Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Bellingham

Ordered Whiskey Burger. Got an extra ingredient, the wax paper that separates cheese slices. Bit into it, thought it was a tough piece of bacon. Chewed and found a weird texture. Spit it out and found it be the paper. Waitress who was a sweetheart came by to ask if everything was alright. Calmly and coolly told her it was all good except the paper in my food. She took it back and the manager came over. Manager was cool, comp'd everything and insisted I order something else even though my appetite was clearly gone. So I ordered the Bourbon Steak, medium rare. It came to the table and smelled delicious. Cut into it and it was well done. Not quite shoe leather, but close. I determined that the back of the house must've consumed the Whiskey from the burger and the Burbon from the steak.

The funny part was that my friend had got the Chicken Wonton Stir Fry. The Whiskey Burger and Shrimp Wonton Stir Fry are in their 2 for 27 menu. We asked if instead of the shrimp stir fry, she could get the chicken stir fry since the regular menu price of the chicken stir fry is actually cheaper than the shrimp stir fry. That apparently would normally be a $6 up charge but it was waived this time, that was before the burger showed up. Anyway, the chicken stir fry was good according to my friend. The mozzarella sticks that were a part of the 2'fer deal were typical and as expected.

Actually, the funniest part was when the manager came to the table and offered to comp everything. I asked her to charge me for my soda or something so that I could tip my waitress with my card as I wasn't carrying cash. She responded that they normally do charge for something, typically the line item being a piece of cheese. I told her that was agreeable as long as she kept the wax paper of which she immediately understood the irony.

I'd say that our waitress was great, the manager was extremely gracious and apologetic and looked to make things right. The back of the house though, not so much.

We originally went to Olive Garden and there was an hour wait. We went there instead of D'anna thinking we wanted a pasta dish. At 7pm on a Saturday, figured D'anna would be a mad house even after a wicked winter snow storm. Should've checked D'anna or just waited at Olive Garden. Got right in at Applebees. Maybe that was a sign.

I decided 2 stars because the waitress was good and the manager did her best to make it right. The back of the house just...

I normally complain about food, but I very rarely do it publicly. My first visit to Applebees wasn't ideal. The breaded chicken on my salad was obviously frozen and poorly cooked to a mildly hot, but somehow quite dry state. The soup I ordered with it (a simple french onion soup) was excessively garnished with everything they could put their hands on. It reminded me of the frozen soups you can buy from Cash & Carry (which I quite like), only badly prepared. I later tried a cheesy tomato basil soup, also over-garnished. I accidentally mentioned how cheesy the tomato basil soup was and was surprised to see a manager approach me shortly after asking if there was something wrong with the soup (I said no). The experience in itself wasn't enough to raise a fuss about, but I wasn't excited to return.

My next visit (a year or two later) was worse. I ordered their derivative of a simple Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. It arrived in similar fashion to the two aforementioned soups and had been garnished with everything within an arms reach. The sauce itself was quite far off from what I was expecting (more of a mushroom flavor), the noodles were rubbery and the chicken seems to have been grilled, packaged, frozen, shipped and reheated to the dry, crumbly state that they appeared on my dish. It was garnished with cherry tomatoes, bacon bits, peas, red bell peppers, undercooked red onions and whatever else I've mentally repressed. One side of the single breadstick was cooked decently while the other was tough. Our waitress was friendly and took care of us, but other waiters who dealt with us seemed to be in a hurry to deal with the rest of the (mostly empty) restaurant. Our bill for three people (one drink and one main dish each) came out to over $50. Absurd. I should note that my mother enjoyed her salad and my grandfather enjoyed his steak. Other people I've talked to say they like their salads. I wish my experience would be as positive as theirs.

Do yourself a favor and visit the Jack in the Box across the parking lot. You'll save time, money and avoid an evening of culinary...

I'll preface this by saying that I really do not like leaving 1-star reviews. I want to be clear that in no way is this negative review done out of spite, I'm simply giving my honest opinion of this place, which is what Google Reviews is for.

The only reason I recently returned is because I was given a gift card, which is the only reason I've ever come here. No, I'm not expecting fine dining. Yes, I know what to expect, which is why I only come here when I have a gift card.

I went on a Sunday a little bit past noon. It felt kind of depressing, actually. Very quiet and empty, and it almost felt like walking through an bandoned amusement park. Although the restaurant was nearly empty, and my sons and I were seated directly across from another group of people. Really? The place is empty, and you can't space us out for some privacy?

The food, though.. I can deal with the obnoxious, crowded "flair" on the walls, and mediocre service from the waitstaff, but the food is consistently bad at this restaurant. Luckily my sons aren’t difficult to please, and they ordered food off of the kids’ menu. One of my sons, who always orders Mac N Cheese wherever he goes, whispers to me “Daddy, I’m whispering cause I don’t want to be rude, but the Mac N Cheese is really bad!” I tried it, and he was right. Horrible. My other son ordered chicken tenders, which came with no sauce, nor was any offered.

I was in the mood for a burger, so I ordered one. I don’t recall the name of the burger I ordered, but does it really matter? Burnt bun, burnt patty (even though I asked for the burger to be ‘pink’), and about the most bland burger imaginable. And to top it off, all of our fries were cold.

My recommendation if you’re considering this place? First: don’t do it. Second: come starving (it helps when eating the horrible food). And third: keep your expectations very low. If I can sum up this place in one word,...