German chain restaurants

Well, Hofbrau Haus is basically a chain, I find their restaurants in Germany reasonable and good food, the ones elsewhere, including the US, with limited actual visits, to be priced at a premium and of little interest to me.

Vapiano is "fancy" high end restaurant at Berlin Hbf, saw it this June, never ate there. Last June of 2015 it was not there. In Vienna I know of two Wienerwald locations...still operating. Even if you want that sort of cuisine, I would not recommend it unless it's a choice between McDonalds and Wienerrwald. Nordsee is very recommendable. There is also another. seafood chain like Nordsee not listed among that list of five. The major trains in Germany have it.

There is also a Schnitzel chain in Austria, numerous outlets...Schnitzel Haus , a few blocks from Wien Westbahnhof

I suppose the reason there are so few is that either tastes vary from
region to region or that locals prefer & support their local
restaurants.

I think that national chains are an American phenomenon. I just isn't something that is important in the German world. I see a lot of Nordsees in train stations, with premade sandwiches under glass. I haven't seen a lot of standalone Nordsee restaurants. I ate at a Wienerwald in 1988.

Vapiano is no way a high end restaurant. That kind of made me laugh.

These are big chain restaurants in Germany:
* Maredo steak houses
* Block House steak house
* Mövenpick / Marche'
* Paulaner
* Mosch-Mosch
* Cafe' Extrablatt
* Alex
* Augustiner
* Vapiano

The rest of these are bakeries, caterers, places in train stations, event providers, or gas station food
http://www.handelsdaten.de/gastronomie-catering/umsatz-der-groessten-unternehmen-der-systemgastronomie-deutschland-2011-top-100

There are Nordsee restaurants in Vienna at the am Graben and Kärtnerstrasse, also in Berlin not far from Alexanderplatz going east. Vapiano at Berlin Hbf still did not get my business because of its costs, maybe high end was imprecise.

Vapiano is no way a high end restaurant. That kind of made me laugh.

It's all relative. In the universe of chain restaurants, Vapiano absolutely is upscale/high end, and an an excellent eatery.

I think Vapiano is high end among the Hbf choices.

We ate at the one in Vienna on Praterstrasse and didn't find it expensive. We usually try to avoid chain restaurants, especially when traveling, but sometimes they are convenient.

Edit - meant to say on Praterstrasse not Praterstern

Vapiano prices from 2014:
Frankfurt: from 6.50 to 9.50 euro for pizza or pasta
Strasbourg: from 9.70 to 13.70 euro for the same items.
Considering the prices includes tax and service, it doesn't sound that expensive.

I suppose the reason there are so few is that either tastes vary from region to region or that locals prefer & support their local restaurants. The wide-sread presence of McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Burger King in Germany belies that statement.

You tend to find Nordsee in locations with a lot of foot-traffic. Train stations, shopping malls, pedestrian shopping streets, etc. They also have them in Autobahn rest-stops. Although not the absolute best seafood available in Germany (seafood in northern Germany is delicious, but not very reliable in the south), it's at least consistently tasty and well prepared. I like this chain because the sandwiches provide the perfect take-away lunch when you're kind of hungry but don't want to stuff yourself. Bismark and matjes baguettes might be an aquired taste for Americans, however.

I haven't seen Serways mentioned yet. Whereas the food at US rest stops often serves as a microcosm of all that is wrong with eating in North America, I really like the cheap but tasty meals prepared at the Serways cafes. Their goulash is delicious!

I forget the name, but there's a Swiss company that also runs some of the Autobahn restaurants (no, I'm not thinking of Mövenpick)... and their food is even better.

Although fast food, bakery and sandwich-shop chains are fairly common, the one thing you rarely encounter in Germany are the medium-end sit down chains. There is no German equivalent of, say, TGI Fridays, Olive Garden, Long Horn Steak House, The Keg, etc. At least not yet, and hopefully, never! Now that being said, many of the seemingly mom and pop restaurants you see in areas with high tourist traffic may be owned by one of a handful of larger parent companies. So technically, they might be a chain even though each restaurant is run invidually.

There is a mini chain to the south of Nuremberg called Bäcker Schmidt Cafe which does really nicely cooked and presented food at a very reasonable price.

I particularly like the one next to the Holiday Inn Express at the Schwabach junction of the A6. Easy parking, tasty, cheap(ish).

As noted, Vapiano is now in numerous locations in the US, so hardly unique in Europe any more. But the food is good, though I think calling it fancy is a real stretch. I should note that there is no Vapiano at Praterstern in Vienna (I thought the OP was asking about Germany, anyway). Akakiko is a popular chain of Asian restaurants. Burgerista is a step up from McD's and the only place I have ever seen a self-service ice machine and free refills in all of Europe.

The most common chain restaurants might be the top floor restaurants in the big department stores. These are usually a decent place to eat. A benefit for most tourists is they can point to order.

On the top floor of a dept store, that restaurant is in the Karstadt dept store...very recommendable, good choice

interestingly, the Vapiano in Groenplaats, Antwerp failed some years ago. And that's a town that's not known for really superb food culture. I thought the problem was that their customer base skewed too young, to tweens trying to get out of the house and congregate=not enough spent, plus an unsophisticated vibe. (Maybe that's why they set up by NYU in Manhattan?) Because of their made-to-order franchise standard, they are a better than average chain. The odd payment system is cumbersome.

I read somewhere that they were started by a former McDonalds franchisee who made a mint when one of his stores turned out to be right across from the just-"open" Berlin wall. Haven't verified the story.

Nordsee is my favorite. I eat at the one on Alexanderplatz whenever I'm there!

There's also now a German-specific hipster-burger chain called Hans im Gluck, which isn't bad.

If you're looking for another chain at German train stations, there is "Asia Gourmet" which has taken over previous Chinese food outlets at the stations.

I've dined at a number of Vapiano restaurants in various countries and it's a nice change from the usual format to have the meal cooked-to-order while I watch. As they're a German chain, it's not surprising that most of them are located in Germany. Unfortunately the only ones in North America are in the eastern U.S., so I'll have to wait until I head back to Europe to dine there again.

There are many small chains that may be local in certain regions. Burger chains for example. In the Rhine main region, we have Jamy's Burgers, Die Kuh der Lacht, and Fletchers Burgers. All using fresh meat and ingredients. Popular Asian chains are Thai Wok. Small, cafe-like places like World Coffee or Coffee Fellows, or Dulce are rapidly expanding.

I worked for Maredo Steakhouse many years ago and became very familiar with chain restaurants in Germany. Whitbread from the UK owns many of them and they have expanded into Germany with Costa Coffee. (they used to own Maredo for quite a few years)

I have not seen mention of the Döner Kebab - they are all over.

Döner Kebap restaurants are usually single owner places, not chains.
There may be some Turkish chains, but I don't know of any.

Tom_MN,

Based on my location, I consider Chicago to be "eastern" as well. I forgot to mention Mexico city. In any case, I don't have any branches close enough that I can dine there so I'll have to wait until I return to Europe.

Another "chain" in Germany: Gosch
I like their regular restaurants, and the ones in several train stations.
I also like Nordsee, and love the Karstadt top floor restaurants. In Hannover recently, I decided to have their breakfast. It was a good choice....much better than the overpriced 14 euro breakfast at the hotel.
I've also liked the Maredo steakhouses; good salad bar.