Here's to You Coach
Written: Apr 22 '06
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Bourbon Street Steak, Prices, Fast
Cons: Some Inconsistencies
The Bottom Line: Applebees is a good place for a dinner and movie night.
|
|
|
| toiletoctopus's Full Review: Applebee's |
Applebees has a Mister Rogers type of outlook on life, when it comes to its neighborly ways. While a Applebees Restaurant cannot wear a nuclear orange cardigan, or sing soothingly, each location has a "neighborhood wall." These walls have pictures of local heroes. In our town it is Bob the Drunk, Hester the Adulterer(with her "A"), and the famous thug Paul. If we could only get that wonderful retiring high school basketball coach, who is featured in their commercials!
There are over 1600 Applebees locations in the U.S., and in international locales. This chain was founded in Atlanta in 1980, by Bill and TJ Palmer. According to the company's website, "they dreamed of full service, consistently good food, reasonable prices, quality service in a neighborhood setting." That's quite a laundry list, and does this "neighborhood setting" include my Applebees location, which is located in a strip mall on the industrial side of town?) This is the largest sit down restaurant chain in America, with franchisee and corporate establishments.
Applebees makes a big deal about their appetizers. At my location this is obvious, as there are signs all over upselling these pre-meal snacks. Perhaps they should go quietly in the night about these items, kind of like the famous poem with similar lyrics. Their appetizers include little pizzas, mozzarella sticks, spinach and artichoke dip, quesadillas, nachos, buffalo wings, and boneless buffalo wings. These appetizers run from $3.99-$10.00 in price, and I've sampled their buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks. The wings are so wimpy that Popeye could beat them up without spinach. Applebees must have the smallest chickens known to science, and the hot sauce is anything but inspiring. It is bland, and lacks any kind of bite. What's the point of the celery and dipping sauce, if the wings don't even have a degree of spiciness? The Mozzarella sticks with marijuana sauce...I mean marina sauce...look like they exploded. The cheese was out at both ends, and they were soggy.
Where Applebees shines is their entrees, and they even accomodate the health conscious with their Weight Watchers fare.(Of course, everyone on surveys reports they would be interested, but lets accept reality and acknowledge that no one orders these items-at least at my table) The steaks are fantastic, and I completely recommend the Bourbon Street Steak Meal. Although the name conjures up images of drinking, debauchery, and beads, this is my favorite dish. It is a sirloin steak with cajun spices, fried onions, mushrooms, mashed potatoes, and toast. It costs around $12, and I just love the spices used with it. It has a perfect level of bite, but it won't make you tear up from the level of heat used. Try it medium cooked. Its a fairly thick steak cut, and it comes with a side of gravy as well. Everytime the cooks have heated it to the perfect level, and it comes out to the table sizzling hot. If you want a steak that still has flavor, but perhaps are turned off by spicy dishes, try the Sizzling Ribeye Skillet. Its a lot more mild than the Bourbon Meal, but a great value as well.
Do you like grilled foods? Applebees offers a "Grilled Favorites Line." If you are to lazy to turn the propane knob, try their various items, which include Ribs(beef-I don't like because I only eat pork ribs for their better flavor), Chicken Breasts, Salmon, and Fajitas. I have enjoyed their Honey Grilled Salmon Meal. It has a lot of flavor, and came with rice and vegetables. These grilled items are priced between $9-16, and the portioning is generous.
The "Neighborhood Favorites Line" consists of six or seven items. These items include the Shrimp Fettucine, Teriyaki, Chicken Parmesan, and Chicken Tenders. The Chicken Parmesan is decent, but it obviously doesn't compare to a traditional Italian places recipe.(ie. Maggiano's) The portions on that were also a little smaller than I expected from a Italian dish as well. The Chicken Tenders are a good choice from this line, as they have the right amount of nutricious batter. They are served with dressings such as Honey Mustard and Barbecue Sauce.(Applebees calls them fingers-I find that to be a bit traumatic) Most of these items are around $8, and you can order rabbit food(salad) for around that price as well.
If you are lugging around the rugrats, Applebees has a Kids Menu. The items on this include Chicken Fingers, Cheeseburgers, Macaroni and Cheese, and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. My kids haven't been to Applebees, so I cannot recommend their cuisine. Right now they are running a promotion with the Peter Cottontail movie. Peter looks a little bit like a crackhead, with large protruding eyes. I couldn't tell if they were bloodshot, but it might scare really tiny ones. All junior meals come with a side.
For desserts, expect to pay a little bit. There is a brownie with ice cream, and an assortment of pies and cakes to choose from. Even though I think it is ridiculous to pay $4.99 for a apple pie slice with ice cream, I have done so twice. Their apple pie is rich, and I only wish I could order whole pies from them. The ice cream is pretty good, but nothing award winning. However, the quality of the pie with its homemade taste make up for that.
Most Applebees are kept clean, but theres been a few times when the tables have been cluttered with dirty dishes. This is understandable to a point during rush times, but it does hurt the overall ambiance. The service has been pretty good, and they have been kind enough to check on the food quality/refills at a reasonable clip. The staff has been friendly as well, and polite/knowledgeable about the menu. For what its worth, Applebees is a good place to catch a meal before a movie. The wait times are non existent, and the food comes out really fast. The variety of the menu will please even picky eaters, and the drink menu is extensive.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.