Mrs. Smith and I like to occasionally dine-out on a Saturday Night and being that we have no money, the Applebee’s 2 for $20 sounded just right.  After a quick trip to Google Maps, we were on our way to the Applebee’s located in Doral.

We arrived around 5:45 pm, which seems a few minutes too late, as there was a good size amount of people waiting.  Not a problem, when people wait, they wait because the food is good, so we were handed our black beeper (cool little device that blinks and vibrates when your table is ready) and we patiently waited outside.  About 20 minutes we were seated at what was undoubtedly the coldest table in the Restaurant.  Although there was no vent next to us, we were seated by a very drafty window.  South Florida seems to have a case of recent wet weather, so it was somewhat chilly outside.

Anyway, after being seated we waited for just over 15 minutes before a waitress came to our table asking for our drink or menu order.  Mrs. Smith gave every passer by a glaring look of anger but I managed to keep my cool.  We decided to order the Boneless Buffalo Wings as an appetizer and the Mrs. had the A1 Stake-house Burger, while I chose the Three Cheese Chicken Penne (The most expensive thing on the regular menu for this promotion, I thought I would get a maximum return on my selection).

The Buffalo wings (10) arrived shortly thereafter with 5 pieces of celery and a blue cheese type sauce.  Too small to be worth the $8.65 they are on the menu, we gobbled them down pretty quickly as they tasted pretty good.  Only a couple of minutes later, our entrée’s were ready!  Mrs. Smith was served her Burger first, (so few serve the lady first) then I was given a big bowl of Pasta.  Absent from my pasta was the focaccia stick it should have come with and the serving of grilled chicken that was used was smaller than I had anticipated (About half a breast, sliced)

The first words out of Mrs. Smith’s mouth when describing her burger was “a little pathetic” and I was less than impressed with my meal.  Considering the advertisement we were bombarded with when we logged on to Applebee’s website, we expected the Burger to be much more impressive in look.  Setting our early feelings aside, we dug into our meals and finished around the same time.  While the wife had good things to say about the taste of her Steak-house Burger, and the taste of the Honey-Mustard sauce they gave her, I struggled to down my Pasta filled bowl as the mix of cheeses and lack of chicken made for a very heavy meal.

To finish the meal properly, we asked for the desert menu, which we didn’t realize was considerably short.  Only four choices to choose from, we decided to share the Triple Chocolate Melt-Down (Heated Chocolate Cake with fudge, vanilla ice-cream and whip cream).  Two spoons and 5 minutes later, it was devoured and undoubtedly the most delicious and well presented part of the evening for the both of us.  With tax and tip, the meal set us back $32.00.  Was it worth it?  Probably not but with the right waiter, table and meal, it certainly could be.

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