The Eye

Applebee's

A few months ago, a client of mine gave me a $30 gift card for Applebees. I’ve not been in there for ages, and hadn’t any real intention of going back in a hurry. It’s not that it’s that bad; it’s just that in the past I’ve found it a very ordinary, nothing to write home about place. They don’t sell any decent draft beer , only Bud, Miller, and some other ‘lite’ stuff, none of which I will pay money for. Besides there are a whole host of other, better, places to go in Charleston.

Anyway, we’d both done a whole day’s work yesterday, and although we usually share cooking duties when we’re both out, I didn’t want to bother, and I doubt Kathy did either. Then I remembered that gift card.

We headed into Applebees.

OK, I knew that there wasn’t any decent draft beer, so I resigned myself to a bottle. Bottled beer is fine, but I do prefer draft when I can get it, and anyway, bottled is always that much more expensive.

I settled for a Sam Adams Boston Lager, and Kathy had a drink called a Sangria. She offered me a taste, and she seemed to enjoy it, but I wasn’t impressed, it was more of a watery taste than anything. Anyhow, I enjoyed the Sam Adams.

They have a menu special where you can pick an appetizer, entree, and dessert for between $9.99 and $13.99 all in. We went for those.

I had boneless buffalo wings (which are really chicken nuggets in buffalo sauce), and they were quite good. Kathy has some mozarella sticks, followed by steak too.

My entree was a 7 ounce surloin, with garlic mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables. It was better than I expected.

We both finished with a strawberry cheesecake in a shot glass, which, considering I almost never eat dessert, was pretty yummy.

My verdict is the title. I guess the only thing that spoilt it a little was that the 12 ounce bottle of Sam’s was $4, and Kathy’s Sangria thing was $7. We both said we’d have iced tea to drink the next time.

Next time? Yeah, for around ten bucks, I’d go again. It’s not the best steak in town, but I’ve had a whole lot worse. You get what you pay for, and, food wise,  for what we paid, it was pretty good.