Like any restaurant, vehicle, hospital, etc etc if you have a bad experience or three, then the whole brand/chain earthwide is 'terrible'. Human nature. The Applebees around me are staffed by college kids mostly, and since we have a couple great business & medical schools in my area, they seem to be great employees and we've always had great experiences there (as a rule). People will always hate on chain restaurants, and as the comments show Applebee's is no stranger to that, but my local Applebee's is quite fine...as a general rule. I agree with a few above who say it's the cook not the cooker. But I'd tear up one of their new steaks though, no hesitation. I know going in that places like that serve no higher than Choice, but the steak is $20 not $65. I ate at one in Lansing once that was not impressive at all, so I can surely understand why some have a bad impression of them.
-
-
We don't eat out often, but I've had some good food at Applebees and some so-so food there, but never what I would call bad. Most of our food comes from my grills/smokers and my wife.Comment
-
I've been cooking a long time -- mostly self taught with lots of cookbooks! My Mom would never let me cook for the family. When she became ill, I turned out some meals. She was amazed, asked me where I learned how to do that! So there's hope for your in-laws ribeyeguy
As I got involved in comp. BBQ, one of the nicest comments from my family of "eaters" is that it's made me an even better cook. I believe it's just getting more into the science of food preparation. And paying attention to details...Comment
-
I have had some good meals at Applebees and I have had some not so good ones there also. The best steak I have had at a restaurant is a place in Memphis called Folks Folley, it is a high end place and they serve prime cuts of beef that are very good which is probably the reason that most of the lower priced places don't turn out consistantly good steaks because of the cuts they use and the cook that is cooking them. I buy ribeyes and filets from Costco that are choice and they always turn out better than any restaurant that I have been to. If you are ever in Franklin Tennessee check out Stoney River steak house, it is another high end place that turns out some mighty good steaks.Comment
-
​To ME...they're not "bad"...but what I call "beige" food. Just sorta meh.
And quite often kinda uninspired, despite a restaurant's many fervent claims to the contrary.
The problem is two fold IMO: 1st, as ribeyeguy pointed out...some people simply go gaga over meh food. They either do not cook for themselves (at least not well) or they've never been out and had truly great food. 2nd, as Strat50 rightly points out, it's quite often the bean counters that muck it up...and sometimes long before the cooks have even had a chance at it.
So yeah, I've eaten there & Texas Roadhouse et al...and it's mostly just kinda meh. I've never died once LOL, and it's generally decent...but not somewhere I would go on purpose if I had a say in the decision. But certainly not "bad" by any stretch. (The pain with which I typed that, as a classically trained chef, was profound. LOL)
Quite frankly, I've never been "brave" enough to order a steak at Applebee's. LOL And while I've all but given up on getting a "great" steak at TR...I've had worse at a "steakhouse" or two whilst in my travels. ;-)
I hope it works for them...if nothing else it might raise the bar a bit, and that's never a bad thing.
Comment
-
We mostly eat at home. I cook beef, pork, chicken and seafood in all sorts of ways. But I will pay up for good beans and tacos (.65 to $1.30 ea), banh mi @$4.00) and Pho and pizza.
I'm still a jerk to my father in lawComment
-
They are running adds on tv in our area now. They, (of course), make it look great. I read somewhere that they are spending something like $60 million on this change. That includes the oak burning grills and training employees. They are even going to hand cut steaks in restaurant. I believe they are going to be using choice steaks instead of ungraded steaks.
We met my brother and his wife there last Veteran's Day for a free meal. Now I'm excited to go back this year for another free meal.
Comment
-
Heard an interview this week on CNBC with their CEO. She was talking all about this and the capital investment for it along with the training as a way to move forward into the future.
Was interesting to hear someone mostly responsible for what they call shareholder value talk about the food quality so much.
For me it will be interesting to see if they can get a more consistent experience across the country. As many have noted here that's always been an issue for them.
I travel a lot at times for work and like someone else in here some of the small places I go the Applebee's is the higher end place to eat. In most of those spots they weren't bad because the local people seemed to expect something good as they generally cook and eat at home.Comment
Comment