Applebee's Review: Strike Three You're Out

I have only visited Applebee's restaurants approximately 5 times. Four of those five times were at the Mt. Pleasant, Texas Applebee's, located on Greenhill Road, where the first two visits were wonderful. However the next two were each more horrendous than the other, I vowed to never return. The fifth visit was to the Longview, Texas Applebee's, located on Loop 281. That was the most horrific of all! I will never darken Applebee's door again, regardless of the location.

My first two visits at Applebee's in Mt. Pleasant happened consecutively in October of 2004 and October, 2005. The staff were prompt and friendly. The atmosphere relaxed and quiet. The food hot and flavorful. The cleanliness of the bar and grill was immaculate. They were reasonably priced. It was a lovely experience.

STRIKE ONE!

The third visit was slightly different. The staff were younger and not as attentive. My husband and I had each ordered the same meal. I cannot remember the cut of the steak but, I ordered mine well done, my husbands was ordered medium well, we each ordered the loaded mashed potatoes and vegetable of the day. When our meal finally arrived, the steaks were not of the same cut, not cooked as ordered, both oozing blood. One order of mashed potatoes were prepared correctly with bacon, sour cream and cheese while the other order was left plain, one order of toast was butter less and burned. However they eventually got our orders completed to our specifications and we exited the restaurant two and a half hours later $40.00 poorer and slightly unsatisfied.

STRIKE TWO!

Our fourth and final visit was almost a carbon copy of our last, with the exception of we ordered fried shrimp as a side dish. My well done steak order was served to me burned to a crisp, while it was technically well done, in my opinion overly so. My husbands medium well steak, I believe actually mooed. We never received our fried shrimp, until we reminded the waitress, and we were promptly served shrimp scampi. When we complained, the waitress actually argued with us stating that, "The meal we ordered only comes with shrimp scampi.". Again, we left around two hours later, $50.00 poorer and completely unsatisfied. We have never returned to the Mt. Pleasant restaurant.

STRIKE THREE! YOUR"E OUT!

I don't even know where to begin with our fifth and final visit to Applebee's which occurred yesterday, September 28, 2008 at the restaurant located on Loop 281 in Longview, Texas. It was a fiasco from the moment we were seated.

A group of high school students, who were employees awaiting the shift change, were seated at the table behind us. They were extremely loud and rambunctious. When they were not laughing about the meager gratuity tips the employee on duty was receiving, they were walking between the tables, acting out some event that occurred at school. At one point one of the boys was actually lying on the floor rolling around, for who knows what reason.

I ordered a Dr. Pepper and a draft beer for my husband and we contemplated the menu. With our past two experiences turning out so badly, we decided to order something simple and less expensive. Bacon cheese burgers seemed to be an appropriate choice. Our burgers included fries, but I opted to substitute for onion rings, instead of fries, as I really don't care for french fries, at a $1.49 fee.

Our drinks arrived, my Dr. Pepper was O.K., but the draft beer was flat.

When our burgers were served, they looked and smelled wonderful, and we were starving. The vegetables were served on the side, so that you could put the ones that you desired on your burger. I had a dab of lettuce, one tiny slice of what looked to be a Roma tomato, one onion slice(not an entire slice actually one single onion ring) and a pickle spear. One lonely slice of bacon, cut in half adorned my meat patty. My order of onion rings, a laughable five rings. The straw that broke the camels back with my meal was the onion ring that had never had the outer skin removed!

My husband fared no better. He had a dab of lettuce, one tomato slice, three onion slices(again by slices, I mean rings), I guess the extra onion made up for the lack of a pickle spear. He also had one slice of bacon, cut in half, on top of his meat patty. His order of fries consisted of around 15 shoestring potatoes, that tasted as if they had been fried along side of a vat full of fish. There was no mustard, mayonnaise nor was any offered for either burger. Totally dry.

As I was finishing my bacon cheeseburger, I noticed that my hamburger patty had not been cooked thoroughly, it was still pink in the middle, in places. With all the hamburger scares and recalls, I just hope and pray that this meat was free of E coli bacteria. This totally unacceptable meal of two burgers, one order of fries(included with burger meal) and an onion ring substitution (instead of fries) set us back a total of $26.00.

I will NEVER step foot into another Applebee's as long as I live. If given the choice of Applebee's or the local chain of burger restaurant's that offer a 99 cent menu, I will choose the later as their food quality, service, atmosphere and overall pleasure of the experience of eating out far exceeds that of Applebee's.