Applebee’s

Traveling through and Applebee’s is definitely not a hit for me… way too much fried, greasy food, but it was the best this town had to offer. I’m not sure how Americans like and eat this crap.
But the service at this location was great and it was clean. I had the salmon. It definitely tasted frozen… very tough and tasteless, but at least it wasn’t fried like the rest of the menu choices.

This was the second and last visit to this location. First time the server was great but my son had a dirty plate. This time server was meh, my son’s plate was dirty AGAIN and both my husbands and my food was cold.

I don’t get what’s up with all the terrible reviews, I’ve never had a less than average experience here. However, I do have to agree that their water doesn’t taste very good. I love their soft pretzel appetizers and their steaks have never left me disappointed.

Applebee’s is not on my list of places to eat, ever. I had the misfortune of being asked to meet here tonight… Where I made the terrible mistake of ordering mozarella sticks– I thought it would be ok. How can you emss those up, right?
Wrong. They weren’t even warm enough that the cheese was remotely melted. They were also not cooked all the way– the breading was wet and gummy on several.
Service was better than expected, my drink was kept filled… But he never did ask why I wasn’t eating my appetizer or if it was ok.
I know that the options in Los Lunas are limited folks… But Applebees shouldn’t be an option at all.

Applebee’s now has Ted. Ted is a tablet that sits at your table. It asks if you would like drink refills, desserts or appetizers. One can also unlock all games on it for $ 0.99. We did not pay the $ 0.99 for the games. I like electronics so I thought this was nice. Others came in and had it removed from the table because they did not like Ted.
Anyway our human server was friendly and efficient. Appetizer was great! Mozzarella sticks. Not greasy. Our server also asked if we wanted ranch dressing along with the standard marinara sauce. I prefer ranch with my cheese sticks.
I like Applebee’s 2 can eat for $ 25/​$ 20. I had the bourbon chicken and potatoes. The potatoes were ok, needed more spice. The chicken was delicious with mushrooms and onions. Dh had the 4 cheese mac & cheese with chicken. He liked it but said it was a bit too sweet for him. For dessert we had the ½ order (yes many items can be ordered as ½ orders) of the salted caramel pretzel bites. These were really good. Good thing it was a ½ order! Helped me stay within my calories!
Just a warning the water at this restaurant is terrible. So if you only drink water ask for lemon to help disguise the plastic taste of the water.
Free wi-​fi here too. Best place in Los Lunas to watch those games that are on cable, if you happen to be cable free too! They have many tvs around the bar to watch your favorite team.

Went for lunch on a weekday and had no complaints. First time we went when it first opened there was an Inexperienced wait staff and it showed in poor customer attention. Now it’s an older crew and they know their business. Manager came by the table and chatted. Steak arrived and they asked me to check it. It was not as ordered and they took it back without hesitation. Second time it was made right. Never saw the bottom of the drink glass. Food all came quickly.

Live right down the road from here, and have only been three times. Service was not good the first time, second time was take out, and the girl serving didn’t know anything about the menu, third time better service worse food. Was really hoping for a good place in Los Lunas, but this Applebee’s is seriously lacking. I’d rather eat at one in Abq. Seems like 95% of the wait staff were hired on their looks alone, all teeny boppers who’ve never waitressed in their life, thinking looking cute is all it takes to keep their job.

The most horrendous service I’ve ever experienced at a restaurant. I was passing through on my daughters birthday and let her pick a place. I actually had to go get my waitress every time I needed something. They screwed up my wife’s order, and the rest of the food was so so at best. I told the waitress it was my daughters birthday. After the waitress brought our food I never saw her again. No dessert, no check. Had to go to the hostess to get a check and pay. Appalling. Will never go to an Applebee’s again. Don’t know how they stay in business

3^rd time isn’t the charm here. Trip 1 was slow and food was just OK trip 2 was the worst experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant, the sever was so high he forgot our food order 2 times and brought us the wrong drinks after 45 mins of no food we told the Manger to just cancel our order. The manager was too busy fixing the other tables the sever messed up to even say anything but OK. 3^rd time the sever put our wing order in with the wrong sauce so we had to wait for the correction. Than boneless were brought instead of bone in they took those back and brought the correct order. Nothing was discounted or comped for the long wait and inconveniences. We won’t be trying a 4^th time.

Its Applebees, you know what to expect. A decent meal, at a decent price, and some decent drinks, and respectable service.
We’ve been here about 5 times now since it opened (its a small town folks), and the food, service, and quality has varied wildly.
First off, the décor, I have to say, Applebees has hit a good line with their new design, all local, all relevant. There are nods to Route 66, Los Lunas, Valencia County, and the central valley all throughout. I like the colors, the seats are all comfortable, the music isn’t too loud, and there are good quality TV’s everywhere in the bar section.
Second, the service. This has varied wildly. We’ve had the same person 2 times we’ve been there, and he was horrible. No spine to go ask where our food was after 40 minutes of waiting, and inconvenienced when we asked for refills of our drinks. Most of the others have been decent to fantastic.
Lastly, the food. I’ve had a couple of fantastic sandwiches here, a pretty fair french onion soup, and a highly likable tequilla chicken and shrimp meal over rice. The Asian Tacos are really REALLY good for an appetizer, as are the green beans, I recommend them both. Where they really fail though is their timing and their quality. The last time we went there, I’m not kidding you, my wife sent her steak back 5 times.
FIVE TIMES. She ordered her steak medium rare, a loaded baked potato, and veggies. Each time the steak came back, they scraped the same sides from one plate to another, so by the time she got an acceptable steak, the sides were cold. Here’s the rundown…
25 Minute wait
1^st Steak — Well Done, tough to cut and no pink or red at all in the center.
15 Minute wait
2^nd Steak — Well Done, easier to cut, no pink or red at all in the center.
5 Minute wait
3^rd Steak — Seared and RAW. I mean purple center when cut and cold, inedible.
*Wife excused herself to go to the restroom*
30 seconds later…
4^th Steak — Delivered by manager. Put the knife on top while he watched and the steak just pulled, you knew it was raw. Cut it open in front of him and pulled it open. Asked him, «Now, what would YOU call that?» He nervously said, «Well, that would be a bit below rare». I stated, «Close, that’s raw. We cook steaks once or twice a month and get it right, you guys cook hundreds a day.»
5 minutes later
5^th Steak — Rare, but mostly edible, about ¹⁄₅ of it was questionable. No one got sick.
Why can’t you folks cook a steak? Use a thermometer if you need to, cut it open a bit if you need to, this isn’t anything new!
Is this the only occasion?
No, on 3 other occasions we’ve had to wait for 45 minutes for appetizers to arrive (queso and salsa, 45 minutes, in New Mexico?!?), or wait for 15 to 20 minutes for a beer to show up. This is with different groups of friends with us, but no more than 5 of us at a time.
I know this place is new, but seriously, with 5 or 6 folks sitting around their ordering computer laughing and chatting, you should have this fixed by now. One night we saw no less than 10 managers there at one time.
I expect it to get better, and yeah, I’ll go back now and then (happy hour anyone?), but would go there more if these issues didn’t exist.
Oh, they also have one of the best beers around on tap, 1554 from New Belgium. The deserts are good, and if you get there right after they open, everything is great. The location is nice, parking lot is a bit small, but everything else is good to go.