# I just ate at Applebees (I think I'm going to die!) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 8, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314 "2009-09-08T18:16:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/61 "2009-09-09T05:51:50Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > I went in there ordered the riblets. I couldn’t tell where the meat ended and the bone began. Also, when I did find morsel of meat big enough to bite into; it just sucked. Riblets are basically bone chips with BBQ sauce on them. You pull off one bone chip, suck on it to get all the sauce and incidental meat off it, then spit it out. Repeat. They’re not…bad? But if I want to get messy and hands-on I’ll get real ribs, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/62 "2009-09-09T05:53:04Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I mean, I like Applebee’s, especially their blondie…mmm, blondie…but they are pretty middling in quality. They’re the McDonald’s of family restaurants, or the Burger King at best. It goes: Denny’s = McDonald’s TGIFridays = Burger King. Applebee’s = Wendy’s. Chili’s = Fuddruckers. There is solid science to back this up. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/63 "2009-09-09T07:38:55Z")
Regardless, how snarky and so disdainfully cool it is to characterize Applebee’s food as “nuked”, it is totally misinformed and incorrect, and a blatant misconception. Although some ingredients come frozen or refrigerated and vacuum packed… the vegetables are fresh and unseasoned, the meat is actually fresh and grilled, the sauces and vegetables are sauteed or heated on a stove top. It is a very conventional kitchen and they are not nuking your food like a michaelina’s microwave meal, it’s just that most ingredients are sourced from corporate. (The same thing goes for Olive Garden…) ---
**Author:** ![happiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@happiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happiness)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/64 "2009-09-09T07:58:21Z")
I unfortunately have the good luck of being currently employed by Applebee’s. Is it the greatest among chain restaurants? Absolutely not. I do think though that it offers decent food for usually less than $10 or less per entree (at least in my area). > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > She told me that everything was shipped to the restaurant preseasoned “for consistency’s sake.” Perhaps things differ from franchise to franchise, but this is not true at all where I work. None of the vegetables, grilled chicken, grilled fish, and few of the steaks are preseasoned. In fact, most seasonings are added during the cooking process, with the major exceptions being some of the fried foods and the Bourbon Street Steak. > [@devilsknew](#): > > Regardless, how snarky and so disdainfully cool it is to characterize Applebee’s food as “nuked”, it is totally misinformed and incorrect, and a blatant misconception. Although some ingredients come frozen or refrigerated and vacuum packed… the vegetables are fresh and unseasoned, the meat is actually fresh and grilled, the sauces and vegetables are sauteed or heated on a stove top. It is a very conventional kitchen and they are not nuking your food like a michaelina’s microwave meal, it’s just that most ingredients are sourced from corporate. (The same thing goes for Olive Garden…) This is actually true. All grilled meats are cooked fresh for each order. Mashed potatoes are made fresh each day in the restaurant, along with the rice, cole slaw, and most other non-fried side items. As far as the OP’s appetizer, the only thing that would have been microwaved is the spinach dip. The boneless wings and mozzarella sticks are both fried, and quesadillas are made on a flat-top grill. Some of these things may vary by franchise, but for the most part I think food items are consistent. Service and quality of food may differ even from day to day within the same store, but I doubt that cooking methods do by much. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/65 "2009-09-09T08:48:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Perhaps things differ from franchise to franchise, but this is not true at all where I work. None of the vegetables, grilled chicken, grilled fish, and few of the steaks are preseasoned. In fact, most seasonings are added during the cooking process, with the major exceptions being some of the fried foods and the Bourbon Street Steak. It’s been a few years since I went in there. However, I usually don’t eat fish at all, and I rarely eat chicken. I eat beef, pork, and occasionally lamb. I was assured that all the beef dishes were seasoned with pepper, and I wasn’t interested in the chicken dishes. I certainly wasn’t going to order a vegetable plate. I was ready for some beef or maybe some ribs, and since either everything was preseasoned or both the manager and the server were lying to me, I departed and found someplace else to eat. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/66 "2009-09-09T09:34:59Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s bland, it’s heavy, it’s starchy, but it’s not poisonous or inedible. The stores are clean, and the food is sanitary. You could do a lot worse. They’ve made some really poor recipe decisions, though. Even compared to other bland, Middle-American crap-food chain restaurants. I will never forget one time (out of maybe three) that I ate there–it has stayed with me to this day. I ordered some garlic bread. Well, it was just a couple of Wonder-Bread type hotdog buns, opened up, soaked in some liquid Crisco/Monsanto sort of grease, then covered with some mixture of 75% salt / 25% artificial garlic salt, then toasted. I was astounded. It’s hard to fuck up garlic bread but they did astoundingly well at doing just that. That was only the star stand-out of an utterly crappy meal; the rest was merely insipid, tasteless, salt-grease infected with corn syrup and nuked just before serving. Yes, there may be equally poor food out there, but you have to really search for it. Honestly-- really honestly-- I vastly prefer Taco Bell and McDonald’s to that crap. It’s cheaper, and it’s better. Probably healthier, too. And-- you don’t have to have food poisoning to yak. Sometimes the very idea of the flavorless greaseballs you just ate can do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/67 "2009-09-09T13:19:45Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Riblets are basically bone chips with BBQ sauce on them. You pull off one bone chip, suck on it to get all the sauce and incidental meat off it, then spit it out. Repeat. > > They’re not…bad? But if I want to get messy and hands-on I’ll get real ribs, thank you. Really? Not bad? The thing is, I used to eat at one many years ago, and while it was not spectacular, I didn’t really find it to be disgustingly offensive. My riblet adventure was at a different location, and was quite possibly the worst food experience I’ve had in my life, Subway notwithstanding. I’m not sure what inspired me to go back there, but I tried some other things, and they were nearly as awful. I’m talking about things like burgers and fajitas. Same offensive taste, same over-saltedness. I would have written the place off completely had it not been for some friends that insisted on going. And the one thing I ordered (probably the only thing I’ll order from now on) was actually fairly decent. I think that the difference was that my awful experiences were at a franchise that had just opened. Maybe the “head chef” just felt that everything was undersalted and underseasoned and tried to compensate. Hopefully he was taken out back and shot. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/68 "2009-09-09T13:54:17Z")
It must have been that location then. Either that or we have very different palates. Riblets are nothing more than abbreviated ribs. They taste exactly like regular ribs, there’s just less of them. At least, it was so the last time I had them, which was several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/69 "2009-09-09T14:00:11Z")
Yeah, it had to be. When I could barely make it through a third of my meal, I asked the waiter for the check. He asked if I wanted him to wrap up my leftovers to go. I resisted the urge to respond “Are you fucking kidding me?!? Is this some sort of sick joke?!?” It’s impossible to describe in text how truly awful it was. I really hope that it was an anomoly. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/70 "2009-09-09T14:20:00Z")
> [@Captain\_C](#): > > . . . So we get there and are ushered up to these fucking 4-foot tall tables where I have to sit on a bar stool that makes my feet go to sleep. I could at least 8 real booth tables that were empty in the place, but \*\*the girlfriend didn’t want me to ‘make a scene’ \*\*so I was stuck. > . . . If asking for a more comfortable table is “making a scene” break up with her now. You’ll thank me later! ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/71 "2009-09-09T14:34:52Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > It goes: > Denny’s = McDonald’s > TGIFridays = Burger King. > Applebee’s = Wendy’s. > Chili’s = Fuddruckers. > > There is solid science to back this up. _Cite!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/72 "2009-09-09T19:23:06Z")
What the heck? I posted here yesterday, and now… nada? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/73 "2009-09-09T19:56:43Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > QFT. I was straining to find an association between food poisoning and Quantum Field Theory until I remembered those newly discovered fermions: the nauseons, the bloody diarrheons and the projectile pukeons. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/74 "2009-09-09T20:18:13Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > …sliders…gaining traction… If inadvertent, hilarious. If deliberate, you’re GOOD… ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/75 "2009-09-09T21:26:07Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Must be a pretty small town. It is (here, I mean). Our main shopping strip includes the following restaurants: Local Italian place, but it’s like a Olive Gardeny-type place – my favorite Applebee’s – second favorite Friendly’s – sentimental favorite Chili’s Burger King McDonald’s Denny’s Weathervane (seafood, local chain) Wendy’s 99 Steakhouse Subway Chinese takeout D’Angelo Panera So Applebee’s is one of the best options there. (I’m also a big fan of huge portion of greasy cheesy American goodness.) Yes, it’s better to go to a different town for a nice dinner at a non-chain! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/76 "2009-09-09T22:03:42Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Chili’s I went to Chilis a couple times for their new “2 can eat for $20” special. I then learned the quite tasty onion rings things were over 1000 Calories all by themselves!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/77 "2009-09-09T22:05:05Z")
So, did the OP die? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/78 "2009-09-09T22:17:36Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Puking. For two hours. Uh huh. > > If you don’t have food poisoning, you must be the biggest drama queen to grace the Pit in quite some time. > > And no, I don’t like Applebee’s either. And if he does have food poisoning, it wasn’t from today’s lunch. Most types of food poisoning take (off the top of my head) 8-48 hours to set in. Drives me nuts when someone calls me at work, tell me they just finished a sandwich and now they have (name food borne illness here) and they demand we do something about it. Ummm, go see a doctor and find out what you have first. BTW, I like Applebee’s and Friday’s and Chili’s ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/79 "2009-09-09T22:19:26Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > QFT. > > Now, all of you who are still insisting you can’t get food poisoning that quickly, better start bringing up some cites for that. > > Then we’ll shoot those down, because they’ll be wrong. > > ] The Good Doctor here disagrees with you\*\*,Joey P.\*\* although I admit it’s not all that common to set in that fast. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314/80 "2009-09-09T22:20:25Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > That was only the star stand-out of an utterly crappy meal; the rest was merely insipid, tasteless, salt-grease infected with corn syrup and nuked just before serving. I must protest. Nuking? Excuse me? You’ve never heard of an invention? Called the deep-fryer? There ain’t no need to microwave the frozen patties when you can just toss them in the fryer for a few minutes. This is the technology that keeps chain restaurants in business. Anyone can microwave a frozen dinner at home, but very few people are going to heat up the fry-daddy just for a few chicken strips. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-at-applebees-i-think-im-going-to-die/509314.md?page=5)