Applebee’s

What a pleasant surprise! The kids wanted to go here for dinner and we had a great experience. We had chicken, Thai shrimp, ribs, burgers, and the Bourbon steak (one of the better steaks I’ve had this year!), plus desserts. Everything was tasty, cooked perfectly, and served with a smile… prices were reasonable too. We’ll definitely return.

The food choice and quality has gone steadily downhill over the past couple of years.
What used to be a menu of good value dinner items, prepared by competent chef’s and cooks has now become mainly ‘bar food’ of inconsistent quality and showing the skill of minimally experienced line cooks.

The food is never similar to what is presented in the menu pictures. Typical fare for a chain restaurant. Very limited vegetarian options. In an effort to improve this, I contacted corporate. In a very thoughtful, long email I was informed that I could order any chicken dish without chicken. Any beef dish without beef, etc. Not being interested in carbs, carbs, and more carbs, I have not been back. Put a veggie burger on the menu.

Walked in and stood at the hostess station and was looked at by about every employee in the place, finally after about 5 mins the hostess showed up to seat us. After we were seated the waitress came up and did the drinks then the food order. Got the drinks very timely but the food took 30 mins to get after ordering. Once the food came we were not checked on until my wife asked for a to go box. I ordered the triple bacon burger, was not worth $ 11. There was supposed to be a sauce on the burger and they didn’t put it on, thank goodness I asked for the lettuce, pickle, and onion. Was about the driest burger I could choke down. The other orders were ok, not worth the wait for somewhat ok food. Probably won’t be back to this location again. Very disappointed in the service and the food at this location. I could understand the wait if it was busy, but it was not. I talked with a manager there about our experience at her location. When I told her about the service and the food issue she really didn’t seem to care and that I was bothering her. Not sure if she was a main manager but her lack of people skills and not much caring about the operation of her location was to say the least a shock. Most places seem to care about your experience at their establishment. On a later note, have been up most of the night with stomach cramping, not sure if it was from the food here but was fine until I visited this place. Definitely will not go back, may try another location. Usually have great service and food at Applebee’s but this location is the exception.

Pretty good food. Definitely nothing special but it was good for a chain restaurant. The waitress was attentive without interrupting which was nice.

Clean restaurant, super friendly staff, fast service, and decent food for a decent price :)

I have to update this review. They have come a long way. Last 3 visits were top notch in food and service.

I have been here many times and every time received good service. The atmosphere is nice, but the times I have been in there extremely loud. The staff are very pleasant and helpful with recommendations on menu items.
I usually test them to see if they have recommendations and half of the time in places the wait staff are stumped at that. It would seem that is one of the first things they learn during training, but I guess not. Either way… I usually go with the waiters recommendation.
It is an enjoyable, clean, and family friendly place to have a sit down meal. They have a full bar also if you prefer to drink your dinner.
I enjoy their 99 cent desert shooters as well. mmmmm brownie bite.

We usually visit Applebee’s once per year, when we are in the Clark County, Kentucky area, as it is one of the few dining options in the area that has a bar. Otherwise, this is not the type of place we’d frequent.
The only reason we’re writing this review is to express our intense irritation about this national chain’s current menu. At present, the only items on the menu that are vegetarian are fried appetizers such as cheese sticks and potato «twisters» (chips), spinach artichoke dip, and tomato-​basil soup (note: even the entrée *salads* all have meat on them).
It is unacceptable that Applebee’s doesn’t even have one entrée option for vegetarians. There used to be a spinach flatbread pizza option, but it is gone. This is nuts, because even places like Burger King and Buffalo Wild Wings (other stops we frequent on our yearly trek to the midlands) have vegetarian options (BK has a gardenburger and BWW has a gardenburger, a black bean burger).
There is no reason why this chain can’t have a bleeping package of garden or boca burgers in the freezer so a diner can substitute it for a meat patty.
On a side note, the servers might not want to laugh when diners inquire about vegetarian options. Our server also suggested that we simply order, for instance, a salad without meat. We refuse to pay anywhere from 10 – 12 dollars for a salad comprised mainly of iceberg lettuce.
Boo.

After having too many bad experiences here, I give up. The service is, at best, bad. Every time I have ordered steak, it is undercooked and presentation is clearly not a concern. It’s obviously too far from Lexington for Thomas and King to keep it up to par. Now you know!

Applebee’s is one of the best places to go for a family meal. Smoke free. I love the frozen drinks especially. I’ve often had to take my food home because I couldn’t finish it all. Refills are very fast, too.

Atmosphere pleasant. Wait staff polite. Clean. Reasonably priced. Food good. We were refilled drinks without even asking. I would recommend this as a place to eat.