Applebee’s

I’ve dined here close to 10 times and the experience has been similar on each occasion. Friendly service but mediocre and forgettable food. But I get it, it’s quick and convenient and those with unadventurous (or possibly impaired) taste buds will be satisfied.
My visit yesterday confirmed my other experiences here, and had it not been for a well intended gift card, we would have dined elsewhere. A’s seems constantly in the process of revamping the menu with current food trends. Now they are doing the wood grilled thing. I’m a huge fan of wood grilled anything, but there needs to be much more than that going on here to produce above average chain restaurant grub.
Take our choices today, my elderly relative ordered a strip steak off the 2 for $ 25 menu, which kind of forced me to do likewise so he could take advantage of the perceived value. I went with Bourbon street chicken. The salads that come with this deal were the highlight for me, fresh spring mix with cukes, bacon, cheese and toms. The Caesar looked ok but was much smaller than my house version. His steak was overcooked even though he ordered it well done. Do they realize that there are gradients past this level of doneness? And even more so when you start with a thin cut of meat. Our poor waiter saw how «wood grilled» it was and offered to replace, but many depression era patrons can stomach food mishaps, and this one battled through it. My chicken dish came with about 6 small shrimp and a thin piece of breast. This sat atop a sizzling plate that had raw onions, and some mushrooms and roasted potatoes. The chicken was way overcooked even though I removed it from the sizzling plate as soon as it arrived. Making matters worse was the «garlic butter» that it was garnished with. I love me some garlic butter, and make it myself. This one must have utilized raw garlic and the taste was just bad, keep away vampires and significant others bad.
Kudos must be given to Hunter, our excellent server. Sadly his customer service skills could not elevate this visit into 3 star territory. With all the better independent choices around do yourself a favor and try one of them. Don’t worry, A’s will still be here, it fills a niche that I would rather avoid.

Last night is the last time I will ever go to Applebees. Only went last night because I had a gift card. Let me start by saying the Agava Rita was amazing the best I have ever had. The bartender really knows their stuff! Now to the waiter. I knew as soon as he came to the table we were going to have an issue. He was an airhead. He asked for our drink order and disappeared. He came back to take our food order without he drinks! He went and got the drinks… took forever. He kept saying how sorry he was. He finally took our food order. When the food came out my sons food wasn’t with the order, there are only three of us, he said I’ll be right back. After several minutes he came back and said he made a mistake and forgot to put my sons order in. There are only three of us at the table. It wasn’t a special order it was a steak. My husband and I had burgers. It didn’t seem to be a complicated order. He kept saying how sorry he was. We went out to dinner as a family and now my son is sitting there waiting for his food! After a very long time the food came out and it wasn’t done right.
I may go back for a cocktail but I will sit at the bar. Last time we went the steak was bad. This time it didn’t come at all. This yound kid needs more training! I mean he wasn’t a teenager, had a beard, but he was not mature enough to work the floor.

Tried their new chicken, way too salty.
Was disappointed that our server didn’t advise us it was happy hour and all appetizers were half off; rather I overheard it from another server telling the table next to me.

Wow… That’s really all I can say. I went to this place tonight with my son. My waiter had to be in his upper 40’s and I believe his name was Tim or Ted. We place our orders at 8:55pm. We received our drinks and the appetizers came shortly after. About 9:48 is when we received our burgers. Yes… That long for burgers. My waiter during this time came by once to say he was going to check on our food. People whom was seated after is got their food before us. Once we received our food. The waiter came back 5 minutes to ask us if we wanted anything else. I asked for mayo that my child never received for his burger and a water. He looked me in my face and said «Is that going to be it?» I kindly told him yes and once he returned I asked for the bill. The whole experience didn’t sit well with me and I won’t be returning unless they hire new people.

Saturday afternoon was our third and last visit to Applebee’s on Rt 33 in HAMILTON. We walked in and waited for a minute while the hostess seated the people who walked in after us. Then we were seated at the table and my wife told me to order while she went to the bathroom. When she came back ten minutes later she asked if I had ordered. I said nobody had come around. Mind you the place was somewhat empty and the servers were busy chit chatting. When the server finally came my wife gave him a ration of shit and he said the delay was due to a shift change. Anyway she ordered the 2 for 20 ribs for her and tenders for my son. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries. When I got my burger it was just a little larger than a White Castle burger and the plate had about 10 fries on it. My wife said her ribs were not all that great. We will stick to going to the on Rt. 1 in Lawrenceville.

This place was horrible, from the dish we ordered– the rice was uncooked, the chicken wings came out cold. Two stars for the big «bowl» of sangria. Good thing I don’t live in the area!

The Food is Okay, I went there for dinner and ordered the 3 Appetizer combo and a Handheld. The One mistake that I did was ordering my Chicken wings with some Asian sauce rather the usual Buffalo sauce, It tasted awful. The fried shrimp appetizer is also not great. The people were good but they took too much time to bring my order.

Waited 20 minutes for bartender to notice I was done. Was gonna order dessert but got tired waiting for someone to give us attention. Bartender was by herself on a busy night, yes. But a manager was also behind the bar for a bit and spent the whole time chatting with another customer and didn’t serve anyone.
Ordered chicken and shrimp, not bad but not good either. Hated sweet sauce that came with sweet potato fries. Not my favorite time coming here, but not bad enough to stop me from coming back.

Food here always great. Service not so much. Its a very slow night so I expected some fast service and some attention. I got none of that. The waitress that served us just texted, sat down in a empty booth, and with customers. A waiter should never do that while customers are in the door. Secondly the waitress blaintely tossed our plates and silverware (forks, knives, etc) on the table. I had my daughter here and that carelessness could have easily injured her. Lastly I’m just not impressed by the wait staff here. Expect the good food don’t expect the good service.

Got a house salad to go on Saturday and found an unpleasant surprise: a Bug!
Horrible!!!

Probably one of the worst Applebee’s I’ve been to. First things first: they’ve obviously downsized most of their meals including appetizers to save money. Same prices but smaller portions. You don’t even get a full stick of celery with your boneless wings what the hell is that about. If the apocalypse is upon us and this place is the only place open, make sure you don’t get server MIKE. Chubby dark skinned guy. Definitely on some type of narcotic because he had to be asked 4 times in a row for a glass of water… 4 Times! Spent about 25 minutes talking to his friends at another table while we were waiting to give him our order. Location of this Applebee’s also sucks so you always have your local «Trenton Trash» in there.

I enjoyed my lunch at the bar of this Applebee’s.
The bartender was very friendly and engaging, perhaps because I was the sole patron sitting there, but she seemed sincere. Everyone else working after the lunch rush stopped by to chat. I certainly appreciated the effort.
My Asian Salad with Fried Chicken was fresh and tasty, and satisfied my recent addiction for Fried Chicken. There were loads of sliced Roasted Almonds and thin Chinese Crisp Noodles, as well as a nice mound of the Chicken. On the other hand, there was very little in the way of other veggies (a little carrot, red cabbage), and it lacked a scattering of Mandarin Slices that would have given it a sweet juiciness and strong visual cues, not to mention a pleasing complement to the Citrus Dressing.
It was good, but along with a Pomegranate Ice Tea and a tip, the lunch came in over $ 18., which is too much for a «light lunch.» Next time, I might go with the half salad as a way to control cost.

The food at Applebee’s is what it is and it’s likely not going to change any time soon, so you have to take it or leave it. I’m personally not a fan of their entrees, so only frequent the franchise for the bar and dessert menu. That said, stopping for drinks and dessert at the Applebee’s on Rt. 33 in Hamilton was one of the best experiences I have had at the chain.
First off, here’s a helpful hint if you’re trying to find the place. It is not located in Trenton, despite what Unilocal might say. Rather, it is located on Rt. 33 East in Hamilton, close to Mercerville/​Hamilton Square. If you are using a GPS, I would recommend using the full address and ZIP code (333 NJ Route 33 8 619), due to the confusing nature of NJ township lines.
That being said, let’s now return to the review.
The service and atmosphere were both top notch at the Rt. 33 Applebee’s. My girlfriend and I were promptly greeted by friendly wait staff as soon as we walked in, and escorted to a table in a quieter part of the restaurant. Our waiter, EJ, was highly attentive and seemed to genuinely care about the dining experience of all of the parties he was serving. He even assisted an elderly customer with using the tablet at her table to pay for her meal. Atmosphere was just what I was looking for: lively without being overly loud. I also give them props for using photos and memorabilia from local sports teams as décor. It made this franchise seem like an actual part of the community, rather than another impersonal mega-​chain restaurant.
For drinks, I ordered an Allagash White and my girlfriend ordered a Sam Adams Cold Snap… both on tap! I was highly impressed by their sizable selection of craft brews and seasonal drafts (Allagash, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, even the locally brewed River Horse stout). Suffice it to say, this Applebee’s had a more interesting selection of draft beers than I have seen at many actual bars.
For food, we shared the salted caramel pretzel sticks, which were quite good, although a bit sweet when paired with beers. Granted they were from the dessert menu, so that is to be expected. I’ll probably order an appetizer next time to pair with beer, but would consider ordering it again otherwise.
As you can probably tell, I thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I will definitely be returning for drinks/​appetizers/​dessert. If only their entrees were better, I would visit more often!

Don’t bother. My husband were out for date night and decided to gve Applebee’s a try. We were seated promptly and greeted by a nice waitress. We arrived at 3:00 pm and they had a few customers but the restaruant was not busy at all. We waited over 20 minutes for our order of the pick your apps platter and that was the highlight. None of the apps upon arrival were hot they were barely warm. The waitress waited another 20 min. before returning with our entrees. The waitress asked at that time would I like a refill on my coffee, I said yes and explained that I had requested my dinner salad not have the blue cheese she left with my salad and coffee mug. Upon returning less then 3 min. later with a new salad I noticed she did not have my coffee. She started to walk away and exclaimed oh I’ll get that coffee for you in a minute. When I tried the salad the grilled chicken was barely warm. My husband than told me his steak was cold and the shrimp tasted very fishy. While eating my salad I found a cup of spinach in my salad was slimy. The waitress took another 40 minutes to return to the table. She never asked about why there was so much spinach pulled from my salad or even how the meal was. She took the plates and disappeared again for another 15 minutes before retuning for the check. There were fewer guests in the restaruant at this time than when we entered. She then took my credit card and the check and did not return for another 7 minutes. To say the least this is sketchy and not an experience I or my husband wish to repeat.

Ok, so we realize this isn’t a 5-​star establishment. Regardless, there are not too many places in this area that are open late, serve drinks, AND have cheap food, but man, ½-​price apps after 9 is seriously the best.
They have awesome drink specials like $ 4 main street rita and $ 2 drafts. So, I got a $ 2 pint of yuengling. Then, I was pretty hungry and I saw on the app menu that there was a chicken quesadilla. Since it was half-​off, it was $ 5 for a HUGE portion. Then, my friend decided we should split the potato twisters, so that came to 2.99 each. I wasn’t a fan of the potato twisters, because the chips were bland and the queso dip was MUCH to spicy. I was tearing up. But everything else was awesome.
Also, our server was great! His name was Chad.
So, good service, a drink, and too much food for about $ 10? I’ll take it.

I come here from time to time from my trip from South Jersey. The half off app/​drinks is awesome after 8PM. Service is fast and I love the steaks over here.

The food was good but the service could have been better. They forgot to bring out several dishes but i guess you get what you pay for. You cant beat the 2 for $ 20 though.

Agreeing with all of the other reviews.
I came here because I was dying for some buffalo wings and the restaurant I was originally going to go to had lines out the door, so this was the next closest place to go.
As for the food you know what you are getting. Not 5 star food by any means but cheap and filling.
Anyway, the service and atmosphere has gone completely downhill. I was sat in the back of the restaurant by one of the POS machines where the servers would gather. Let me just say their conversations were VERY inappropriate especially by the server Eddy… him and another female server talking about who they would ***you know what*** amongst other things. Needless to say I won’t be back.

I used to go here all the time but over the past few years this place has really gone downhill. The service is slow at best. The most annoying thing is the tendency for people to just hang out there in the aisles and stand and chat with others right above your table with a total lack of etiquette when when you trying to eat.