Years ago I would, on rare occasion, eat at Applebee’s when there were few other choices. I guess I’ve forgotten what it was like. And on this board that restaurant has gotten a lot of derision, mostly for being bland and mediocre.
So tonight, for the first time in maybe 7 years, circumstances caused me to eat there. Besides, sometimes bland and mediocre is just what you want, you know?
I would have settled for bland. The food I got was not only bad, it was a force of evil. The flavors were nothing like what they were supposed to be. Everything was way too salty. And greasy. It was a real effort to choke any of it down. I can think of a dozen fast food places (including the one with the clown) that would have been tastier. And healthier. I could only eat about half of that, and then a sick feeling came over me. And on the walk home, my ass was threatening to launch explosive liquid projectiles. I just barely made it.
I like Applebees, when I’m in the mood for something thoughtless and easy. Their chips and queso are quite tasty, and whatever I’ve ordered is served hot and reasonably similar to the menu description.
The only reason I don’t go there more often is b/c when I find an entree I like, they take it off the menu. Their menu is updated like every three months, so whenever I go back for what I had last time, it’s never there.
Like every restaurant, particularly chain/franchise, there are good ones and bad ones. I won’t encourage you to give it another try, but don’t assume they are all as bad as the one you went to.
The thing about Applebees is if you must go there, keep it simple. Really simple. Burgers or sandwiches. There is no reason, ever, go order steak, seafood, or pasta in an Applebees.
There’s one right down the street from my house, so we do end up there once in a while. A friend of mine ordered a steak with shrimp and some kind of cheese sauce on it. What she got was a grey slab of something meat-like, with a mass of congealed cheese related product (with some sad, tiny shrimp stuck in it) on top. Serves her right. She’d been warned.
They remind me of an upscale Denny’s. I’ve eaten there twice and was disappointed both times. I mean, yeah…if I have to, but as DianaG said, the basic burger is about all you want to order.
MilliCal loves to east there. It’s OK for what it is, and I’ve never had a Bad Meal there. It’s not exclusively bland – try their Thai Chicken “Pizza” sometime. It’s spicy and interesting, and I’ve made a meal of it if I’m not too hungry.
I eat out for lunch every Sunday with my husband and a friend, and they both lurve the Applebees, plus, there are an annoying lack of choices open on Sunday before noon, so we end up there a lot.
I do actually like their honey-grilled salmon. I can usually get two meals out of it, so I divide everything down the middle at the start, and I’m not tempted to overeat. (Unless one of my dining companions orders queso or spinach and artichoke dip. Freshly fried tortilla chips are like kryptonite to me.)
And I think they have mercifully phased out the nasty margine-and-salt “seasoning” goo they used to slather on the vegetables.
What gets me about these places is that they seem to be put together by a committee.
The only reason you would ever change $6.38 for something in a restaurant is that $6.38 is the average of what all the people in your focus group told you they’d be willing to pay.
On top of that, the portions always seem carefully measured to ensure sameness.
The waitstaff seems to be carefully coached to ensure pleasantness.
And, the last meal I had at one of these (someone gave my wife a gift certificate for a “Rocky Run”. I don’t even know why, now.) was just bad. I got wings, and they were soggy and the sauce was generic. The steak sandwich had a weird “steak” that was in these identical strips that indicated “you have received exactly 6 ounces of meat, a specification put together by our quality control department”.
All of that taken together is NEVER the experience I’m looking for when dining out. YMMV.
I’ve eaten at Applebees a few times. The first time, I had “Open-faced Sirloin on French bread” or some such - it cost around $12, but was a tremendous disappointment - the meat was thin, gray, flavorless and overcooked. Blech. I was annoyed that it was so expensive - $12 at Outback gets you a damn decent piece of meat. Oh, well. Live and learn. SmithWife and I went there a couple times for lunch after that, and we found it to be mediocre. I think my problem is that for the quality of the food the place is freakin’ expensive.
I guess if I was stuck out in the hinterlands on a business trip, and all I had to choose from was Applebees or Courtyard-by-Mariot’s version of a Club Sandwich, I’d go to Applebees and order an extra beer (which makes almost anything more palatable).
But as far as saying “Hey, let’s go to Applebees”. Nope. Not ever.
My one experience with Applebee’s wings is similar.
You wanna know the best-tasting wings of any major chain? Denny’s, I kid you now. Okay, they are actually “Buffalo Chicken Strips”, but they are hotter, warmer, more flavorful, and better portions than any other I’ve experienced.
Second place goes to Hooters: they taste a bit better than Denny’s but the price differential wasn’t worth it.
That must have been part of the problem. I ordered the BBQ short ribs. I’ve never seen ribs like that before. They were these long strips of things made of something resembling meat, slathered in something resembling motor oil. Inside each one was a series of little bone disks. I’ve never seen that kind of bone before, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t porcine in any way. And each “rib” had the same number of annoying “bones.” Remember about a decade ago when McDonalds had a rib sandwich? It was like that, but without the bun.
The fries were greasy and over salted. The baked beans were Campbell’s worst. The drink was warm, watery, flat, and had maybe three ice cubes. The cole slaw was edible, both bites of it.