As for Poutine... it kindof all looks like barf on french fries to me. I'd really rather avoid the "error" part of trial and error therein...
Many foods look like barf; some taste like it. Widely popular foods are unlikely to fall into that category. Without "errors" where you find something less good, you will (a) not realise how good the other stuff is and (b) miss out on things that are surprisingly good. Serendipity is my favourite word and concept; I'm always searching for it, but the older I get the less I find it Even so, to misquote Arnold Palmer, the more I search for it the luckier I get.
Of course I know this; I cook. One of my favorite snacks is leftover crock-pot-roast veggies over rice; if that doesn't look like a plate of barf nothing does.
I was more looking for... a baseline. A large chain eatery known to produce a passable or maybe even good example of poutine done traditionally to use as a yardstick.
Like if somebody asked me where in the US to go for a burger where they'd know they could get something decent no matter which location: 1) Carl'S Jr
6-Dollar Burger/cheeseburger. ALWAYS decent, always a reasonable price. Add their seasoned fries. (I know they are few & far between now. Don't care.) 2) Jack-in-the-Box
Ciabatta Burger or the one they make on a Kaiser Roll. 3) Forget burgers and get a Jason's Deli
New York Yankee. On rye, of course.
McSludgeburger & Butt King and the Little-Red-Pigtails-Girl aren't even what I call FOOD.
If you're a fan of greasy-spoon-truck-stop-style burgers, Whataburger is the place for you. I have a little more respect for my intestines than that, however.
mnem
*may the shwartz be with you*