Applebee's

          Choosing to try out the burgers at Applebee's was a bit of a gamble for us. We hadn't been in a long time and there was good reason for that. It seems that one of us had gotten sick after eating there the last three times. So the prospect wasn't all that appealing. Still, we had vowed to give it one more chance and put on our big boy underwear and headed to our neighborhood Applebee's.
          Applebee's is the largest "family" restaurant chain in the country with nearly 2000 locations. They were founded more than 30 years ago and currently operate in 49 states as well as a handful of foreign countries so odds are that if you haven't already eaten at an Applebee's you've at least driven past a couple in your time. You can find your closest Applebee's, if you don't already know where it is, by checking out their web site: http://www.applebees.com/
          I will point out that we had a family member who used to work in the kitchen at our neighborhood Applebee's (Josh's older brother). This was several years ago and because of that we would frequent the place. We never had any gastric problems during those visits. It was only in the last three times, each using their carry-out Carside to Go, that we experienced our problems. And that was well over a year ago. None of those times was by eating a burger.

          The menu at Applebee's is rather extensive. You can get anything from a steak to basic bar food. They offer up a handful of specialty burgers, all closing in on $10 apiece. What they don't show on the menu, though, is a basic cheeseburger. You can get one but you need to ask.

Burgers

          Just about every time we try a burger for this blog we stick to a plan that calls for us getting the basic everyday cheeseburger. But since one isn't advertised on Applebee's menu (and far be it from us to every rock the boat in any way), we ordered up the Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger. Hey, what's a little bacon between friends.

          There's one question we love hearing when we order up a burger: "How would you like that cooked?" That is a question we got when we placed our order. Even better, when they arrived they were cooked the way we had asked.

          It would be nice to say that the burgers at Applebee's are great. They're not. They aren't bad but if you're going to plop $10 down on a burger there are lots of better places to go. (In fact, there's a Friday's less than half a mile from where we ate at this Applebee's.) 

          We both felt the burger tasted OK but there was nothing to make it stand out as exceptional in any way. The same can be said for the fries. They were OK, perhaps a little too much pepper, but they were properly cooked and tasted like your basic fries.

          Overall the burgers at Applebee's are decent but far from our favorites. In fact, they're not even our favorites from this type of restaurant chain. For what you get, burger wise, it's a bit overpriced. But on the bright side, neither of us got sick.