Hear hear, very well spoken, I heartily concur! I have yet to have a good meal at Applebee’s, even given the low bar of expectations for restaurants in its class. I can get better food standing up to eat at Five Guys Burgers or at least 3 diners in a 5 mile radius from where I live.
Well, possibly except for the Chili’s part. I used to quite like going to Chili’s but the last 3 times I went I was very disappointed. These were locations in 3 different states, so it’s not just the one specific location, and one of the locations was one I’d formerly enjoyed and been to multiple times. So either Chili’s has gotten much more bland and tasteless in its standard offerings, or I’ve gotten choosier.
Friendly’s is my go-to el cheapo chain while traveling. I’m never disappointed there. Also Perkins and Cracker Barrel when traveling further afield.
Ya know, I used to agree with you guys. Applebee’s was never good. But my mom dragged me down there recently and I was expecting the normal crappy dinner, but they have recently changed the menu and the food was actually really good.
A pleasent surprise!
I got some major shit service and attitude at a steak house called Red’s in Carson City and have never been back since. Been about 10 years now.
I received a 100 dollar gift card as a prize and took my family out for a meal there last week. The food was so bad that we ended up tipping the waitress 42 dollars since we knew we would never use the remainder for the gift card. She was great. It wasn’t her fault the food wasn’t. At least we made her day.
It has been many years, but I once had dinner at Tony Roma’s with my wife and in-laws, and I swear when we pulled up to the driveway after the short drive home, me and my MIL were sprinting for the toidy. I did not know she could run that fast, I am sure she did not, either. Unfortunately, our small home sported only one bathroom, and I gentlemanly let her enter first, while I sweated outside. When my turn came - think explosive, projectile diarrhea. I did not know the digestive system could react that fast. Never been back to Tony Roma’s.
Another incident with my son when he was a baby, and not the restaurant’s fault, is when we took him to a dinner out one night to a local Greek place. He was still in his car-seat bucket, and started to fuss near the end of the meal, so I picked him up and he proceeded to spew vomit all over me and down my back. The poor man at the neighbor table had a first row seat and nicely said “he ain’t feeling all that well?”. *“Check please!” *The horror of that incident has prevented me from returning. I still like Greek, but never been back to that establishment.
Ya know, that is great! I will remember that if I am ever presented with the same situation. Altho I may just stop with a cup of coffee or a soft drink and give the waiter the rest.
Denny’s for piss poor service and food that they can’t even make look good on the menu, never mind how it tastes. One night a group of us went out, ordered drinks, and the waitress never came back, ever. We were having sort of a meeting so we didn’t notice until an hour had gone by. We left and as we were walking out the door, one of them shouted at us, “next time order something!” We shouted back, “next time come take our order!”
Second time at Denny’s. Middle of the night. Admittedly big crowd of us. 3 hours to get our food. It was 4:00 a.m. by the time we ate.
Applebee’s has never, ever had good food. Wilted salad, precooked food. The last and final time we went there, our appetizer (chips and salsa, literally 2 minutes to make) arrived at the same time as our meals, both of which were chicken breasts that hadn’t even had time to be cooked. Throw in a microwave, ding ding, food out. Never again.
That said, I do like Chili’s, O’Charley’s, TGI Fridays isn’t bad, and I have had no problems with Taco Bell. I DO have serious digestive issues with Krystal (White Castle up north), but those are issues I am prepared to face for the glory that is a Krystal. Just not often.
There’s a steak house near here called Golden Ox. People rave about it but the one time I went I got a gristly steak, an inflated bill, losy service, amd a waitress with an attitude. That was 13 years ago and I’m never going back.
Taquerea Mexico, which is located right here, served me some poorly prepared ceviche that gave me a solid week of painful pooping. Never been back there, never will.
We used to love a local Mexican restaurant here in town called Tres Hermanas. The last time we ate there my entree was swimming in grease and the waitress argued with my son over what sauce he ordered on his burrito. It was such an awful experience that we haven’t been there in years now and don’t plan to go back. We now go to Ernesto’s.
Fire and Ice. I wasn’t allowed to bag the rice I had left. When I got there I was allowed to sit waiting for a waitress to walk me through the ordering process. (It’s a place where you gather your ingredients and watch the chef cook it right in front of you)
Don Pablos. When it opened my wife and I went there. We got seated by a leaking fountain and had standing water under the table. We waited for about 15 minutes during which no one acknowledged us and anyone we tried to flag down ignored us. My wife went to the hostess stand to address this, the hostess was talking to a waitress about personal stuff and cut my wfe off with a finger in the air and then walked away. So we left and never returned. The place closed about 6 months after opening. My wife used to love the chain from her time in the Chicago area, now I refuse to go to ANY location.
There was a place me and my wife liked the char sui porn from, I would get take out a few times a month.
One time I was STARVING so decided to buy a burger and fries with the takeout, paid the correct money for both after ordering and got the correct change.
When I returned to pickup my order the woman who took it and made change swore up and down I never paid for a burger or ordered it, first claiming she gave me fifteen dollars in change(which made no sense) and then changed her story again. The son in the kitchen who did speak fluent english believed me and made a burger, when I picked it up his mom had learned enough english to call me a LIAR and demand I pay for the burger. I left and never returned.
PIzza Hut. Don’t know what kind of pizza we ordered that day, but the bottom of the crust was greasy. That’s an abomination all by itself, but the reason I’ll never go back is because that pizza went right through me. Not half an hour later, I was desperately looking for a bathroom. I’ve never had to go that bad.
There’s a restaurant in Little Rock called Chi’s that serves Chinese food. I went there once in 2000 and haven’t been back since then. The food was horrible. I don’t remember what I ordered but it was simply awful as I didn’t finish even half of it and didn’t want to take the rest home. To top the bad meal the service was equally horrible. Nobody refilled my drink and we sat at the table for a long time without ever seeing our waitress. I got up and stood where the hostess was supposed to be for a long time before anyone noticed me. I was so close to simply walking out without paying my bill.
Another Little Rock restaurant, Bob’s Country Cookin.’ They’re only open for lunches and they’re website showed a menu that changes daily (they offer 4-5 entrees per day). This is comfort food like meatloaf, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, etc., etc. When I see a limited menu that changes daily it brings to mind fresh ingredients with everything being made in house. Sadly, this was not the case. The chicken fried chicken was made from frozen patties, the gravy was powdered and the mashed potatoes started out as flakes. It wasn’t the worst food I ever had but I was so disappointed I vowed never to go back.
One time in China, we order jiaozi dumplings from a local restaurant. They came in little paper boxes. I got two boxes. One of them had a live roach in it. I didn’t notice until I had only two left.
I stopped eating at a place after they changed one of the menu items and when I mentioned it had something on it that it didn’t usually have they lied to my face and told me that’s how it always had been.
I like Subway. I eat at Subway probably once a week, if not more. But the Subway closest to my office…
One time I went there, ordered food, was getting a drink, noticed flakes of something from the ice machine into my cup. Got employee, we looked inside the machine - brown slime. Eew. Okay, I took my soda without ice. With a fresh cup.
Next time I’m there (~ a month later), I order, and then look in the ice machine. Brown slime still there. I try to mention it to the employees, they act like I’m crazy, like they haven’t ever seen the stuff.
I reported them to the health department. I haven’t been back there. I mean, I can see getting some problem once, but after being notified and not correcting it? Not putting up a sign immediately when they see the problem the first time, so other customers won’t get slimy ice? If that’s how they handle that issue, I can only guess at what other hygiene monstrosities are lurking.
Fortunately, there are 3 Subways within 2 miles of my house/office besides that one. That one is in walking distance of my office, however, which was occassionally convenient.
(I did recently look up the city health department webpage, and find the health inspector’s report that cited them for it. It seems they’ve been inspected since and fixed it, but I don’t trust the bastards.)