After a fairly uneventful drive, we decided to fill our bellies with a quick lunch before beginning our shopping mission. There was an Applebee's conveniently located at the edge of the outlet mall, so we decided to eat there.
The menu boasts a fairly robust salad menu. Encouraged, I settled on a steak and potato salad on spinach, while my friend had some kind of appetizer trio (sliders, boneless wings and I think quesadilla).
I have to be fair and say the service was excellent - in fact our server was extremely attentive. We really did have amazing service.
The food on the other hand was well...less than stellar. The salad was drenched in dijon dressing. I actually couldn't find any spinach without dressing. The potatoes were overbuttered...injected with butter...and since they weren't hot enough, were greasy and oily. The steak was also tough and overdone. I love salads, but this one, I really couldn't go through more than a quarter. I was actually quite queasy from the dressing.
My friend fared no better with his appetizer trio. The buns for the sliders were stale...and well...stale. Sliders are mini burgers, and something I hold near and dear. The best burgers have the best buns. This is a sacred rule. Chose the wrong bun and the entire burger experience goes out the window. And when the bun is stale? It's just plain wrong. The cheese wasn't quite melted all the way...and the quesadilla...well...soggy seems to be an understatement...
It was a mixed experience for us...good service usually accompanies good food, so for the food to be so bad...it just wastes the friendly atmosphere the great staff at Applebee's tries to create.
Restaurant rating: Run fast and run far / may cause stomach ulcers. (My friend could probably attest to this. His stomach was pretty angry).
P.S. The best deals of the day? $5 Nike t-shirt and $10 Gap cargo pants!
