Years ago, as part of the “3.1 Criteria Refresh,” “Generic business” was explicitly removed as a rejection reason and highly praised by NianticCasey, claiming many previous “generic business” rejections were overturned by staff (recall this is long before appeals). It was met with anguish (and delight) when it reappeared during the new review 
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interface.
The review workflow calls out:
Generic - A generic business, chain, or franchise that is not uniquely important to the local community
This has many times been referenced by staff as the most misused rejection reason. Besides being misused on restaurants and other unique places of business, it is often misused (including by Niantic staff) to represent generic objects.
Starbucks is a (red herring) long referenced example, but for many it IS their favorite place to stop, for ME one of my favorite places to meet a friend to chat, and no less beloved by visitors than the local shops, sometimes even more community impacting. A childhood birthday celebration of mine was in a McDonald’s lobby - things you have to do with a winter month birthday. Do these businesses need to be ineligible and small franchises looked down on for being successful? Does sponsorships change how the community reviews? Can staff and guidance rationalize that some restaurants really are our favorite places and not just being submitted for another PokéSpinner? Keep in mind, “the onus is on the submitter” does not always work. Not every restaurant has a write-up and rural places are far less likely to have websites or online presence. It also seems abstract that fitness chains were called out as categorically eligible by staff (as not meeting “generic business”) but a coffee chain would be ineligible?