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Applebee's ~ a lousy dining experience

Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
Last night we were coming home from the hospital after visiting an ailing aunt, it was about 8pm and we had not had dinner. Stopped in at Applebee's Restaurant for a meal.

While the place was OK, clean, decorated with local sports team memorabalia and the server was pleasant, the food was pretty lousy.

We ordered a 3 appetizer platter to start that had "cheeseburger sliders", spinach/artichoke dip and hot wings. The "cheeseburger sliders" that were vastly inferior to a real White Castle slider. The spinach/artichoke dip was OK, no complaint there. The wings, eh. So out of the 3, 1 was good, two no so much.

Dinner was about the same. I ordered 'riblets' which I figured would have been some sort of boneless pork rib thing. I was wrong. It was rib tips. Not very good either. The lovely Mrs_Bob ordered 'fish & chips' and honestly they were horrid. The worst I've ever tried, bar none. Heck even the school cafeteria when I was a kid had better fish. These were over cooked, tough, and just plain bad. Melen ordered an open face steak sandwich. She won the prize for good food. It was pretty good.

The highlight of the evening was not the food, nor the service (which was good). But rather the table of ladies adjacent to us. Grandma with the large tattoo on her boob was simply stunning to behold. There was probably the largest black woman I've ever seen, heck the largest woman of any color/creed I've ever seen. She must have been nearly 7' tall and had an ample girth. She anchored one end of the table. The other end was anchored by a much shorter woman, but these two probably weighed about the same, so the shorter one would kindly be described as gravitationally enhanced. I think when she got the tattoo of the rose on her shoulder it was probably a dainty rose, but as she gained weight the rose also expanded to well larger than life size. Overall that was just fun entertainment to view. I think there were 7 or 8 total ladies at the table, they seemed to enjoy their meal much more than we enjoyed ours.

My score for Applebees, out of a possible 5 "forks" I'd give it maybe 1 "spork" for food quality. Not someplace I ever could recommend, and not someplace that I would ever choose to go again.
 
It hasn't been my favourite place since I got an appetizer sampler with artichoke dip that tasted BAD.
 
I've eaten at our local Applebooger a few times. The last time, I went for "Carside to Go". Had the ribs. Had to damned-near get the dog to chew the meat off the bone for me. :doh:

Next time, it's Grizzly's when I want ribs! :whistling:
 
IMO the best place to eat with a good atmosphere and food is Ruby Tuesday.
Had one bad experience there, but it didn't keep me from going back... besides, their salad bar rocks.:brows:
 
pirate_girl said:
IMO the best place to eat with a good atmosphere and food is Ruby Tuesday.
Had one bad experience there, but it didn't keep me from going back... besides, their salad bar rocks.:brows:
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+1 on the salad bar. We go there sometimes and just get that salad bar for dinner, AYCE, and it's fantastic. The other food is also good, just overpriced to pay for the ambiance.
 
Trakternut said:
I've eaten at our local Applebooger a few times. The last time, I went for "Carside to Go". Had the ribs. Had to damned-near get the dog to chew the meat off the bone for me. :doh:

Next time, it's Grizzly's when I want ribs! :whistling:
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Try "Space Aliens" on a Wednesday night, all you can eat ribs at a very reasonable price.
 
I've eaten there a number of times. Usually at someone else's request. I never have cared much for it.
 
I have had both good and bad experiences at Appleby's . Then I made the mistake of having lunch with Rusty there. have not gone back since!! :yum::yum::yum:
 
Ten-fifteen years ago, Applebee's was one of my favorite places to eat. If there was any reason for disatisfaction, a simple mention to the manager brought immediate action. Then, it started changing. The managers no longer have the authority to solve problems and seem to be affirmative action hires rather than the experienced resturant managers employed in the past. In short, it went to Hell in a handbasket. I won't walk in one.

Ruby Tuesday is still great as is O'Charley's (sp).
 
Geez the ones around here are great. Food has always been good right along with the service. Sorry to hear about your bad experience Bob.


murph
 
Our local one is great; always full of diners, great food and excellent service. The manager owned several restuarants on his own prior to managing this one.

Bob, what did the manager do when you informed him?

I won't buy ribs at a chain food store, only our local Roy's Hickory Pit BBQ!!

K
 
muleman said:
I have had both good and bad experiences at Appleby's . Then I made the mistake of having lunch with Rusty there. have not gone back since!! :yum::yum::yum:
Click to expand...

So, one of you coorced the other into something and you BOTH were banned from Applebees? :ermm:
Is it a system wide thing?
 
Melensdad said:
Last night we were coming home from the hospital after visiting an ailing aunt, it was about 8pm and we had not had dinner. Stopped in at Applebee's Restaurant for a meal.

While the place was OK, clean, decorated with local sports team memorabalia and the server was pleasant, the food was pretty lousy.

We ordered a 3 appetizer platter to start that had "cheeseburger sliders", spinach/artichoke dip and hot wings. The "cheeseburger sliders" that were vastly inferior to a real White Castle slider. The spinach/artichoke dip was OK, no complaint there. The wings, eh. So out of the 3, 1 was good, two no so much.

Dinner was about the same. I ordered 'riblets' which I figured would have been some sort of boneless pork rib thing. I was wrong. It was rib tips. Not very good either. The lovely Mrs_Bob ordered 'fish & chips' and honestly they were horrid. The worst I've ever tried, bar none. Heck even the school cafeteria when I was a kid had better fish. These were over cooked, tough, and just plain bad. Melen ordered an open face steak sandwich. She won the prize for good food. It was pretty good.

The highlight of the evening was not the food, nor the service (which was good). But rather the table of ladies adjacent to us. Grandma with the large tattoo on her boob was simply stunning to behold. There was probably the largest black woman I've ever seen, heck the largest woman of any color/creed I've ever seen. She must have been nearly 7' tall and had an ample girth. She anchored one end of the table. The other end was anchored by a much shorter woman, but these two probably weighed about the same, so the shorter one would kindly be described as gravitationally enhanced. I think when she got the tattoo of the rose on her shoulder it was probably a dainty rose, but as she gained weight the rose also expanded to well larger than life size. Overall that was just fun entertainment to view. I think there were 7 or 8 total ladies at the table, they seemed to enjoy their meal much more than we enjoyed ours.

My score for Applebees, out of a possible 5 "forks" I'd give it maybe 1 "spork" for food quality. Not someplace I ever could recommend, and not someplace that I would ever choose to go again.
Click to expand...


I hope you got pictures of the gals at the next table . That sounds funny . I'd go just to see that !:w00t2:
 
BigAl said:
I hope you got pictures of the gals at the next table . That sounds funny . I'd go just to see that !:w00t2:
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Bob must be careful, I think them two could have come and sat on Bob and done him in big time. Well I guess me too. :hide:
 
i myself have never had a bad experience in an Applebees. a least not bad enuff to refuse to go back......






......... off course them 23oz beers dont hurt :yum::yum::yum:
 
Being in the food business, I have seen how the chains have reduced the quality of their products to get to a price point. Cheaper cuts of meats, cheaper ingredients, protein replacers, moisture enhancers, yuk, yuk, and yuk.

For the same money, or mostly even less, a ma/pa hole in the wall restaurant does it for me. They tend to use the same ingredients you would use yourself, and, they are the owners. They really want you to come back. Their own quota is their livelihood.
 
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