I love food! To me, food offers comfort and security. In addition, cuisine is a cultural expression and represents an opportunity to more thoroughly understand and appreciate a particular culture or region. When traveling I make it a point to taste local specialties as a way of enriching my travel experience. Someone recently suggested that I share my favorite restaurants with my readers because of my great interest in food. Keep in mind that food preferences are very different from person to person and also that a restaurant experience is about so much more than the food.

The national chains are well represented in Rhode Island. They seem to be ubiquitous. However, there are some that we seek out from time to time and others that we tend to avoid. Here are my favorite chain restaurants in RI:

1. Bonefish Grill, Chapel View Blvd, Cranston — although not always consistent, this is a fairly reliable place for seafood.

2. Carrabba’s, 1350 Bald Hill Road, Warwick, RI — pretty good Italian food

3. Cheesecake Factory, 94 Providence Place, Providence, RI — huge menu

4. Outback Steakhouse, 1000 Division St, East Greenwich, RI — fairly reliable and consistent

5. Texas Roadhouse, 99 Garfield Ave., Cranston, RI; 1200 Quaker Lane, Warwick, RI — best ribs!

6. Uno’s Chicago Grill, 399 Bald Hill Road, Warwick, RI; 82 Providence Place, Providence, RI; 371 Putnam Pike, Smithfield, RI — the double-nickel discount on Wednesdays is a great draw