I despise chain restaurants. Correction, I hate most chain restaurants. As I typed that first sentence I was reminded of the almighty California Pizza Kitchen which has yet to disappoint. The chains I hate are those clone restaurants that are all gimic, poor food, and little to no service. I just ate at Applebee’s.
From that introduction you can probably deduce that this review will not be a positive one. I suppose I should justify those criticisms I made. Applebee’s gimic is to clutter the walls with celebrity photos and posters. They’re not autographed, nor has that celebrity eaten there. I realized this when I was looking at a picture, and a poster no less than 3 feet away from the picture, of Marilyn Monroe. Are they implying that if I like Meg Ryan or Sammy Davis, Jr that I’m going to have a good time at their establishment?
The food was really bad. Denny’s bad. Consumable if you’re drunk at 1am, or if you’ve been living on the playa for a week, but not what you’d want to eat regularly, or even often. I ordered something that was mediocre, which means bad.
The waiter offered me the obligatory appetizers, but I was only able to hear the first one, as he said the rest of them all in one fluid sound that wasn’t english. He likely says the same thing over and over every time and just rushes through it. If I was able to hear about some delectable treat, I might order it, which means the bill is larger, which means the tip is larger. You lose, dude. Drinks were wrong, Milca’s veggie burger’s cheese wasn’t melted, let alone warm, and he gave me attitude as he gave me the bill.
What I’m really getting at here is that chain stores are not only destroying private businesses but the quality of the services rendered. If a family restaurant has been around for years, it is typicaly good. Chain restaurants open and close in the blink of an eye. They are each run independently, and really don’t reflect on their brethren restaurants. You might find a Johnny Rockets you really like, then go to another one in another town that really sucks. Different manager, different staff, different restaurant. Similar menus, signs, and costumes mean nothing.
Eat at small privately run restaurants, like the Diner on Main in Alhambra. I wish I had done that, now all I have to look forward to is shitting this terrible Applebee’s food tomorrow.