I am not sure what it means to be "Fancy like Applebee's on date night." Applebee's has always struck me as the low end of middle of the road. Certainly not fancy. Certainly not a special occasion place I'd want to go for Date Night. However, it's fine for a Wednesday lunch with my mom and my boyfriend.
My younger sister used to work at Applebee's, in Timonium (it's closed now) so we used go there all the time. And then she met her future husband there. He used to wear an "Otis" nametag, even though his name is Mike - specifically so he could ignore customers when they would call out "Otis!" trying to get his attention.
We had my grandfather's after funeral dinner at Applebee's in Dundalk, which is also now closed.
So, imagine my surprise when they opened a brand-new location in White Marsh. It's a fine place. Not enough accessible parking for the lunch rush. Let's get to the food...
So, my boyfriend was excited to see a VERY blue Mountain Dew available. He really enjoyed Dark Berry Bash... As an appetizer he ordered (but then did not eat until later that night) the Neighborhood Nachos with Beef: Freshly made white corn tortilla chips are topped with taco-seasoned ground beef, queso blanco, a blend of melted Cheddar cheeses, house-made pico de gallo, fresh jalapeños, chopped cilantro, sour cream and guacamole. $12.99 He's not into guac or avocado but somehow managed to eat half the nachos - cold, I may add - in the nighttime hours. The next day we had the other half and he was like, uhhh did I eat all the guacamole last night?! Yes, apparently he did. He also got the NEW Neighborhood Double Burger: A neighborhood classic. Two juicy, all-beef 3.5 oz. patties are seared and stacked with American cheese and smothered with buttery garlic sauce, pickles on a Brioche bun. $12.99 He claimed it was a "perfectly valid cheese burger but half the time I couldn't even tell it had garlic sauce on it." Added boneless garlic parmesan wings for a dollar, which were "far superior to the garlic sauce on the burger."
My mother ordered Brew Pub Pretzels & Beer Cheese Dip for her app. Soft, Bavarian-style pretzel sticks are ready to dip in BLUE MOON® white Cheddar beer cheese and honey Dijon mustard. $9.99... gotta say, I don't understand this newfound thing restaurants are doing with beer cheese. Gosh that was awful. But the dijon mustard dip is delicious. The pretzels are well-salted, soft and satisfying. For her main meal she got Double Crunch Shrimp: Crispy, battered shrimp are fried golden brown. Served with cocktail sauce, our signature coleslaw and fries. $17.99 She liked it, but it's hard to destroy boxed battered shrimp. She ALWAYS gets boxed battered shrimp. She always shares. They always taste like the last boxed battered shrimp she got at the last luncheon restaurant. She's reached that age where she orders the same safe foods. Funny, because she always seemed to be disappointed when my grandmother did that.
I ordered the BACON CHEDDAR GRILLED CHICKEN SANDWICH: Our grilled chicken breast is topped with two strips of Applewood-smoked bacon and Cheddar, then finished with tangy house-made BBQ ranch, crisp lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles on a Brioche bun. Served with classic fries. $13.99 For reasons, I'm on a month-long streak where I order a sandwich and it doesn't seem to have sauce on it. There wasn't any sort of BBQ or ranch flavor. There was something on the bottom bun, which soaked through and made the bun horribly mushy. Why put the sauce on the thinner part of the bun? The lettuce was limp, slightly slimy and completely worthless. When I packed the leftover half of my sandwich to take home, I left the condiments and the bottom bun. And, can I mention, the take-away containers are laughably tiny? So we were forced to leave our fries - which AREN'T the only side available so if you don't like fries, ask what else is available.
Glad to check this restaurant off our list of local places, as we visit a different place every week with my mom. Won't return. Don't recommend unless you like that basic menu. No stand-out items here. read more