Applebee’s

Not so hot tonight. Floors need swept. Straw wrappers, debris, etc visible in middle of floor. Our waiter was unfamiliar with white zinfandel? Wth?

Salad, nachos, spinach artichoke dip, brownie. Everything was delicious! Definitely going back.

Obviously, this is a quintessential American chain restaurant. So, as far as the service is concerned, they certainly have their ups and downs. The food is nothing special either. However, given the relatively limited choice in good local restaurants in Terre Haute, I occasionally find myself coming here. There is one good reason for why I thought this place deserves a review and these 4 stars. Applebee’s sets the mood for carrying out healthy conversation like no other and to me that is quite unique and important.

Microwave plastic wrapper definitely did not look appetizing. How the cook and then the waiter, too, could have overlooked that the mac n cheese (at least the wrapper said Kraft) was about one third spilled out of the wrapper, and the complete microwave bag, with vent holes punched in (on top of and clearly visible and readable) the individual serving dish, I have no clue. My husband, sweet soul, said maybe it was intentional so people would know they used a name brand, like Kraft. The waiter looked chagrined, gave a half hearted apology and picked it up, saying it should not have been left, etc. So, that means the dish was not even dumped out of the bag and stirred by the cook… and the waiter did not even look at the plating — what a first! Aside from that, my thai shrimp salad was very good. After hubby had a couple bites of burger (good but we had to request 3 ketchup bottles before the waiter brought one that had any ketchup in it) he realized that the pineapple had been left off. He requested no chile sauce, but wanted the pineapple and cheese… made this perfectly clear. After the plastic bag and no sincere apology or appearance by a manager, we passed on complaining about the omission … thought he might get nuked pineapple in a bag. Just in case a manager happens to read this, we were there at about 9:10 pm, Wednesday, Sept 23 and had a male waiter — we sat by the windows on the left as you enter the restaurant.
Since Applebees is open until midnight and does a good appetizer business all night, as well as food, we cannot excuse the cook and the waiter due to the somewhat late time as the place was to be open for another 3 hours and people were ordering and being served food, not just beverages. We did leave gratuity as the food we ate was flavorful, and the waiter was not rude, just not overly observant or enthusiastic —- but I am rethinking potential kitchen conditions for this establishment. We did not even see a manager walking the floor or we would have responded when asked how the food was!

The service was great the food was delicious the only problem we have with it is it keep discontinuing the food we like I really don’t know how much longer we could continue to eat there was very little on the menu that suits us

The food there is good (for an Applebees), it’s the service that has never been that good. I really enjoy their pretzel stick appetizer, but the second to last time I ordered it the bartender (I ordered from the bar) gave me hardly a dallop of cheese. After I pointed out that it was enough for two out of my four pretzel sticks she told me that other servers were being too generous with the cheese. When I offered to pay extra for more cheese she told me that she would then have to charge me for two appetizers. She had the attitude of someone who hated her job. I’ve been there about a dozen times in the last year and a half, and like I said the food isn’t all that bad (I usually order boneless wings, burgers, or pretzels sticks) it’s just the service that sucks.