Since its founding in the 1980s, Applebees has become a staple for
families who desire a delicious yet affordable restaurant experience.
As it often goes with any franchise eatery, there are surely dishes to
avoid. Here are the items Applebee's employees adamantly warn us not to order.
A lot of us love to have a drink or two with dinner when dining out,
but steep prices usually stop us from doing so. Applebee's decided to capitalize on this
conundrum and launched the $1 cocktail of the month. These drinks, served in 10-ounce mugs,
rotate each month and have been known to cater to the season or even a holiday.
What's not to like about this special? Well, for starters,
they seem to be nothing more than mere sugar bombs with minimal amounts of alcohol.
Huffington Post reports that they are mass-produced in a literal bucket,
combining low-quality alcohol with gallons of a cheap mixer. When one Reddit user asked what the
difference was between the $1 Long Island Iced Teas and the regular, a former employee reported
that, quote, "the regularly priced drinks actually have alcohol in them. That's the difference."
That being said, you're probably better off just
waiting until you get home to enjoy an adult beverage.
Are you that picky customer who's always badgering the waiter with requests and modifications?
"A Welsh rarebit.
With a poached egg on top. Not too runny."
Well, you may want to avoid this type of dish on your next visit. In a Reddit
thread where current and former employees reveal trade secrets, one Applebee's staff
member claimed that many of the items used for stir-fry dishes at Applebee's are precooked
and even pre-packaged, making it impossible for the customer to make any substitutions.
Employees go on to explain that while they could remove the undesirable vegetable from
the mix by hand, it would certainly not be time effective. In addition to time management,
this could also cause issues when it comes down to the customer's dietary needs and
allergy concerns. And let's not forget about standard food safety guidelines.
While Applebee's serves up plenty of fried goodies in the form of boneless wings and
mozzarella sticks, it was the restaurant's Riblets that put them on the map. Often offered as an
all-you-can-eat promotion, this cult favorite features juicy pieces of pork, cut from rib tips,
that are then slathered in sweet barbecue sauce. Complete with a side of creamy coleslaw and French
fries, these may sound like a good idea for the hungry patron, but you may want to think again.
According to Business Insider, this style of cut may have a smaller bone
than traditional ribs. Even worse, the portion of the meat you get from each cut
is also much smaller than other options. While it may not be so much of an issue if Applebee's
is running the all-you-can-eat promotion, if you're paying out of pocket for one serving,
you'll likely leave with a rumble in your tummy. One former employee tells Business Insider:
"If any customer showed interest in the riblet platter,
I would strongly suggest the half or full rack of original ribs instead."
With calorie counting, the usually delightful task of going out to dinner can be drained of any fun.
Many restaurant chains have been quick to adapt to the dietary needs of their customers,
offering healthier options for those who desire to lose weight. Applebee's
jumped on this bandwagon in 2012 with their under-550 calorie menu.
With this menu, diners are led to believe that they can still
have that same great flavor with half of the guilt. However, according to Redbook,
one employee divulged that not all of the offerings are actually under 550 calories.
The dishes are calculated using the Weight Watchers point system, an arguably inefficient
method that means some items have well over their claimed amount of calories.
Furthermore, just because an item is lower in calories does not mean it can't max out your
daily allotment of fats and salt. One former Applebee's employee joked on a Reddit thread:
"Most of it is loaded with so much fat and sodium that it'll kill you just by looking at it funny."
There are many reasons you may want to avoid a burger when ordering out. Besides the potential
of it being cooked into an inedible, well-done hockey puck by an inexperienced or uncaring cook,
restaurant burgers are often riddled with empty calories, saturated fat, and sodium.
Sometimes, it can also be kind of confusing. As a monster of a mashup, the Applebee's
Quesadilla Burger is a baffling hybrid. Is it a burger? Is it a quesadilla? It's both actually,
and your waistline is going to pay for it. According to CBS News, this entree will set
you back a staggering 1,240 calories, with 103 grams of fat and 3,530 milligrams of sodium.
Yikes. We're experiencing heart palpitations just thinking of it.
If we're going to risk our health to that extent, what we put in our mouths had
better be other-worldly delicious. One Reddit user and employee states that the burger is
"[Just] okay. Five Guys make a better burger in my honest opinion."
Another proclaims that it's, quote, "the worst thing I have ever eaten from an Applebee's."
Perhaps you should consider heading to a different spot when your next burger craving hits.
Who doesn't love some mashed potatoes?
"Be a good boy, show me how the piggies eat."
"Oh no!"
It's hard to think of something simpler than a side of mashed potatoes, right? When we eat out,
don't we all expect something such as mashed potatoes to be made from scratch?
Are we asking too much? We think not, since there are precious few ingredients that go
into the ultra-simple dish. Yet, that may not be the case for Applebee's mashed potatoes.
One former line cook explained on Reddit that because of the sheer amount of pre-cooked and
pre-packaged items that fill the kitchen, the workers would refer to it as, quote,
"Microbees." Another employee went on to explain:
"The location I worked at switched from making mashed potatoes from scratch
and started using frozen, pre-made red-skin mashed potatoes in a bag."
If you absolutely must have the mashed potatoes along with your sirloin, we get it. But,
you've been warned. It's not exactly fine dining if it comes out of a plastic bag in the kitchen.
We're always down for a good steak. When a quality piece of meat is cooked to perfection,
it can nearly make your tastebuds sing. However, when a lackluster piece of beef
is improperly cooked, it can be devastating to your expectations.
So the question is, should you order a steak from Applebee's?
In a Reddit thread discussing this menu item, one user notes that a steak was somehow, quote,
"undercooked and burnt" at the same time. The reality made it even more cringeworthy
when another user realized that the sad steak salad came out to more than $22.
A former staff member, who calls himself a former, quote, "Crapplebee's manager", explained:
"Honestly, it's freezer burned, vacuum packed, faux color-saturated meat. You pay 20 dollars for
an appetizer, 2 entrees, and drinks; you get what you pay for. Regardless of this salad being $22,
profit margins come from somewhere and Applebees is failing."
Chips and dip are a safe bet when looking for an appetizer that is sure to please everyone,
as long as you promise not to double dip.
"Did -- Did you just double dip that chip?"
A staple at many parties, chips are an affordable way to get the evening
going. But there is absolutely no reason you should ever order it when dining out,
as the price markup alone is enough to send us running out the door.
Applebee's does claim that their chips are freshly made in-house from white corn, but
they still arguably taste the same as a standard bag of chips you could buy from a grocery store.
In a Reddit post from an Applebee's line cook, one user poses the question about which menu item is
the most improperly priced offering. The employee doesn't hesitate and says, quote, "Chips LOL."
If you've got a hankering for chips and absolutely must have it, may we suggest
pairing the chips with something other than their standard jarred salsa? Their spinach
and artichoke dip is actually pretty decent and remains a safe bet from their appetizer list.
Do you have a wickedly powerful sweet tooth? You're not alone; most people do
to some extent. Applebee's knows this, and is on board to satisfy our every dessert craving.
So let's say you're craving something of the chocolate variety. The triple chocolate
meltdown sounds like a safe bet, doesn't it? It's a chocolate cake that is fudge-filled and topped
with white and dark chocolate and even comes with a scoop of ice cream on the side. Unfortunately
for you, it's not a fresh-baked item that pops out of the oven and onto your table.
In a Redbook interview with a former employee, it's revealed that, upon receiving an order,
an Applebee's employee grabs pre-made, molten lava cake out of cold storage and
simply microwaves the treat. We think we'll take our business elsewhere for the final course.
Gluten-free is a term thrown around often in the diet industry, but for many,
their gluten intolerance is critical. People with celiac disease or other gluten intolerance issues
must pay close attention to their foods in order to live a long, healthy life.
Navigating a menu's gluten-free options can prove to be a difficult challenge. Besides the
item needing to be free of all gluten, it also can not be cooking in the same fryer or grill.
One mistake with cross-contamination and this could be a big-time liability for any restaurant.
On the blog Find Me Gluten Free, which discusses the challenges of dining out
on a gluten-free diet, many readers have taken to the forum to discuss
how terrible the gluten free offerings are at Applebee's. One user claims:
"They told us they got rid of their separate fryer.
They also couldn't say if the meat was safe, even without buns.
They seemed to have no idea about dealing with food allergies and the manager seemed annoyed."
Another reader warned:
"Speak to a manager about your allergy. Otherwise,
I'm not confident in their ability to prevent cross contamination."
Over on Reddit, one employee further confirmed other diners' suspicions when they said that,
quote, "the chips are fried in the same oil as everything else, so watch out for that one."
New year, new you, right? You're kicking your resolutions into high gear and finally going to
lose those stubborn pounds. Since you, of course, still desire to eat out once in a while, you vow
to only order a salad. The Oriental Chicken Salad is a longtime staple on the Applebee's menu,
so you might assume that it's safe. Sadly, it has more calories than a standard burger,
with its two majority ingredients being sugar and chicken fat. This
one will set you back an astonishing 1,560 calories, according to Applebee's itself.
One restaurant staffer writing on Reddit claimed:
"I work at an Applebees now and it disgusts me when people order 2 extra oriental dressings.
[They] are like 300 calories per 4 ounce ramekin."
If you're looking to avoid gaining five pounds in one meal,
avoid this seemingly healthy salad at all costs.
Who doesn't love a perfectly fried mozzarella cheese stick? In the best version of this dish,
ooey, gooey melted mozzarella cheese is encased in flavorful bread crumbs and crisped to perfection
in a fryer. It's then served with a side of marinara dipping sauce. Sounds nearly impossible
to screw up, doesn't it? Well, Applebee's isn't exactly known for its freshly prepared dishes.
Like their other fried offerings, these arrive at the restaurant from a factory as
rather sad frozen bits of cheese and breading. A user on Quora explains:
"I refer to this type of 'casual' restaurant as 'factory cooked'. Most of the food that
you buy in chain restaurants is cooked in a factory and reheated at the store."
A general rule of thumb when deciding upon what to order can be summed up
by this Applebee's employee writing on Reddit, who states that, quote,
"most anything that comes out of the fryer goes into it frozen."
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