Well, damn, guess I have to eat some crow (or raven, in our case). The Ms. picked me up from work last night around seven. We were both starving, but most local places are closed for the holiday weekend. Neither of us felt like cooking, so we decided to stop at Applebees for the first time ever.
It was a desperation move, since I eschew ALL chain restaurants. They’re usually just places where you get badly prepared food, and where quantity is supposed to make up for quality.
The menu looked appealing enough, but generally speaking, menus that have pictures of the food usually mean disasters emerging from the kitchen. I was going to stay safe with a sandwich, but instead chose something called an “orange chicken bowl”. The Ms. got one of the Weightwatcher salads.
Well, damn again, if it wasn’t pretty tasty. The chicken was crispy, with a nice orange glaze, and sat on a bed of rice pilaf with almonds, pea pods, and roasted red peppers. Chased with a pint of Alaska Amber, it was pretty good. Likewise, the Ms. enjoyed her shrimp skewer salad.
I have to grudgingly admit that they may have something there that, while I won’t make a steady habit of going there, will actually do in a pinch.
The only time I ever eat Applebee’s food was back in college when my dorm floor roommates could hook us up with takeout of the baby back ribs and fries.
Service and food actually sitting in the resturant – not as satisfying.
Please. How hard is it to screw up pasta and cream sauce with warmed pre-prepared seafood? Pretty hard. You put a timer on the pasta, you put the cream sauce in the microwave, and you put the seafood right beside it. Easy. Far too easy for the prices they charge, especially since they DO manage to screw it up. I can get better for less right here in my own neighborhood. Hell, right here in my own house.
Our local Applebee’s is always a hellish experience, but that’s is only because of a crowds. I could live on their house sirloin 3x a day, no problem. Terrific stuff.
Now that they have their “Carside To Go” service, we’re eating their food about twice a week. Yum!
I’ve eaten at Applebee’s exactly once. I asked the waitress if I could have some bread or rolls with my meal. She brought me one slice of white bread, and actually charged extra for it.
I’ve eaten at Applebee’s recently and I’ve had genuinely shitty service both times.
The first time was sometime in March. Aaron and I went, and we were both hungry, so I asked for some crackers to keep him busy. We got the crackers, then waited for someone to come take our orders. We waited for 20 minutes while the servers passed us by and took the orders of the people around us. Finally, I demanded the waitress take our order. The manager was very nice about it, though, and comped our meals and drinks. (I still left a smallish tip; I figured if the manager comped our meals, he bawled out the waitress pretty well.)
The last time was my birthday about a week ago. We didn’t get our appetizer at all, and had to ask for the extra plate I’d requested twice before we got it. The food was not good. The steak was way overdone, the mashed potatoes were gluey, and the vegetables tasted somewhat spoiled. I skipped dessert.
I think it’ll be a while before I eat there again.
The Applebee’s near us is OK - not my first choice for a meal out, but not one I’d avoid. The last few times we’ve gone, I’ve gotten the oriental chicken salad or wrap. It’s yummy.
I’ve had good experiences with Applebee’s as a generic “hey look there’s food” restaurant, except for once (out of 3 visits). I buy some cheesecake or pie to go. They box it up, and I leave it on the table. I come back less than 10 minutes later, and they tell me that it’s gone, and there’s nothing they can do about it, regardless of the fact that it was my server.
The Anchorage Applebee’s is good take out, and I am a huge fan of their Carside to Go service! When I fly to Anchorage I generally stay with one of my two daughters, and Applebee’s is generally dinner, at least my first night there. I am always dog tired after the flight and all, and my kids work so I don’t expect them to prepare a meal. I will take Applebee’s over McD’s or any other fast food chain, well, maybe not Taco Bell!!!
(We don’t have Taco Bell on Kodiak!)
The key to eating at Applebees is to ask for the unseasoned steamed vegetables. They put this goo of margarine and salt and the Applebees-standard seasoning mix they put on E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. (And I do mean everything. They prepare the steak with it, put it in the rice pilaf and mashed potatoes . . . EVERYTHING.) I despise the stuff, so I always asked for the vegetables without “butter” or seasonings. The server will often claim that it’s impossible, but this is not true because they have plain steamed vegetables for the low-calorie entrées, so be firm. (Sometimes they will offer plain broccoli, too.)
My hubby likes eating there. I find it tolerable, if I can get plain vegetables. I like to get the “take two” with steak and salmon, and get two meals out of it.
I went to Applebees once. They fucked up a bacon cheeseburger. Crap bacon+processed freeze dried whatever meat patty. It was the nastiest burger that I have ever had and that includes McDonalds.
Is Applebees a chain or a franchise? With the odd mix of reports, here, I’m guessing a franchise with some outfits concentrating on providing a meal and other outfits concentrating on cutting costs. We eat at the local outlet a few times a year. I like their Oriental Chicken Salad and a few of their other meals are edible. The service has varied from superb to humdrum. (I think we’ve only had crappy service once.)
It is not for taking Deb out to dinner, but it is not bad for grabbing the kids and skipping dinner preparation (on the way back from the beach or a long day at a museum, for example).