Diners give chain eateries a bad case of indigestion.(Business Meetings & Hotels)(San Francisco, CA's chain restaurants)

San Francisco eats chain restaurants. In a cliquish city that values its homegrown chefs and epicurean concepts, outside invaders tread warily.

"San Francisco is the least chain-friendly city in America," said Roger Stilson, vice president of marketing for Seattle's Restaurants Unlimited, a 35-restaurant, $140 million operation with one eatery here. "It's a great city for our brand's cache, but we would like to be more profitable there."

Just how tough is San Francisco on the national chains? Just three of the top 25 grossing restaurants in the city were national chains - McCormick & Kuleto's, Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood, according to the San Francisco Business Times' 1997 List. Big dining names such as Capital Grille and the Palm have spread their while tablecloths here only to watch them go quickly up in flames. …