Applebee's

Applebee's used to be one of my favorite fast food places. I thought it was much better than its counterparts - Chili's and TGI Fridays. But our visit there today was sadly very disappointing. I'm beginning to re-think their slogan - "eating good in the neighborhood" - since today it wasn't all that good for us.

I had the bruschetta burger with pesto. It sounded really good but was actually not. The burger was dry and crumbly (it actually fell apart when you picked up the sandwich). The bread was over-toasted and really hard (it hurt the roof of your mouth when you took a bite). And the pesto was bordering on bland.

Jojo had the Riblets platter which had a very sweet honey bbq sauce. The sauce was cloyingly sweet. So sweet that this dish was both the main course and the dessert.

Mark ordered the Orange Chicken with noodles but it came with rice. Either way it was nothing great.

Atsi had the three-cheese chicken penne. The sauce was slightly watery and it was a little on the bland side.

Jules had the crispy shrimp salad with avocado dressing. He said it was okay. Ches had a steak and he said it was fine too. I couldn't take pictures since they started eating it already.

The only saving grace was our dessert: We had the Mile High Ice Cream Pie - Oreo cookie crust, filled with chocolate ice cream, chocolate fudge and peanut butter. Then a layer of peanut butter ice cream, caramel swirls and peanut brittle. Drizzled with hot fudge & caramel and topped with whipped cream. It was so good and even better when shared by the whole group.

Ches, Jojo, me, Atsi, Mark and Jules - today's lunch was treated by Atsi and Jules. Thanks to the two of them!

Oh well. Having not-so-good meals once in a while, certainly makes choosing a restaurant interesting. And even if today's meal was not that great, I'm not willing to write Applebee's off just yet. I think they deserve a second chance and maybe next time we'll try something else on the menu.