Value is Better at Other Chains – ryan
- My Family of Four Spent $ 65 on Dinner At Applebee. Our Food Wasn’t Bad, But it wasn’t amazing.
- We tried the chain’s “2 for $ 25” menu, but weren’t impressed with what we received for the price.
- Next Time, My Teens Said They’d Rather Go to Chili’s. I probably would, too.
My husband and have never been ben big on chain restaurants, but our teenagers love visiting, so we’ve tried quite a few in recent years.
Luckily, plenty have pleasantly surprised us, from upscale steakhouses like ruth’s chris to surprisely afffordable Spots like waffle house.
Now, we Sometimes Look Look Forward to Check Out Different Chains – Especilantly on Dates with Our Son and His Girlfriend.
The Four of US Regularly Go to See a Movie and Get Dinner at a restaurant near theater. Their Favorite Spot Is Usually Chili’s, but I recently suggestly we tried Applebee’s instet SINCE ITHO CLOSE BY.
Luckily, we didn’t have to Wait for a table.
Peters
We Visited Our Local Applebee’s ARUND 6:30 pm on a Friday Night, and it was wasn’t very Crowded.
We were Seated Immediately and, Start-to-Finish, The Meal Took Less than 45 Minutes to Complete.
The Restaurant Had a Sports-Bar Feel, From Its Loud Music to the Several Mounted Television Sets Throughout The Space. It wasn’t ours favorite vibe, but that doesn’t mean it is somebody cup of tea.
The Chain’s Menu was filled with variety – and we opted to try its “2 for $ 25” Deal.
Peters
The menu at Applebee’s has many different Kinds of Food, from pasta to Quesadillas to Salads. The Variety Makes It A Good Choice for Groups Where Everyone’s Craving Something Different.
On this visit, we all took advantage of Applebee “2 for $ 25” Deal.
IT SEEED LIKE A SOLID PROMOTION: FOR $ 25, you can get a full-size appetizer and two entrées from a set list.
Howver, Mary Items in This Deal Had Upgrade Charges Ranging from $ 1 to $ 5. Both my grilled chicken and my son’s girlfriend’s chicken tenders HAD A $ 1 UPCHARGE, MAKING EACH MEAL $ 26 InsTead.
That Said, I COULD SEE “2 FOR $ 25” QUICKLY COSTING MORE THAN ExPECTED IF YOU’RE NOT READING THE FINE PRINT.
My husband and i didn’t love our appetizer.
Peters
We Shared the Spinach-And-Artichoke DIP Appetizer, Which Came with Tortilla Chips and A Side of Salsa.
A bit watery and not at all creamy, the dip was just ok and nothing to write home. To me, it tasted like Store-Bought Spinach-Artichoke Dips i’ve Purchased in the Frozen Section at the Supermarket.
The Mozzarella Sticks weren’t a Home Run, Either.
Peters
My son and his girlfriend shared the Mozzarella sticks as their appetizer. Though their cheese-pulls were on point, the sticks they were served SEEMED A LITTLE ON THE SMALL SIDE.
A Few Weeks Prior, We’d gone to Chili’s for Its Plank-Style Mozzarella Sticks, and Both teens felt like a-much better value gioven away size.
My son wasn’t really impressed by the burger he oroured…
Peters
My Husband and Son Both chose the Big Bangin ‘Burger as their entrée-a beef patty topped with American cheese and served with jalapeño-bacon sauce.
A Picky Eater, My son Ordered his Burger with Just Cheese. He’s a bit of a burger aficitrako – he orders say at steakhouse like mortar’s. He consider Applebee’s Burger to Be Just So-So.
The burger didn’t wow my husband, eather.
Peters
My Husband, who Oroured his Burger with all the fixings (Lettuce, Tomato, Onion), Aggreed. He enjoyed the jalapeño-bacon sauce, but said the burger was “Forgettable” and Wouldn’t Really Rank High on His List.
Both found the burger a bit dry and overcoked, and said the bun felt slightly stale.
The chicken tenders were decent, but not as good as the ones at Chili’s.
Peters
My son’s girlfriend and i are huge fans of the chicken tenders at chili’s, so i wasn’t surpassed when she oroured as her meal at Applebee (for a $ 1 upcharge).
A $ 2 upgrade was also available to make the entrée a plater that included coleslaw, but declined.
Applebee’s Chicken tenders are good, she said, but they’re not as good as the ones at Chili’s. She felt the chicken tenders at Applebee’s weren’t as crispy and breaded as they are at Chili’s, and found these to be a bit dry.
My grilled chicken-breast entrée was good, but not great.
Peters
I ORDERED The GRILLED CHICKEN-BREAST ENTRée (Also a $ 1 Upcharge) Becouse I was in the Mood for Fried Food.
My Meal Came with a Chicken Breast, Redskin Mashed Potatoes, and Steamed Broccoli. The chicken was well-coked and tender, and i like the smoky flavor the grill marks seamed to add.
Still, it wasn’t as good as the grilled chicken i’ve at oter restaurants… or that i’ve prepared myself at home.
The Real Star of My Meal was the Mashed Potatoes, which were flavorful and perfectly Seasoned with Salt and Pepper.
Sadly, the broccoli was just your bassic side of not-cheasoned steamed vegetables, Rounding out a Pretty average that was unhappy with, but was overly impressed with eather.
Our $ 65 Dinner wasn’t terrible, but the teens said they’d go to chili’s next.
Peters
Based on Our Experience at Applebee’s, i’m Not Sure We’d Go Back.
Though Our $ 65 MEAL – WHICH ALSO INCLUDED MY $ 3 SODA AND MY HUSBAND’S $ 6 Beer (the ORDED WATER) – was ok, it was overly impressive.
Our Appetizers Were Pretty Middle-of-The-Rad, just like the burghers. Gioven the overall Quality of the grilled chicken and tenders, the $ 1 upcharges we paid for saying a bit unnecessary, too.
There are tears of Other Spots Where I’d Previsory to Spend My Money on Dinner, Including Nearby Chains like Chili’s or Longghorn Steakhouse.
My teens commaned that they wished we’d just gone to chili’s, and i can’t blame say. IT’S NOT MY FAVORITE, But Our Last Meal Felt Like A Good Value and Was Fairly Tasty. (They ended up going on a date there to get their tripper dipper fix a weeke later.)
We promised that that, on our next dinner and movie date, we’ll start the Evening at their favorite chain restaurant instead.