Is ANYONE Feeling All That Good???
Written: Jan 17 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Variety of selections, close to home
Cons: Deceptive practices, bad service, consistently ineffective management
The Bottom Line: If it's a holiday and there's no Waffle House nearby, you may find it necessary to eat at Applebee's. You have been warned.
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| smaihlee's Full Review: Applebee's |
Your neighborhood bar and grill. I'm going to have to say "phooey" to that.
Being married to the former owner of a REAL neighborhood bar & grill, I can say with certainty that Applebee's is way off the mark in this category. I first ate at an Applebee's in the early 90's when I was attending Georgia Tech. I don't recall too many visits in those days, so I won't speak to how things used to be. I can speak to the last 8 or so years, as I have attempted to find SOMETHING good to say about the place on dozens of occasions.
What You See...
When you enter Applebee's, you are greeted by either a dedicated host or a frazzled server. My best guess is that who you get all depends on who showed up to work that day and how busy the restaurant is. On many occasions, I have found the person in the greeter position to be barely intelligible and far from a friendly face. A chalkboard in the waiting area displays the "features" of the day, a newer trend in casual dining that I find to be especially irritating. While the prominent display might lead patrons to believe otherwise, let me assure you that the listed items are not to be construed as being "specials". I don't know if there is any rhyme or reason to what's on the board each day, but in my mind it is pretty meaningless considering there are no discounts associated with the selections. My inner devil tells me that they feature items whose ingredients are in abundance and whose expiration date is rapidly approaching.
The decor of the restaurant is a pretty standard thing. Plastic Tiffany-esque-style lamps in various themes, all in dire need of dusting, hang over all the booths and tables in the "interrogation" position above diners' heads. Movie/celebrity memorabilia adorns the walls, mostly in the way of film stills and antiquated head shots. Furniture is upholstered in the ubiquitous burgundy vinyl. Seating is provided via both booths and tables (of both high and low varieties). The bar is situated at the center of the restaurant (toward the back), and multiple televisions are lined up around the bulkhead of the bar. The floors are carpeted, which I think is a good thing considering all the different types of noise going on inside. Unfortunately, this sound buffer often isn't enough to quell the reverberation of a table full of meatheads who have downed one too many pitchers of the "featured" beer (fortunately they'll be too drunk to notice on their bill that the "feature" wasn't a "special").
What You Get...
The menu is your standard-grade chain restaurant variety. Huge, laminated, multi-fold deal with all kinds of promotional inserts. The main menu is categorized in a pretty logical fashion. Appetizers first, salads/soups next, then entrees categorized by type of meat. The largest insert generally displays some type of limited time menu theme they're offering. I tend to avoid these things, because my past experiences have not been very favorable. Again, I'm not convinced that these gimmicky offerings aren't a sneaky way for the restaurant to get rid of quickly-approaching expiration dates on various food products stored in their central warehouse. Don't get me wrong--I like a variety of choices, but the multiple-menu format can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you feel pressured to order when the server first comes to the table for fear of not seeing him/her again for 20 minutes.
Though the menu and inserts change often, there are several standard dishes to choose from. At least a half-dozen salads, some with standard meat or meat add-on options. Two or three soups are offered each day, with French Onion being a daily choice (and a pretty good one, if they actually get it to your table while it's still hot). You also have a dozen or more ways to eat chicken, from fried fingers to Alfredo-style. Several cuts of steak and other beef offerings are there. A handful of pasta dishes, some with meat add-on options. Another handful of seafood selections. And, of course, you can top it all off with a plethora of mixed drink selections and Sasquatch-sized dessert items.
Variety is definitely not a problem here. Add to it all the usually-themed menu inserts and you're probably going to have a hard time choosing unless you're a regular customer with a die-hard favorite.
What is a problem is that all that variety comes at a price--literally. We don't order appetizers, alcohol, or desserts and we try to be conservative with our meal selections, but finding any entree on the menu for less than $9.00 is nearly impossible. There are, however, several salad and sandwich selections that come in around the $7 - $8 mark. A side salad is an add-on for most menu items (even as a side dish substitute), with the exception of the steak selections. I consider it pretty pitiful that my family of 3 can't get out of the place for less than $30.00, pre-tip.
What's most frustrating is that Applebee's has signed on with the most annoying recent movement in casual dining. You may or may not have noticed this, but most chain restaurants no longer publish soft drink/tea prices on the menu. I can only assume this is deliberately done since most customers don't actually look at drink prices, and because they are charging close to $2.00 for a soft drink. I'm pretty sure we first noticed this when eating at Applebee's (which leads me to believe they might have even spawned this egregious trend). I'm setting this paragraph off and putting it in bold to hopefully attract attention and spawn a movement among casual dining patrons. WE MUST PUT A STOP TO THIS! End of digression.
A Tale of One Fine Evening...
We gave Applebee's another try about 6 months ago. It was Sunday night, and we were in one of those non-committed food moods where we had no appetite for anything in particular. We hadn't been to Applebee's in a while, so we figured "why not?". In fact, we laughed as we pulled into a parking space, pondering just how bad it could be. And as we left that evening, I swore I'd never make a comment like that again as it ended up being probably the worst experience in the history of our visits to Applebee's.
We were seated at the table closest to the restrooms, the servers' station, and, as we soon found, also next to the side door where they have their new "To-Go" station. Prime real estate, for sure. Being a family where both parents and child are afflicted with ADD, this is about as bad as if you seated us on the bench in the lobby for dinner. One would think that being in such a high traffic area, we would get better than average service. But alas, it took eons to just get someone to our table to take our drink order. From my observation, this was due to some confusion as to whose table it really was that night. Once the confusion was out of the way, we received our drinks and our dinner order was taken.
And then we waited. And waited. After 20 minutes, we were finally graced with the presence of a server with our food. And, as in the case of most of our visits to Applebee's, we realized something was amiss. My husband had ordered a regular-sized Oriental Salad--which is about the only thing on the menu he figured they can't screw up. Well, they screwed up by bringing him the "half-size" salad. Ten minutes later, the server came back to check on us and the error was brought to her attention. At least ten more minutes later, a manager-type person stopped at the table to "check how we folks were doing". The salad discrepancy was brought to his attention, and he assured us that he would personally ensure another half-salad was brought to our table ASAP. By the time the salad actually arrived, my son and I had long finished our own meals and my husband was beyond the point of being upset. But, by golly, they made up for it by only charging us for the half salad. Thanks, guys.
Putting on a Happy Face...For a Moment
So this isn't a totally negative review, I will say that there are actually a couple things on the menu worth trying, though the chance of these items being made properly is marginal at best. The Blackened Chicken Salad, both in regular and "diet" versions(with Hot Bacon/Honey Mustard and Low Fat/Cal Honey Mustard dressings, respectively), is my personal favorite item. Another item which is actually the best value, though certainly not the most nutritious, is the Appetizer Sampler. You get some of their boneless buffalo wings, celery w/ dressing, tortilla chips & spinach dip, cheese sticks with marinara, and a couple potato skins. My son likes the kids' chicken fingers and fries, though that's not saying much considering that's all he really eats in restaurants and they're pretty hard items to screw up.
A couple other positive things I have found:
1) Portion sizes for most items are very generous.
2) Most menu items are labeled with nutrition information.
3) Applebee's has made an honest effort to offer a variety of "healthy" choices for those on restricted diets.
Final Thoughts
My husband and I consider ourselves pretty good customers. We order off the menu--not a lot of "this on the side" or "substitute that". We understand the logistics of a busy restaurant and can be very patient when we feel patience is warranted. We even go as far as to tidy up when we're finished to facilitate quick turn-around for the next waiting customer. All we ask in return is for an attentive server, food that is appropriately cooked and hot or cold according to the menu description, our drinks to be refilled within a couple minutes of them being emptied, and to close out our bill in a timely manner. We don't care if you're extra-friendly toward our child or offer to-go cups without us asking. Of course, those things are always a nice touch. Unfortunately, Applebee's has rarely lived up to these minimal expectations.
The problem, as I see it, is that there's no love in the world of Applebee's. The whole success of the place is a result of the "If we build it, the people will come" mentality. They were one of the first in this game, and as a result their name is a household standard. It has been engrained in our being that this is a friendly place where you'll be likely to see someone you know, and your server will fill you with so much joy you'll want to hang out for an extra hour after your meal (of course, all the while downing lots of expensive drinks). Herein lies the problem. The powers that be at the corporate office are perpetuating the whole thing. They've got it in the bag, so they can raise their prices every 3 months by way of a "new and improved" menu and no one will notice. And people will keep eating there because it's Applebee's.
I'll even admit they had us believing the myth for a while. We have sworn off the place on 3 separate occasions, only to find ourselves back in there 9 months later in a desperate attempt to find that everything has changed and that they've turned over a new leaf. Unfortunately for them--not that they will notice or even care--I think our most recent experience was the final nail in the coffin. Fortunately, our long-ignored neck of the woods has stopped being ignored and has been graced with several new restaurants recently, with more on the way.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
smaihlee
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Location: Spartanburg, SC
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Sucker for anything - no more!
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