Applebee's: Gateway to Olive Garden

[NewWaveChick1981]

:rofl: I ate at Applebee's for lunch today because a school client wanted to go there. There are way better restaurants, but this is where she wanted to go, and I took her there. :yoiks: The only thing I could think of while we were waiting for our food was, "Applebee's is like a gateway drug for restaurant chains. It leads to the Olive Garden, then Chili's, then ...:scared: Ruby Tuesday... " :yoiks: Eating at Applebee's just leads to the harder stuff. :P

:rofl: :hi:

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

1. I never understood peoples hate for chains. Some of them have good food

it really depends on the particular resturant, not the chain itself. And yes, I like Olive Garden, Carabbas, and most chains actually :P

[NewWaveChick1981]

2. I don't really hate chains.

In fact, my salad wasn't bad at all. :) It's just that some people ONLY want to eat at chains, and that's harder for me to understand.

[Bunny]

3. Oh boy put your flame suit on!

You're in for it now, buddy! :D

[KFC]

9. Chains have superior quality control than dipshit independents

At chains, you know you are going to get a proper quesadilla every time. At the Mom & Pops, you are assured of inconsistent quality and a mouthful of spit when Mom is having a bad day.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

16. Wow...it must suck to live in a place where only the chains are "edible."

That's depressing.

[asthmaticeog]

38. Your username is speaking volumes right about now.

:evilgrin:

[Scout1071]

33. I'm a chain hater.

But, Carabbas is pretty good.

The rest of 'em? Yuck. Just yuck. But, then again, I've long been accused of being a food snob. My dad was a chef and my cousin is a chef. So, yes.....I wear the food snob badge proudly.

And, to each their own. I'm not gonna pretend that I don't get out for some food worse than Applebee's on occassion.

[MrCoffee]

4. Gateway dining....i LOVE it!

oh, and you owe me a new pair of pants. these are soaked now.

[NewWaveChick1981]

5. LOL.... I need your size...

:hi: :rofl: Glad I could make ya laugh!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

6. Hmm...you're right...

I ate at an Applebee's way before I ever ate at an Olive Garden. Just like I tried weed way before I tried cocaine. Cocaine is way better than the Olive Garden though, and fortunately I didn't get addicted to either.

:rofl:

[NewWaveChick1981]

8. Yeah, it gets you hooked, and then you can't live without the

chain restaurants... :rofl: :hi: Glad you're not addicted. :P

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. My motto is just say no to chain restaurants and...

and just say yes to free lines.

[NewWaveChick1981]

22. LOL!

:hi: :rofl:

[tigereye]

7. my kid loves Applebee's

some of their newer salads are pretty good.


I prefer non-chain restaurants, but my child is a burger fiend.... ;)

[NewWaveChick1981]

10. My sister's kids love it too.

:P She's tried to keep them out of there, but they are hooked. :rofl: She's gotten them started on Gateway Dining...

[billyskank]

11. I wanna eat at all these places!

I never heard of any of them! I wanna see what the fuss is all about! You all get so exercised about it!

[NewWaveChick1981]

13. I'd say you should try them once.

Maybe twice. :) :hi:

[billyskank]

14. Wanna go with me?

:D

[NewWaveChick1981]

18. Anytime!

:hi: :*

[billyskank]

19. It's a date!

:*

:loveya:

[caty]

12. Olive Garden is o.k.,

but we eat at Applebee's at least once a month and we like their food. Chain or privately owned restaurants--it depends on the management. How good the food is and how clean the restaurant is can go either way depending on how it is managed.

[NewWaveChick1981]

17. You're right. It totally depends on the franchisee and the management.

:) At a standalone restaurant, it depends on management.

[WindRavenX]

15. Applebee's is actually pretty tight

It's cheap, lots of leftovers, and they usually have cheap beer or appetizer specials :9

[NewWaveChick1981]

20. Like I said, my salad wasn't bad.

And there was lots of it. :) Actually, of the chains, I would rather eat there than elsewhere. However, I don't like to eat at chains often.

[buddhamama]

23. i ate at Olive Garden once

i think. i can't state emphatically that i have, although there is bit of recollection. once i became a vegetarian many yrs ago, i pretty much gave up on 'chain' restaurants. i probably went to Olive Garden for some meatless pasta dish.

[NewWaveChick1981]

26. Their plain pasta stuff isn't too bad.

:hi: It's the entrees I have a problem with. :P

[Kutjara]

24. I don't mind chains, as long as they don't forget they're restaurants.

Some of these places think they're mini theme parks or, worse, 'dining concepts'. I'm talking about the kind of place where some reject from the local high school's remedial thinking program bounces up and says "Hi there! My name's Candi and I'll be your Dining Experience Coordinator! Have you ever eaten in a Spunky McSpunkmeyer's before?" Of course, the almost universal answer is 'no' (because nobody but a congenital idiot would ever come to such a dismal place twice), which prompts a scripted disquisition on a food/drink ordering and distribution process of Kafkaeque impenetrability; often involving oversized bibs, numbered paddles, 'cute' food names, repeated visits to far-flung corners of the restaurant (to, variously, the juice schooner, the salad principality, the rotisserie fayre, etc.) and the vague feeling of being the butt of someone's elaborate joke.

God help anyone who agrees to go to one of these places for a birthday or anniversary, because the hysterically overenthusiastic scene that accompanies the delivery of the cake is reminiscent of a Japanese humiliation gameshow.

So now, when some servitor utters the fatal words, 'have you ever visited a (fill in the blank) before?' I'm out the door and halfway down the street before they can even begin to reel off the 200 or so 'specials'.

[NewWaveChick1981]

28. OMFG!

:rofl: :rofl: :applause: That's it EXACTLY!!! I've never heard it put in a more concise way! :woohoo:

[mark0rama]

34. From The Onion:

"Welcome To T.G.I. Fridays! May I Annoy The Living S*** Out Of You?"

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33404?issue=4227&special=2000

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. Is there a discernible difference

between Applebee's and TGI Fridays?



Maybe in the birthday song... :puke:

[NewWaveChick1981]

29. I think it's that and the shirts the wait staff wear...

:rofl: No other difference that I can tell. :shrug:

[Scooter24]

27. I had to choose between the Olive Garden and...

the Speghetti Warehouse for lunch today. I chose the later :hi:

[NewWaveChick1981]

30. Probably a wise choice.

:hi:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

31. I actually won't touch Applebee's.

I love Chili's and On the Border...But can't stand Applebee's. :shrug: Matter of taste, I guess.
Duckie

[ComerPerro]

32. They make their hamburgers one way only: burnt to a crisp

[riderinthestorm]

35. We hit the chains when we are doing serious driving.

I really don't want to deal with a disastrous dinner when I still have 6 hours of driving to do. I want to know the food will be reasonably hot and servicably prepared.

Cracker Barrel wins my vote for highway off ramp, gateway chain restaurant.

Applebees isn't bad. Neither is Chilis.

At home, we seek out the locals only.

[Generic Brad]

36. Applebees is ok if your sense of taste is gone

For every time there is a season, unless you're eating at Applebees.

[bridgit]

37. we just did a compliance audit of an applebee's in the bay area...

this afternoon; i...really wouldn't per se eat there unless i was being fully reimbursed & then paid to do so :thumbsup: