Seasons 52 brings inventive taste to high end chain restaurants in Florida golf markets

High-end chain restaurants have long been a culinary phenomenon with few rational benefits for the diner. Ruth’s Chris makes good steaks, but the setting’s basically no different in Cabo than it is in Charlotte. And the fact Cheesecake Factories are always packed with long waits even though the not-so-reasonable food’s ordinary at best looms as one of the great mysteries of our time.

Then, you eat in a place like Seasons 52 and begin to rethink some of your feelings on higher line chains.

This is a Florida chain that’s spreading, but it’s unlike any other chain restaurant you’ve ever seen before. It’s an actual upscale restaurant with good cooking. The gimmick here is that no dish is more than 475 calories. Somehow taste hasn’t been sacrificed. The salmon’s great, the venison’s good and the $1.95 desert shots just scream for sampling.

The prices are downright scary - in a good way - compared to most upscale spots too. Try under $17 for many entrees. With the calorie rule, the portions are smaller helping keep prices lower.

The catch comes in the wait. At the Palm Beach Gardens location on PGA Boulevard, right near the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, you’re talking an hour most weekdays minimum. On weekends, two to three hours is the norm.

Seasons 52s are popping up in plenty of golf hot spots. Ft. Lauderdale has one in the trendy Galleria Mall that’s right on the main entrance drive where Ferraris and blondes in short skirts vie to be seen (no kidding).

Maybe, they’ll start letting golfers bring those electronic your-table’s-ready gizmos out on the course with them. There’s definitely time for at least nine holes.