Yes another chain, but nothing has come on the local radar here other than Wing Wagon. I won't lie, I like Applebee's. Lots of options, and for reasonable prices. Our server this night was Lydia, and she kept my Mountain Dew flowing for the evening. We had missed lunch, so we ordered a feast of appetizers and mains.
Above is the Brew Pub Pretzels and Beer Cheese Dip ($5.29). The pretzel sticks have a crispy, crunchy outside, while a soft doughy inside. Light pretzel-ly taste. This was an awesome product. The dip, a little cheesy, a little beer-like. I could leave it. But I would definitely get the sticks again.
Next we got their Ultimate Trio ($12.49) - where you choose 3 of several appetizers to choose from. We went with the beef quesidilla, the chicken wonton tacos, and wings. We'll come back to wings later in the review.
The Steak Quesidilla was good. Beef, onion, and a side of salsa. Simple, but good.
The Chicken Wonton Tacos were an interesting concept. They take a wonton wrapper, deep fry it in a taco shape, then fill it with chicken, Asian slaw and cilantro. Now, I hate cilantro. HATE cilantro. It leaves a vile, bitter soapy taste in my mouth. Hate. Anyway, I asked if it was possible to not have cilantro on it, but I was told it's mixed in. We got it anyways (LJ doesn't mind cilantro) and it came and it was pretty much added on top. So I did my best to pick off the leafy evil. Hate.
So aside from the cilantro, this was good too.
LJ's main was the Shrimp'N Parmesan Sirloin with cheese, broccoli and a loaded potato ($17.29). So rich, so filling. The 9oz steak was tender and cooked to order. The shrimp was flavourful. The potato was over the top. Most of this was packed up to go because the appetizers were pretty filling.
My main was the Riblet Basked ($8.99). It came with fries (which were blah and so passable). They came with their Honey BBQ sauce. The riblets are tender, meaty and saucy. Each little bone shard tugs gently off and are like individual nuggets of goodness. I only wish these were grilled over a real fire and not gas.
And there were also wings.
Now I can review the wings at Applebee's, but not the order. See I got it in the combo above, so I'm not sure how many wings come in a regular order.
In the Appetizer Trio you get about 5 wings.
On the side were a couple of thin celery sticks and blue cheese dip. The dip was very thick and creamy, but I didn't like it. It was too thick and had a sour taste that I didn't care for.
The wings were an impressive large to almost jumbo size and length. They were also pretty meaty wings. But, they were kinda rubbery. Tough. The skin was not very crispy either. I think the wings should have been deep fried a little longer. They looked good though and were awesomely saucy.
LJ wasn't having any, so I went with their Buffalo Hot. The orangey-red sauce was ok. It was just a little artificial tasting for my liking. As in clearly not made on site. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great either.
FINAL SCORE:
I wasn't impressed with my wings, despite the fact that I wanted to. When they arrived, they looked really good. They were big and saucy. But the meat and skin were rubbery, and the sauce was bottled-ho-hum. And pass on their blue cheese. Fortunately we had excellent other apps and mains; pretzel sticks, riblets and steak. Overall good meal, but if I'm back, I won't get the wings. 5/10
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar
1283 Arsenal Street, Watertown NY USA
applebees.com
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