Applebee’s

I have visited this location twice now and have had different results.
The first time I visited with my parents, we had an exceptional waitress. I told her that I needed gluten-​free options and she was knowledgeable and willing to work with me. I ended up getting a fantastic burger without the bun and was glad to be told that their french fries are gluten free and safe for someone with Celiac Disease. I was also told that the cook would be careful about sterilization of all tools so as not to cross-​contaminate me.
My food and my parents’ food came out fast, piping hot, and was absolutely delicious.
I should mention it was in the afternoon around 3−4pm when I came here.
The second time I came was with my boyfriend in the evening around 9pm.
The waitress I had could not have been more confused when I mentioned gluten free. I went ahead and ordered the same thing thinking it would be safe (thankfully it was, as I did not react or get sick from my meal). However, I will say that the food itself did not taste nearly as good this time. It came out sort of lukewarm. I mainly ate my french fries and left my burger alone, however my boyfriend’s food (the mac and cheese with chicken tenders) was great and he was happy.
I’d visit again, but probably avoid coming this late at night.

Horrible service! Do not go there to eat, the food was cold, our waiter didn’t know the menu at all & took our order & never came back to check on us. Our food arrived 15 minutes before we were about to leave.
We arrived at 12:05pm & they weren’t busy at all but our food did not come until 12:45pm. Do not go there if you are on your lunch break!

Honestly my first trip to an AB’s in a very long time. I can say this was one of the best ones I’ve been to. The location was perfect being across the lot from my hotel and that’s how they got my business. This particular visit I had exemplary service from a charming southern lady with a lovely accent. My food came out quickly and was prepared correctly which made for an enjoyable lunch. In the end though still an AB…

For an Applebees this one was pretty nice. We went because we heard they were giving out free app samples of the new sriracha shrimp. Just thinking about it makes me want more right now, best app they’ve had in a long time, if not ever. It’s fried shrimp that’s for a mayo/​sriracha glaze. The pot sticker app we tried was decent. The flavor was amazing but they were crunchy, probably from sitting under the heat lamp a couple minutes. Also, the new dessert, the churro smores rocked. I hated applebees food, but these new items are crave worthy, so they should keep up what they’re doing with these new creations!

I consistently question myself whenever I come here, «why do I pay money to eat here?»
Honestly, other than late hours and the rare deals (I came today because of the free appetizer and dessert), I wouldn’t set foot into this establishment.
Let me just tell you about the food we had:
SRIRACHA SHRIMP: literally just fried shrimp with sriracha sauce drizzles inconsistently all over the top. Some shrimp pieces were soaked with sauce while others barely had any. The flavor wasn’t bad though I probably wouldn’t pay $ 7+ for the dish if it weren’t free.
SPINACH & ARTICHOKE DIP: pretty good. Hard to mess up on this dip though since its mainly cheese. I’ve had the same quality dip at my house using one of those frozen boxes you can get from any grocery store.
HONEY PEPPER CHICKEN TENDERS: oh my god. Who would come up with such a gross combination. Honey and pepper DO NOT go together in this dish at all. Do not order this.
FAJITA CHICKEN WRAP: where is the fajita in this dish? Just a cheap chicken wrap you could find in any cafeteria.
CHURRO SMORES: enjoyable first couple of bites. The churros were really crispy and tasted pretty good dipped into the melted marshmallows. The problem arose when we dipped the churros further into the dip… The chocolate part of the smores was pure chocolate syrup. I thought they would use melted milk chocolate or something more edible, but the syrup was just unbearably sweet.
Conclusion: terrible food. The only reason I give this location higher than a 1 star rating is because of the service. Our waitress was really funny, nice, and attentive. But she was the only redeeming part of our most recent visit here.
Trust me, unless no other place is open, stay far, far away.

First and foremost, I just want to clarify that the bar was not set very high for an Applebee’s from the start. Decided to go here for lunch with a coworker for something somewhat decent and got a bland experience. Despite multiple empty tables, we had to wait to be seated. We also waited almost 20 minutes for our food to come out (mind you, they were basically empty). The food was nothing to celebrate, the chicken was a watery, greasy concoction and the shrimp tasted as if they were boiled. The salad was better than the entrée’. Won’t be spending my hard earned coins here anymore, could have gotten better at Bojangles’.

Stopped in Saturday night for a late night meal. No greeter. Numerous tables were piled high with dirty dishes and food debris. Ignored by 4 or 5 servers wizzing bye seemingly doing nothing. 4 servers sat at a table on right chatting amongst themselves. I sat at the bar. 20 minutes later «Assmar» nonchalantly walked over and said «Is this to go or eat in?» I responded «Hello, how are you?» That was my inteoduction.
This place was absolute chaos. No manager visible. I suppose I would hide too. Immature, untrained, and unprofessional staff.
This ship despatately need righting.

Ill start with the hostess.
We were totally ignored right when we walked in. A few minutes later she asked if it was just us to no welcome in any shape or form we should had walked out then because it only got worse.
Our server was decent only because you could tell that even though she hates her job she actually showed compassion for our unfortunate decision to try Applebee s.
The food was bad.. my husband got steak and I have no idea what they brought out but it was no steak iv ever tasted.
I will never be returning here. I suggest you don’t either I really wish we would have just walked out. The managers need to stop trying to be cool and do their job.

Food was great. Christopher was our server and he had a genuine southern hospitality demeanor. We waited quite a while for our bill but it was worth it.

Service was fine. However, the steak we ordered was clearly frozen and partially reheated in a microwave. I have been to many Applebee’s, but this is the first time I got a rubbery steak. The manager/​owner of this franchise needs to throw out their old food rather than freezing it. I understand that it loses money to throw out food, but there is a reason that this Applebee’s is mostly empty at prime meal times.

Went in here with a friend. Had ordered pasta which was too dry for my liking. It had bacon in it which i don’t eat and though it was not listed on the menu and I didn’t ask assuming it would only be chicken the host was good enough to replace it for no cost. It wasn’t really tasty but inly because they had such good service.. a little delayed but yet good service I would give them a 3 star review. But I don’t think I will visit them again.

It’s been years since I’ve had Applebees so I decided to check it out on a recent visit to NC, even though I’ve had bad experiences in previous years. I got the wedge salad and 4oz sirloin, which looked amazingly tasty in the picture on the menu. When it arrived, however, it looked absolutely nothing like the photo. It was fairly tasty, but not what I expected. Our waitress was friendly and did a good job keeping our drinks refilled.

I think I would’ve given them negative stars if possible. The waiter showed up late to our table … She was so late that we were contemplating leaving and going to some where else. We just ordered water for drinks and it came late too. The food didn’t taste great and had a sour flavor throughout.
Have to say this is the worst place I have eaten out in Raleigh-​Durham area.
Never visit this place.

Tried this location on two occasions both times were the same horrible outcome. The food was so bad the last visit that the manager offered us out plates for free. I’m not sure why this location is even still open. I don’t recommend this spot at all. YUCK!!!

We were here for lunch yesterday around 2 pm. Waited 10 – 15 minutes to be seated because hostess was not there to seat us though there were very few tables were occupied. We ordered Chicken Tortilla soup, Classic Turkey Breast, Shrimp Scampi Linguine, Fish n Chips and for dessert– brownie, pretzels.
Our soup was delicious. Fish n Chips was very greasy and in turkey sandwich I couldn’t taste turkey at all so out of curiosity I opened sandwich to see, is there any turkey in there. Linguine was ok. We liked both desserts. Desserts portions are big enough to share. Our waitress was attentive but they definitely need to work on seating customers specially when it’s not busy at all.

HORRIBLE SERVICE! The bartender was the worst. She spent more time ignoring the guest and more time on her iphone, texting and job searching. Found this out after she an another employee decided to talk about how much they hate it here. How about being thankful you have a job… I was at the restaurant for a total of 45 minutes. It wouldve been longer but i had to wait for a manager to notice i was empty. I explained to him that due to the extended amount of time that transpired i lost whatever momentum to relax. 6 minutes! 6! I now just wanted to eat and leave. As far as the bartender she spent a whopping 17 minutes, 38 secs on her phone.
SERIOUSLY? What ever happened to customer service in the service industry?

It’s an Applebees, so I can’t justify giving this location more than three stars. That being said, this Applebees seems to be the cleanest and least depressing looking Applebees I’ve had the pleasure of dining at.
If it’s late and you are hungry for bar food, there are a handful of appetizers that are half priced after 10pm. The quality isn’t phenomenal and obviously comes from a freezer bag into a deep frier or pan, but it is adequate and an unbeatable value… for fried food. We ordered mozzarella sticks at half price (approximately $ 3.50) and got 10 mozzarella sticks! Cheaper than Arby’s, Jack in the Box, or Sonic, etc. The spinach and artichoke dip is pretty good too and part of the discounted late night appetizer menu.
Otherwise, if my friends want to go to Applebees during normal hours, I’m very resentful. There is nothing, NOTHING, vegetarian! Not even a side salad. :-(

«Sure, I haven’t been to Applebees in years. This one is fairly new, I’m willing to give it a shot for a lunch.» FAMOUS LAST WORDS.
All I have to say is that I was served rotten french fries. Can I tell you how many times I’ve eaten a rotten potato in a public restaurant? Never.
Seriously, ANY other food establishment at that intersection has better tasting food.

This is a national chain restaurant in a very competitative industry. I will say that this Applebees is much better than the last Applebees in this neighborhood in the shopping center where Toy R Us is located in Durham near SouthSquare. I had the pick n’ pair lunch of tomato basil soup & caesar salad which was good. The waiter did a fine job for our group. Applebees is trying to consider those who count calories or are on a program like Weight Watchers.
Location C
Service B
food B
Décor B

I really ought to know better. Well, in fact, I do. But it’s new, I thought maybe, just maybe, they couldn’t go too wrong with a salad. I was wrong.
The truth is, I really try to avoid Applebees at all costs. I haven’t had a good meal at one in 20 years or so. But every once in a while, I decide to give them a chance. Last night was one of those chances. I dined with a friend, and we wanted salads. He objects to the three best salads close to us, and we didn’t want to drive to Tylers or Tobacco Road. He had never been to an Applebees, so I relented. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…
We were greeted by quasi-​grass skirted young women who promptly seated us by the door. Apparently, it was beach music night or something, though they kept playing surf and drag music mixed with authentic beach music (and «Kokomo»), but I digress.
The woman that waited on us tried to hurry us along. «Are y’all ready to order, yet?» «Do you need another minute?» «How about now?» To her delight, we finally ordered. My friend had the Grilled Shrimp ‘N Spinach Salad and Wonton Tacos Chicken, and I had the Fried Chicken Salad with ranch and a Long Island Ice tea (It was on special.). We both ordered the full salads, but when they arrived, I wondered how small the half salads must be!
The LIT arrived totally yellow, like SunDrop… or more likely sour mix, and that’s what it mostly was. Not even the splash of Coke to make it look like tea. This looked nothing like iced tea. It tasted ok, but a bit sweet. My favorite LIT is probably Famous Dave’s Smokin’ Tea.
The Wonton Tacos were ok. Deep fried stuff at places like this is usually passable. These were fine.
The Grilled Shrimp ‘N Spinach Salad, while flavorful, was incredibly sweet. One of the reasons to have salads was to avoid carbohydrates, and the sugar in that dressing required my friend to adjust up his insulin. Seriously.
The Fried Chicken Salad didn’t have much flavor. Again, the fried part was fine. The rest of the salad was invisible. The dressing pre-​fab ranch – and not a good one; of course, that’s redundant becauseI’ve yet to actually find a bottled ranch that’s worth much. Most restaurants, though, do have decent ranch: Chili’s, OutBack, LoneStar, Ale House, etc. (Not to mention exceptional ranch dressings at Firedbirds, Satisfaction, etc.)
Similar to my salad, the décor was pretty benign. It’s almost as if they’re prepared for it not to take a lot to renovate for a new eatery if this fails. And perhaps that’s part of the Applebees philosophy; be non-​offensive, bland, mainstream. If that’s what you seek, you probably won’t be disappointed. Maybe their commitment to mediocrity is why they closed all the Rio Brava Cantinas when they bought that chain – and I’ve yet to forgive them for that.
If you choose your restaurants by going to places that «aren’t that bad,» you might be ok here. Otherwise, I’d go to Chilis. Just sayin’.