Applebee’s Queens Boulevard: Disappointing Food & Service

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I was hanging out with my son this past weekend trying to find a suit. After several trials and fittings, we were both very hungry. As we passed by Applebee’s on Queens Boulevard, he said to me, “Pops, I want to eat here, can we go?” Of course, I replied yes.

We entered and stood around the entrance for a few moments. My son headed to the bar; I called him back and told him we had to wait to be seated. He was bored because some time passed. After 5 or more minutes, someone finally showed up and directed us to a waiting area to wait some more. We had already been waiting, so that was a bit confusing.

After a few more minutes, another server came and invited us to follow her. She led us to our seats and asked what we would like to drink. My son had a Coke, and I had a Sprite (actually Sierra Mist). My soda tasted a bit watered down, so I wasn’t very impressed with the fountain soda. My son said he liked his Coke.

For an appetizer, I had a Caesar salad, which was overall pretty good. The only downside was that it was a bit too salty, possibly due to the croutons.

We had a few breadsticks that tasted “okay,” but a little unusual. I thought it was just me, but my son said, “Pops, these breadsticks taste a little weird, they are good but weird.” That confirmed it wasn’t just me.

My son had chicken fingers and French fries as his main course, and he approved of his meal. He said it was “delicioso,” which means delicious in Spanish.

I had the three-cheese pasta with grilled chicken. The chicken and cherry tomatoes tasted pretty good; however, the pasta was very runny and slimy from the cheese, which wasn’t very appealing. I ate it, but probably would have chosen something else if given the option. It tasted “okay,” but visually, it was not very appetizing. Eating runny pasta isn’t all that great.

For dessert, I asked for the ice cream with no chocolate fudge, but when I received it, the ice cream had chocolate fudge. I cannot eat that because of caffeine sensitivity, and I made that clear. My son asked for an Oreo ice cream with no whipped cream, but it had whipped cream as well.

We called over our server and asked if she could please provide the items as we ordered them. She said, “You didn’t say anything about the whipped cream or chocolate fudge.” I replied that I was quite certain I did and explained the caffeine sensitivity again. Regardless, I asked if she could please bring our desserts without those toppings.

Reluctantly, she took the items back and later returned with them as ordered. I left a smaller tip than usual because I was not happy with her attitude, the food wasn’t particularly great, and the wait times were long. This place did not impress me, but at least my son enjoyed his meal. It was for him, after all, that we went here.