Well, for me, sometimes food is food. When I be hungry, I eats. If it's at a chain restaurant, fine. If not, fine.
I will say, though, that if I get a recommendation about a non-chain restaurant from a friend or family member, I am more likely to try it. ie. There are a few places that NA and the Euromonkey have recommended on the 2nd St Promenade in Long Beach that I most likely would not have tried on my own.
In fact, there are several hole-in-the-wall places where recommendations made me try them. But, from their appearance, I probably would never have ventured in on my own.