Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar

This is one of my family's favorite places to go to eat.  Service is very friendly, and the background chatter is usually quite low.  Babies are quite welcome here, and no one gives you a hard time about your child making noise (as long as it's within reasonable limits, of course).  As for the food?  I know people like to give Applebee's grief about their perceived lack of quality/taste, but I have absolutely no complaints.  My wife really loves their steak here (and she's not a steak eater *at all*), for one thing.  And for another, their 2 for $20 menu is pretty economical (my wife and I order off of it every time we come).

Really, going to any of these chain casual dining restaurants is an exercise in expectation management.  Is it going to be the world's most amazing gourmet food?  Of course not.  Is it some glorious temple in which foodies and aspiring hipsters can congregate and worship?  No, there are many better options for that crowd (and they're welcome to them!).  And maybe if I weren't married with kids, my opinion would be like theirs.  But really, in my old age I've come to appreciate kid-friendly restaurants with friendly service and no-nonsense food -- and Applebee's delivers in that arena.

I had about the worst burger of my life here. Worse than mcdonalds. Worse than the company cafeteria. Just bad.

I was here a few days ago with my friend and his mom. We all loved the food but the staff was a joke. First of all they couldnt decide who was serving you. I had our waitress, and the manager bring us things and my friends mom flagged another girl down just to get us some wet naps. We were seated with menus for about 5 mins before our waitress even bothered to get our drink orders. It took her another 10 mins to get our food orders and she didnt even ask if we wanted apps. The food was wonderful. Everything was cooked and seasoned well though I could have used more sauce on my creamy parm sauced chicken. But one of the managers I kid you not  was screaming at the staff pretty well the entire time we were there, in front of guests, on the floor. And even when she went in the kitchen to yell you could still hear her becasue she was that loud