Applebee’s

We only went to Applebee’s because there is nothing else in this area that interested us. We needed a quick bite while I was waiting for LensCrafters to finish making my glasses. When we walked in the first thing I noticed is that it was cold. Today is a dreary cloudy damp day, and I think they had the air on! Not a huge deal, so we waited for the hostess. She was devoid of personality but efficient, very robotic. As we looked over the menu the server arrived. Anthony was the one bright spot in this whole experience, which is why I wanted to congratulate him by name. I have celiac disease so I asked him about a few of the menu items. He was honest, telling us that it was his third day on the floor, so he made a list of my questions and took them to the kitchen. He returned with the answers and our beverages (I highly recommend the pomegranate lemonade) and I had to pick other items because everything I was interested in contained wheat in some form. (They do not have a gluten free menu, which would have been hugely helpful.) He was patient and helpful, and I finally selected a portobello swiss burger, no bun, with the addition of grilled onions, and sweet potato fries. My husband got a bacon cheddar burger with their house made chips. It took almost forty minutes for our burgers to arrive. Two tables were seated, served and left before we had our food. I guess we ordered the wrong items. Anywhooo, his bun was badly burned; he had to scrape the charcoal off so he could eat it. The bacon was floppy and barely warm, his cheese half melted. My burger was swimming in a pool of grease, there were three tiny slices of mushroom under a layer of lukewarm half melted swiss, and the burger was cooked within inches of it’s life even after I specified I wanted it pink (they only give you the choice of pink or no pink). The sweet potato fries were really good, as were his chips. Anthony was attentive, refilling our drinks and checking to see if everything was okay. No, I didn’t tell him about the issues with the food. We had waited so long to get it that it just wasn’t worth waiting for it to be prepared again. We finished quickly, tipped him well and left, agreeing to never darken their doorstep ever again. Oh, and as I write this I’ve got heartburn from hell from all the grease. Nope, never again. If Anthony hadn’t been there it would have been a one star experience for sure.

The food was good but my husband has a serious tree nut allergy and even though he and I both ordered the Fiesta Lime Chicken which according to their allergen information isn’t supposed to have any tree nuts we ended up at the hospital that evening. Thankfully we had an epi pen and there was a hospital close by so he was ok but I wouldn’t advise eating here if you have a food allergy. Someone isn’t being too careful in the kitchen.

Good food, good prices. There is certainly a niche in the market for a place like Applebee’s. The servers and other staff are polite and attentive. In general Applebee’s is noisy and tows a fine line between restaurant and bar with the middle of the action. Our food came out quickly and our bartender Shane was fantastic.

Still a good place to eat. Tuesday was a slow night so we had good service. Everything was good except for my daughter’s pasta. It was okay, but this is not their speciality. The chicken dishes are good. Ribs are fine. Overall nice dinner.

The food was good and the service was fast. I had stopped going to this Applebee’s because it started to suck. My mom wanted me to take her here for dinner. I reluctantly agreed and was pleasantly surprised. They must have changed managers… it was much better and I’ll start going again.