Boo-Thang and I finally found ourselves with the same weekend off, so what did we do? We decided to head to Raleigh to get a case of the Applebeetus.
That’s Wilford-Brimley-speak for “Applebee’s”.
We had a 25-dollar gift card that our friend sent us for Christmas, but we hadn’t had an opportunity to use it until now.
Like I’ve said before, free food is free food.
I should have known that we were in for a disappointing trip, though, when I looked to the left of our booth and saw this on the wall:
Too many Tar Heels in one picture 🤢. Look at all those Silent Sams.
Our attempt to enjoy Applebeetus did not go so well. It was, um, less than satisfactory (no, not because we had a bunch of old Heels next to us).
How less than satisfactory was it? We left before we got our food.
Correction: we left before we got our APPETIZER.
Our server was nice enough, he was quick to take our first order for drinks and an order of chips and salsa.
Unfortunately, he was not quick to deliver the order. At all.
It took us 20 minutes to get our drinks, and it’s not like we ordered overly-complicated concoctions (strawberry lemonade, a water, and a peach Sangria, I mean come on!)
When he finally brought us our drinks, he forgot to bring the water, and told us he would bring it by the next time.
Another ten minutes went by, but there was no sign of the water or appetizer. When he finally came back, the server just set the glass of water down on the table without a word, and a couple minutes later he walked by and just set a couple straws next to it.
No apology, no explanation.
Does it take over 30 minutes to prepare an order of chips and salsa? You literally:
1. Place chips in a bowl
2. Pour salsa into another bowl
3. That’s it!
Boo-Thang and I would have been more understanding if the restaurant had a line out the door (it didn’t).
We would have been even more understanding if the server had been just slightly apologetic (he wasn’t).
I spent several years in the restaurant business, so believe me, I understand that things can get pretty hectic.
But a half-empty restaurant is far from hectic.
We got tired of waiting, so I asked for the manager. He comped us our drinks and was extremely apologetic, to his credit.
But by that point we were fed up, so we went to the Carolina Ale House instead.
That’s how bad that Applebee’s experience was. We had a friggin’ GIFT CARD for the place, and we chose to go to another establishment and PAY.
It seriously takes work to be that bad.
But the Ale House (food and service) was good, and I was able to catch the end of the NC State-Notre Dame basketball game.
State won 77-73!
Thank God, too, because a Wolfpack loss coupled with bad Applebeetus could have led to a national emergency.
You know, a lot of salty language and some forehead bruises.
yonkaholic 