I'll cut my steak when I'm damn good and ready!!

[MMW]

Applebees??? In all likelyhood the "chef" that cooked your steak could only be called a chef with ones tongue firmly planted in either cheek. What is typically most wrong with "chain" establishments such as Applebees is that they rarely use fresh ingredients and those ingredients they do use are typically never cooked properly. Pass the near liquified broccoli please...uhg!

Ugh. Exactly. Our frequency dinning out has decreased proportionally with the increase in the attention we give the ingredients we buy from the store. It's gotten to where we'd rather ship the kiddos off to MIL's house and spend a quiet evening at home cooking with each other than going out to dinner, cost be damned (and we've been married 9 years ).

We no longer enjoy eating at Applebee's/Chili's/TGIFriday's/etc. so we no longer go there. Simple as that.

 

[jgln]

+1. I went to a good steakhouse for my birthday last year and had to send the damn thing back THREE times for them to get it medium rare. Recently I went to a good (expensive, not chain) restaurant and had to send it back twice.

The same steak?? First time plus 3 times sent back = 4 times cooked and that was to get medium-rare?? Must have been pretty rare to begin with.

 

[david_42]

The same steak?? First time plus 3 times sent back = 4 times cooked and that was to get medium-rare?? Must have been pretty rare to begin with.

Two thaw cycles.

 

[dataz722]

Ugh. Exactly. Our frequency dinning out has decreased proportionally with the increase in the attention we give the ingredients we buy from the store. It's gotten to where we'd rather ship the kiddos off to MIL's house and spend a quiet evening at home cooking with each other than going out to dinner, cost be damned (and we've been married 9 years ).

We no longer enjoy eating at Applebee's/Chili's/TGIFriday's/etc. so we no longer go there. Simple as that.

The problem with most places is that they get almost everything comes in a souve' (sp?) and is just boiled and served.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

The problem with most places is that they get almost everything comes in a souve' (sp?) and is just boiled and served.

Its all packaged in frozen bags. Heated and served for 2 reasons. Its always the same and its way cheaper.

 

[EvilTOJ]

+1. I went to a good steakhouse for my birthday last year and had to send the damn thing back THREE times for them to get it medium rare. Recently I went to a good (expensive, not chain) restaurant and had to send it back twice.

Yea you sound like a ****** and I would be embarrassed to be seen in a restaurant with you. Do you bring your brewing thermometer with you too to make sure the meat's at the correct temperature for your fine dining experience?

You know that the steak you ended up eating was on the floor at one point, right? At both places?

 

[dataz722]

Its all packaged in frozen bags. Heated and served for 2 reasons. Its always the same and its way cheaper.

Yes, it makes consitansy. consitant ****@!!!!

 

[thataintchicken]

Being a restaurant manager makes me look at this thread differently than most.

If my kitchen screws up... I fix it. period. And it is rare that we screw up.
I don't hover, my crew doesn't hover. We wouldn't dream of making a guest VERIFY that WE did our job.
If something is wrong, it will be addressed. No talk back on our side, ever.

unless you lie to me. But that is another thread.

I run a corporate owned training store that is part of a 500 store chain.
It sure as hell is NOT an Applebee's.

 

[BioBeing]

Yea you sound like a ****** and I would be embarrassed to be seen in a restaurant with you. Do you bring your brewing thermometer with you too to make sure the meat's at the correct temperature for your fine dining experience?

You know that the steak you ended up eating was on the floor at one point, right? At both places?

I hope you don't work with the public, as you apparently never learnt customer service skills.

If I am going to pay $30 or more for a piece of meat (plus $20 for the potatoes, then the mushrooms etc etc), in a restaurant that only sells expensive slabs of meat, and prides themselves on cooking said slabs of meat exactly to the customer's specification, then it had better be damn near perfect, at least the second time they bring it to me. If a restaurant cannot handle that, they should not be in business. If the chef/server/bus boy cannot handle that, they need to be in a different line of work too.

[edit: I only sent both back twice, not three times as I originally said. First time both were too rare (red and cold in the middle); so in both cases they threw it back on the grill/in the oven and it came back well done. Then they did what they should have done the first time I complained, and put on a new one. I think in the one restaurant (the one that is a real steak house), it still was not perfect, so I thought about sending it back again, but I ate it, as my wife had almost finished by this point.]

 

[GregR]

Yea you sound like a ****** and I would be embarrassed to be seen in a restaurant with you. Do you bring your brewing thermometer with you too to make sure the meat's at the correct temperature for your fine dining experience?

You know that the steak you ended up eating was on the floor at one point, right? At both places?

what's so douchey about sending about something back that you paid for that wasn't to your expectations?

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I hate chain restaurants. That will be all.

 

[ThickHead]

I hate chain restaurants. That will be all.

Amen.........

 

[Rhoobarb]

I'd be too embarrassed to admit I ate at an Applebee's, much less ordered a steak in one! If you're going drag yourself into the restaurant gutter, why not just go to Chuck E. Cheese's and get it over with?

 

[uglygoat]

You know that the steak you ended up eating was on the floor at one point, right? At both places?

i was gonna say the same thing, that's why it took so long to get to medium rare, when it's in the urinal twice, it cools down a lot.

 

[srm775]

I'd be too embarrassed to admit I ate at an Applebee's, much less ordered a steak in one! If you're going drag yourself into the restaurant gutter, why not just go to Chuck E. Cheese's and get it over with?

Nothing wrong with a little chuck e. cheese ... the chicks there are HOT.

 

[MeatyPortion]

I rarely order steak at a restaurant. Or if I do I make sure I'm drunk enough to the point where it doesn't matter if it's cooked or not.

 

[Homercidal]

Well, there seems to be a lot of hate for applebees, but honestly, between the one in Big Rapids and the one in Plainwell, I have not really ever had a bad meal or service that I can recall. I don't usually have the steak, but every time I have, it's been delicious and tender.

Their beer selection and knowledge is lacking, but I expect that and deal with it because there isn't much else around for beer anyway.

 

[jgln]

Well, there seems to be a lot of hate for applebees, but honestly, between the one in Big Rapids and the one in Plainwell, I have not really ever had a bad meal or service that I can recall. I don't usually have the steak, but every time I have, it's been delicious and tender.

Their beer selection and knowledge is lacking, but I expect that and deal with it because there isn't much else around for beer anyway.

I don't recall any bad experiences with Applebee’s either and I sure would not be embarrassed to eat there, especially if you have kids. It is cheap and the kids enjoy it. We rarely eat out though and have no young kids. One thing I do notice with just about any restaurant is that if I order a burger I am thirsty all night long and I mean the need water thirsty. I hate that. In fact most restaurant food makes me thirsty.

As far a steaks go I guess I am not that picky, sometimes I want one rare, med or well depending on my mood so I can pretty much eat them all and would rather than go through all the fuss, but that is just me. A hair on my food is another matter, that goes back and I might even order something else just to make sure they don't just pick it off.

As far as the beer selection, who goes to Applebee’s to drink? People go there to eat so they carry what is going to move the most. Those beers really are what most people drink and as for the fancier beer drinkers they know you will drink whatever is the best thing they have right down to a Coors Lite if you want a beer.

 

[ThickHead]

Well, there seems to be a lot of hate for applebees, but honestly, between the one in Big Rapids and the one in Plainwell, I have not really ever had a bad meal or service that I can recall. I don't usually have the steak, but every time I have, it's been delicious and tender.

Their beer selection and knowledge is lacking, but I expect that and deal with it because there isn't much else around for beer anyway.

I would put good money on you being a better judge of good beer than good food.

Just yankin' your chain man...if you dig it, eat it.

 

[brewthunda]

All too many people will eat the meal, then complain and try to get out of paying. One restaurant near my house has a big sign next to the cashier: "You ate it, it couldn't have been that bad. Next time, let us know BEFORE you finish it. We'll make it right."

That's a red flag right there telling you to turn around and go someplace else.

 

[MBasile]

I know my steak is done right if it's still kicking when it gets to me. That's all I need.

My friend BBQed some steaks one time, and we're pretty sure one gave birth after it was off the grill. :cross:

Mine was cooked perfectly though, which was funny because my other two friends were cooking and fighting over their own steaks trying to get the "perfect spot on the grill" and they forgot all about mine. We all agreed that mine was cooked to perfection.

 

[brewthunda]

+1. I went to a good steakhouse for my birthday last year and had to send the damn thing back THREE times for them to get it medium rare. Recently I went to a good (expensive, not chain) restaurant and had to send it back twice.

My wife and I once went to the Brooklyn Seafood, Steak and Oyster House in Seattle for a fancy wedding anniversary dinner. There's a diner-style bar that you can sit at in big captains chairs and watch the chefs cook right in front of you. Ordered oysters, ceasar salad, wine and two fish dishes. Waiter asked us if we were in a hurry to go to a show or if we wanted a leisurely dinner - we said we wanted a 3 hour meal. (we've eaten there in the past and experienced true five star service).

The oysters were great . . until he dropped off the salad 5 minutes later and had to stack the salad plates on the oyster tray to make it all fit . . and then he showed up 5 minutes later with the entrees and had to take away half eaten salads and oysters to fit the entree plates on the table. Then we noticed that the fish in my wife's fish stew was raw and my fish was so salty that I couldn't swallow it. My wife didn't want to make a scene and thought that if she waited long enough, the hot broth in her stew would cook her fish. I told the waiter that my fish was so salty that I couldn't eat it . . he told me that it was supposed to be like that.

The waiter, by the way, was the smarmiest little jerk I've ever seen working in a restaurant. Every time we said a word, his first response would be "excellent, excellent!". When my wife told him that her stew wasn't all that great - "excellent, excellent!". We still make fun of that to this day and this all occurred 4 years ago.

So then I ask for a steak instead - cooked medium (I like medium rare, but at that point I figured medium would be the hardest to F up). While waiting, I was watching the chef working the grill in front of us - whenever she would start a piece of fish, she would throw what looked like a handful of salt into the pan - like more than what I would put in an entire pot of chili for 6 people! Then my steak showed up - when I cut into it, the middle was cold and purple - it was completely raw. The outside .5 cm was cooked - but everything else just raw.

That was it - we called for the manager, told him everything that had happened and he was so mortified that not only did he comp the meal, including our wine . . but he also gave us a $175 gift certificate so that we could come back to give them another chance on them! We still haven't used it - but damn - I bet he did more than $175 worth of ass chewing that night.

 

[Homercidal]

I would put good money on you being a better judge of good beer than good food.

Just yankin' your chain man...if you dig it, eat it.

LOL! You may know me better than you think! I'm just not that picky.

I got a friend who only eats REAL butter, and Farm Eggs, and WHOLE WHEAT bread. Sunshine crackers, etc...

I mean, I don't eat real nasty stuff, and have had my share of poor restaurant food and service, but I do tend to eat pretty much anything without complaint.

I do like Applebees better than Ruby Tuesday at the town we live near. Just better tasting food IMO. There is a nice restaurant in town that has a GREAT beer selection now that I think about it, but their prices are quite a bit higher. We save that for special events. It's called the Blue Cow Cafe in Big Rapids Michigan. Maybe the only place I would recommend to people passing through. Every month they have a beer tasting event too. I've never checked it out, but probably should. I always forget about it.

Rumour has it that the bowling alley is going to put in a brewpub. They got a nice bar and poker rooms and all that, so I can see it happening. I can only pray it's not a mix and serve brewery!

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I bet most of have had the experience at least once when you ask for a rare steak. The server says "Are you sure? When the chef does a rare stake, it is very rare. There will be blood in it" What she means is he is a at least a half decent chef.

Jesus, hotlips, just order my bloody stake and wiggle your ass nicely as you go. Something about some of these people just bring out the MCP in me. Male servers never ask this, they are less considerate and hope that you are about to make a fool of yourself in front of your family and friends....Yeah, I got you sussed you bastard!

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I worked at Applebee's as a second job many, many years ago. Even then it was all boil-n-bag and frozen stuff. There are no chefs there...mostly just teenagers/young 20s.

Having worked as a grill chef at a steak house many years back, and always running the grill for neighborhood parties, I can say that a good chef (not that you'll even find a CHEF at Applebee's) can cook a steak exactly to order, only to have the customer bitch that it's not the way they wanted it...because THEY don't know what level they actually want their steak cooked.

Totally agree. Many people think rare is red and med-rare is pink. They don't realize that from the time that steak was red until it was pink...it passed through 3-4 different 'meat temps'.

The way I was taught was:
Rare is red and cool in the center (i.e. raw in the middle).
Med-rare is red and warm in the center.
Medium is still red in the very center but dark-pink around that.
Med-well should still have a sliver of pink in the very center.
Right at the instant there is no more pink...it's Well-done.
Any more than that is Well-done+.

Many good steakhouses tell you up front...you order it more than Medium and you are on your own (not really a fan of that but whatever).

My last good restaurant steak was at CUT in Las Vegas. IIRC, the 35-day dry aged prime Ribeye was $66 just for the meat on a plate. About $200 per person with a side, snort o whiskey, and 'reasonable' wine. But it was awesome! I'm not a big spender (I'm actually quite cheap)...but when on vaca in Vegas you gotta live it up a little. And I could drop 2 bills in the pit very quickly anyway...money has different value out there.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

My daughter went to school in France for about 4 years. She would always complain about the school dinners because the blood from the steak would well at the bottom of the plate and get onto her fries........All I could think was WTF!!!??? They are giving you steak and fries at school!!?? Bastards! I wanna go back to school!

 

[FireNightFly]

My daughter went to school in France for about 4 years. She would always complain about the school dinners because the blood from the steak would well at the bottom of the plate and get onto her fries........All I could think was WTF!!!??? They are giving you steak and fries at school!!?? Bastards! I wanna go back to school!

Damn! Steak and fries!!! I think i may enrole again soon if thats the case.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I dunno about France but I took a trip to Germany and it seemed EVERY meal came with pomme frites (and that's what the Germans called them).