Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Mount Sterling

sigh. Applebee's. If you love going places that are really inconsistent then you'll love it here. I went here a few times a year or so ago and it was ok. Then the next few times it was terrible so I stopped going. Last week I reluctantly went back because my date and I were looking for a place to go after the movies. We went to Cattleman's the week before, so we wanted to go somewhere different. There aren't many options in Mount Sterling at 9:30 night.

Shockingly, last week the food was awesome! I was so happy. I had the steak quesadilla (same thing I get every time) and my date had some sort of cheesey pasta with chicken. We both loved our food. Last night we went back again after going to see a movie and the food was not good. We both ordered the same thing we had the week before and neither of us liked our food. I don't know what happened. Different cooks maybe? They were understaffed for sure, but our waitress was still really nice and she checked back with us several times. How do you mess up a quesadilla? Honestly, I think the person who made it last week is the one who "messed it up" because there was a good amount of cheese, Pico and steak in it. Normally there's almost nothing in it. It's usually literally just two tortillas with a tiny bit of cheese, a tiny bit of Pico and a few tiny pieces of steak thrown in. Last week it was awesome. Last night it was back to basically being empty. I've never worked in a restaurant but I'd imagine a quesadilla must be one of the items on the menu with the highest mark up. Why skimp on it? My date didn't really say what was wrong with his food last night but he said it wasn't as good and that there must be a different cook than the week before. Again, I've never worked in a restaurant but I know people who have and they've said the cheesey pasta dish is the kind of thing that restaurants usually get frozen, so how could you mess it up? Maybe it's not frozen, I don't know. But he didn't like it.

I guess this place survives for two reasons. 1. most people go here to drink and maybe if you're drunk you don't care what your food tastes like? I don't drink, so I don't know. 2. There are very few options if you're looking for a sit down dinner after 9:00 at night. I believe Applebee's is open the latest, so yeah you can go to cattleman's or city king buffet, but you're going to be rushed because they close much earlier. So, I hate to say it but I'm sure I'll be going back to Applebee's. I'll have to order something...

Well I had complety stopped going to this particular Applebee's. I decided after long consideration I decided to give it one more chance and this experience was a little better than the last. I visited here two years ago and haven't been back till now. The last experience, I was walking into the place and it was pretty rowdy. It was around 10 or 11pm and the bar was full of people. I found a seat and the place was all singing along with a song that was playing so I decided to join in. I asked the bartender for a beer and I was told thay I couldn't get a beer because I was singing, along with the rest of the customers. I was told that I was already drinking too much and that I was cut off from any alcohol. My friend and I had just walked in and we had been working late and had not drank anything at that time. We tried to explain that we hadn't drank a drop that day. We were humiliated and turned away. We both said we'd never be back and hadn't. I understand that its is up to the bartender weather you get serviced alcohol or not and ive never had any problem with them doing their job, but being cut off this night was something personal towards my friend or myself. I went this weekend and decided to give them another chance. This experience was a lot better than the last but I entered and took a seat at the bar. I sat there probably 15 to 20 minutes and had already decided to leave when I was offered service. I stayed and I was served beer and food. After not being noticed for roughly 20 minutes the service was actually pretty good. The wings I ordered wasn't too bad either so I gave the a better rating than I was actually thinking. I have turned my party away from this place for two years now and have encouraged others to do the same. Not sure that I'll ever be back but they did seem to have done a little better with their...

EDIT to January 30th 2024.....

We decided to pop in around 845 on the 30th. Had a brand new waitress and I will say she was very friendly and helpful. We ordered a couple burgers which were on special and a great deal, The salmon dinner and the new Hot Honey Chicken . Burgers were good, salmon portion was larger than it normally is which is good because the typical portion is a major rip off( but all my daughter will eat) , the Hot Honey chicken was a super thin piece of overcooked chicken with barely any sauce on it. Had to ask for more to be able to eat the really dry piece of chicken. Gave my husband a bite to see if I was tripping. He said OMG this is wayyyy overcooked. The veggies underneath however were cooked perfectly. Also the Happy Hour appetizer menu is awful. It used to include all appetizers, now it is only certain ones! We gave this location a try after 6 months and though the service was much better, the food wasn't.......Ate there Father's Day. Waitress had zero personality. Was not knowledgeable of menu or bar menu. Never checked on us or refilled our drinks. We had to ask the hosts for help. They were actually good. My daughter never got her veggies with her overcooked overpriced Salmon. The Fiesta Lime Chicken had NO Mexi Ranch on it. Just cheese. Was also overcooked. The guys burgers were good except almost no bacon jam on them. Had to ask for some. Now I can see why there was hardly anyone there on Father's Day yet Cattleman's had a 50 min wait. Love Applebee's but not this location. Will take our business elsewhere which is a shame because overall we love Applebee's. We spent around $80 for subpar food and below...