yes to Amarino, love it. No to Paul, intensely dislike it. Having grown up in France it tastes very factory made to me.

I tried 5 Guys in Frankfurt and thought it was one of the worst burgers I had eaten in a long time. We have places here that serve up decent burgers with good buns, and those at 5 Guys seem like they used the cheapest cheese and buns they could find. The bun was falling apart, and the cheese looked like one of those plastic cheese slices. The fries were good though.
Give me Fette Bulle, Bareburger, or we have a place here called Burger Baby, for a good, tasty burger, with a real bun and real cheddar cheese.

Great topic, Hank.

I firmly believe the following shared experiences are authentic to the daily commuting / shopping / working habits of many residents in the respective cities, just as I once did in Heidelberg.

Ms. Jo + Sarah:

Pouring myself off every transatlantic redeye in Frankfurt, one of the first things I look for is a bakery of any kind; for example, Backwerk, Crobag, Kamps, Wiener Feinbäcker, etc.) at the airport or at the city's Hauptbahnhof (central station). The big preference is finding any or all of: Mohnschnecke, Puddingbrezel, and Quarktasche. That's my (un)official kickoff on the return once again to the D-Land.

The first time I went to a Coffee Fellows was in München; and sure enough, they started off in the Bavarian capital before expanding to other parts of the country.

I also agree with you about DM, Müller, Rossmann: what's closest is where I'd go for drugstore needs. For the past few years, I've been a big fan of Rossmann's Zink+C Brausetabletten (fizzy tablets), and I'll buy a few more before flying back across the big eastern pond.

For 4 weeks earlier this summer when I roamed through all 23 of Vienna's districts, I kept an eye on what I spent on food. On the run and/or in a rush, I'd apply a similar principle in Vienna as I learned on practice living and travelling within Germany.

Anker / Heberer / Ströck local bakery chains with many locations throughout the city (especially city- and regional-rail stations): in for a quick coffee; maybe a sandwich, but always a pastry.

Billa / Spar : If I wasn't stretching on those individually wrapped granola bars that are found in every grocery store, I'd go straight to the deli counter for a Leberkäsesemmel : basically, a baked sausage loaf sliced into squares, each slice slotted inside a crunchy bread roll; ask for ketchup or mustard. Add fizzy water or pop/soda, that's about €5; add in an extra pastry for a total just north of €6.