Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill (Athens, GA)

2226 West Broad Street, Athens, GA 30601, T: 706-543-1339

Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill is one of the main restaurant chains in the United States, together with TGI Friday’s, Chili’s, etc. It has over 2,000 restaurants across the country and I don’t think I have ever lived in a place that didn’t have one within 10 miles of my house. Although I don’t go there often, I actually mostly have decent eating experiences. Their menu is pretty standard, although they have recently increased the number of healthy options.

We started with 12 Boneless Wings (Hot & Spicy), which are really more chunky nuggets than wings. They taste like big chunk of General Tso chicken, delicious. They are normally $9.29, but were taken off the bill because of the $20 Deal. I had the Black & Blue Burger ($9.29); a thick juicy burger, blackened, with mushrooms and red peppers on a fresh bun with some spicy mayo – I opted out of the Jack cheese and Blue Cheese crumbles. The burger was so good that it didn’t need to be smothered in sauce (or cheese): very well grilled and directly from the grill. It came with very fresh and crispy French fries – not homemade, but pretty much as good as prefab fries go. M. had a Quesadilla Burger ($9.29).

VERDICT: 87/100

To be fair, like most chain restaurants, quality can vary significantly, particularly in terms of freshness – often the fries are old and stale, while the main dish has been waiting in the kitchen too long. Still, if you get the food freshly made from the kitchen, Applebee’s can cook up some remarkably good, and very affordable, burgers and fries!