14 Applebee's Menu Items To Avoid, According To Customer Reviews

The story of Applebee's under its current name begins in 1986, when the restaurant rebranded from T.J. Applebee's Rx for Edibles & Elixirs to Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar. The casual dining eatery grew fast, opening its 100th location in 1989 and 1,000th nearly a decade later. In 2016, Applebee's set up shop in Hawaii, completing its coverage of America's 50 states. Today, the chain boasts approximately 1,500 restaurants across the U.S., with its largest presence in California, New York, and Texas.

Applebee's features an extensive menu designed to cater to most tastes and appetites, offering everything from steaks and burgers to pastas, salads, and seafood. The chain even serves Tex-Mex creations, many of which blend Mexican flavors with classic American comfort food. While variety can be appealing, having such an extensive menu allows some of Applebee's dishes to fall short of expectations. This, in turn, has led to a stream of diner complaints about lackluster meals that fail to deliver on quality and flavor.

Ready to find out what menu items to avoid when placing your next order at Applebee's? Keep reading! To learn more about our process of reviewing customer feedback, check out the methodology section at the end of this article.

Ribs and riblets are two distinct beasts. Smaller and thinner than ribs, riblets are cut from the rounded end of a rib rack to simplify cooking and improve presentation. Aside from its full and half-racks of ribs, Applebee's also serves slow-cooked riblets in a choice of sauces such as honey barbecue and sweet Asian chili. According to Applebee's, the chain depleted the entire riblets supply in the U.S. when it reintroduced its riblets in 2018 due to a dramatic increase in sales.

Perhaps the riblet quality and recipe have changed since then, because the enthusiasm for the dish hasn't been reflected in more recent customer feedback. One TripAdvisor reviewer described the riblets as being very thin and full of bones, requiring them to pick through the meat. "I literally had to use my hands to try and separate what meat I could from all of the bones contained in it," they explained. "Even after doing so, there was fat and what seemed to be gristle." Several other diners agreed, describing the restaurant's riblets as overcooked but lukewarm, calling them an abomination, and saying they mostly consist of bones.

One of Applebee's Tex-Mex offerings, the White Queso Dip and Chips is listed alongside the chain's other starters, including Classic Bone-In Wings, Brew Pub Loaded Waffle Fries, and a Chicken Quesadilla. Creamy and spicy, queso dip is typically made with white American cheese, milk, butter, and chilies, as well as aromatics like cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper for an added kick. To ensure extra creaminess, some chefs make queso dip with Chihuahua cheese instead of American cheese.

According to Applebee's menu, the White Queso Dip and Chips consists of melty white cheese and freshly-prepared corn tortilla chips. Unfortunately, online reviewers haven't found this combo all that appealing. One TripAdvisor review took issue with both components of the dish, saying, "The chips were overcooked and hard. The cheese dip was very oniony tasting." In a similar vein, a Yelp contributor said that they would give the appetizer zero stars if they could, highlighting that it came out cold and adding, "They warmed it up for me but I was grossed out afterwards."

Applebee's signature appetizer, the Chicken Wonton Tacos, combines a Mexican street taco format with Asian ingredients. Not authentic to either cuisine, the dish replaces traditional hard taco shells with crispy wonton shells. In addition, instead of the typical taco toppings like salsa, guacamole, cheese, sour cream, and shredded lettuce, the starter features a lineup of Asian-inspired ingredients. These include sweet chili marinated grilled chicken, coleslaw, and cilantro.

The chain's Chicken Wonton Tacos have received largely negative feedback from online reviews, many of which complain about the starter's texture. A telling example comes from one TripAdvisor contributor who described the wonton tacos as awful and inedible, adding that both the taco shells and chicken were overly tough. Similarly, a Yelp reviewer compared the wonton tacos to boiled German dumplings, saying, "The wontons are drowning in water. Everything tastes boiled. ... The Asian sweet-sour dressing is watery. The cabbage/carrot salad is limp, like it's been sitting under a heat lamp for two days. Everything is limp, soggy. The lime isn't even fresh! It's almost brown."

Often ordered for sharing, the Crunchy Onion Rings are one of Applebee's deep-fried appetizers. The starter comes with a side of honey barbecue sauce, which is meant to provide a mildly sweet and smoky contrast to the snack's crispy outer texture. The crispy onion rings can be ordered as part of the restaurant's Ultimate Trio sampler, which lets diners mix and match three starters and sauces.

According to customer feedback, the Crunchy Onion Rings at Applebee's leave a lot to be desired. Firstly, one reviewer reported that despite their "crunchy" moniker, the onion rings were soggy enough to soak through the entire napkin. Reviewers have also complained about the starter's flavor, with one TripAdvisor user saying, "They also had an odd taste, almost chemical in flavor. I won't be going back." Yet another TripAdvisor contributor said that once their daughter brought the onion rings back to the car, they noticed a strong stench of old frying oil. Having worked in restaurants, they recognized the smell immediately and criticized the restaurant for not changing the oil in the fryers.

While seafood isn't the star of Applebee's menu, the chain does offer several fish and shellfish dishes. These include Double Crunch Shrimp, Hand-Battered Fish & Chips, and a Tex-Mex Shrimp Bowl featuring grilled chipotle lime shrimp. The chain's fourth — and perhaps not the best — seafood option is the 6-ounce Blackened Cajun Salmon.

Whether one is making chicken, meat, or fish, the "blackening" cooking technique necessitates coating food in traditional Cajun and Creole herbs and spices and grilling until it develops a dark hue. With such heavy seasoning and dramatic char, one would expect the dish to be flavorful. Unfortunately, the Blackened Cajun Salmon at Applebee's falls short in this department. For example, one TripAdvisor reviewer said, "I had Blackened Cajun Salmon which was just plain, old plain. Not enough spices and overcooked, a little dry. Could use a sauce." Similarly, another TripAdvisor user described the blackened fish as tough in texture and devoid of taste.

Applebee's has an entire menu section dedicated to chicken dishes. In total, the chain offers several poultry-based entrées, including chicken tenders, grilled chicken breast, hot honey glazed chicken, and bourbon street chicken. There is also the Fiesta Lime Chicken — a combo of grilled chicken glazed with lime sauce and drizzled with Mexi-ranch, cheddar cheese, and crispy tortilla strips, served alongside Spanish rice and pico de gallo (which, yes, is different from salsa).

Applebee's menu describes the Fiesta Lime Chicken as "a celebration of flavor" that "delivers on every level." Yet, overall online feedback shows that many diners don't share the restaurant's assessment of the dish. One Yelp reviewer illustrated this, saying, "The Fiesta Lime Chicken was an overcooked, dry fillet covered with melted cheese embedded with shredded tortilla chips. ... The rice was lumpy, bland, and not piping hot." Along similar lines, a TripAdvisor contributor noted, "My chicken was so dry/crisp on the outside, that I could not even cut it with a knife and fork, but rather had to chop it up with kitchen scissors."

Many contemporary casual dining chains serve steak to appeal to a wide range of diners and tastes. Applebee's is no exception, offering top sirloin and bourbon street steak. Perhaps it's also not surprising that the chain uses the lowest-grade USDA beef in its steaks. USDA Select represents the bottom tier of beef after USDA Prime and USDA Choice. Typically used for grilling, roasting, or broiling, it's often the toughest of the trio.

Given the meat's inferior quality, it comes as no shock that the Top Sirloin has drawn unfavorable feedback from patrons. A TripAdvisor reviewer highlighted this, saying, "My steak, supposedly a 'tender grilled 8 oz. USDA Select Top Sirloin,' was tough as nails and as gristly as any I've ever had. I ordered it medium-rare, but it was actually raw on one half of it." A fellow TripAdvisor user agreed, noting that what should have been a juicy steak was in fact a chewy, tough, dry, and lukewarm piece of meat.

While many items on Applebee's menu are on the indulgent side, the chain does offer several salads for those wanting to get more greens into their day. That said, options like the Quesadilla Chicken Salad, Crispy Chicken Tender Salad, and Caesar Side Salad may not be the lightest choices. Similarly, the Oriental Chicken Salad emphasizes flavor over veggie-loaded fare. Made with deep-fried chicken tenders, the menu item also comes with crunchy noodles and Asian greens, all topped with Oriental vinaigrette.

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad has received less than satisfactory online feedback from diners who complain about its quality and freshness. One TripAdvisor user called the salad horrible, elaborating that the batter on the chicken tenders was so tough and dry that they couldn't eat them. In a similar vein, a Yelp reviewer, who ended up throwing out most of their salad, commented, "[The] lettuce didn't look washed and most of it was not edible. I definitely wouldn't order this again."

Applebee's offers several shrimp-based dishes, including Blackened Shrimp & Andouille Sausage Penne, Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp, a Tex-Mex Shrimp Bowl, and Shrimp 'N Parmesan Sirloin. The restaurant also serves Double Crunch Shrimp for those who like their shrimp battered. However, while the menu promises thick, extra crispy breading, the actual product is often soggy and tasteless.

Applebee's Double Crunch Shrimp hasn't received much love from diners. Instead, the dish has been described as disappointing, with complaints describing limp breading and tasteless shrimp. One TripAdvisor reviewer advised against ordering the dish, saying that the chain must have changed its recipe. "The shrimp are smaller and they are awful!! Underneath the so-called crunch is this gooey stuff. The shrimp were barely edible. So I took the coating off and just ate the shrimp and I just about lost it. I can't even begin to describe the awful taste." An unimpressed Yelp contributor echoed this sentiment, noting, "The double crunch shrimp was stuck together and made one ball of battered shrimp. When separating the shrimp, some parts of the batter weren't even cooked."

Mac and cheese is one of those dishes that appeals to many generations, satisfying everyone from picky kids to adults craving comfort food. Creamy and filling, the pasta dish can be easily customized with ingredients such as jalapeños, bacon, or even lobster. At Applebee's, that customization shows up in the Four-Cheese Mac & Cheese with Honey Pepper Chicken Tenders. Aside from blending four different cheeses, the pasta comes topped with applewood-smoked bacon and chicken tenders coated in honey pepper sauce.

While Applebee's Four-Cheese Mac & Cheese with Honey Pepper Chicken Tenders sounds great in theory, the dish misses the mark in execution, as highlighted by one disappointed TripAdvisor reviewer. "The 4 cheese mac and cheese was like water, very bland and it looked nothing like the picture on the menu," they shared. Echoing this frustration, a Yelp user also complained, "The Mac and Cheese tasted like butter and it was super dry — no 'extra' cheese topped on it like pictured in the menu. The chicken was hard and stale / the cut up bacon strip was undercooked."

For many diners, a restaurant meal wouldn't feel complete without dessert. Applebee's understands this, offering a handful of sweet treats to round out the restaurant's dining experience. These include a butter pecan blondie, brownie bites, cinnamon swirls, and another mouthwatering offering: the Triple Chocolate Meltdown. The dessert features a warm chocolate cake filled with fudge and comes finished with hot fudge sauce. A scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side completes the picture.

According to Applebee's employees, the Triple Chocolate Meltdown is a surefire way to perk up your mood. Unfortunately, for some diners, the dessert hasn't lived up to the hype. For example, one Yelp reviewer criticized the dish's presentation, noting that when their triple chocolate meltdown was served, the ice cream had already melted into an unappetizing puddle on the plate. Echoing the disappointment, an unhappy TripAdvisor contributor said that they would never return to Applebee's, adding that the triple chocolate meltdown cake was overly dry and didn't taste fresh.

Spinach and artichoke dip is a creamy appetizer made by combining spinach and artichoke hearts with dairy such as cheese or sour cream, along with garlic, herbs, and seasonings. The mixture is then baked until golden and bubbling. While we don't know exactly what goes into Applebee's Spinach & Artichoke Dip, we do know that the starter is topped with Parmesan cheese and served with chipotle lime salsa as well as "freshly-made" tortilla chips.

Whatever recipe Applebee's uses to make its Spinach & Artichoke Dip doesn't seem to be working, because the dish has received the thumbs down from diners. A reviewer on TripAdvisor highlighted this when they wrote, "Several chips were extremely greasy and not edible and the spinach and artichoke dip was obviously warmed up in the microwave — as part of it was burned to the side of the cup." A Yelp user took this criticism even further, describing the dip as disgusting and suggesting that the chain bought it in bulk.

Applebee's appetizer menu includes several Tex-Mex-inspired favorites; rounding out the lineup are two different types of nachos. The restaurant's Neighborhood Nachos with Beef comes with ground beef, queso blanco, melted cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, jalapeños, cilantro, sour cream, and guacamole. Meanwhile, the Neighborhood Nachos Chipotle Lime Chicken features the same ingredients, except it's topped with grilled chicken instead of beef.

While the reviews of Applebee's beef nachos have been mixed, the Neighborhood Nachos Chipotle Lime Chicken have fared worse, with diners criticizing them as being dry and cold, also occasionally saying they're missing toppings. In the words of one Yelp contributor, "I got cold dry chicken and chips. Half the chicken was stuck to the bottom of the cup of cold queso." A fellow Yelp user was also underwhelmed with the nachos, explaining that the dish was served with cold chicken and didn't even include queso.

Hamburgers are a classic American fast food dish that has been around since the 1920s when White Castle started serving its burgers in Kansas. In keeping with America's love for this staple dish, Applebee's offers its patrons a range of takes on the popular handheld. The chain's "handcrafted burgers" include the likes of a Bourbon Street Mushroom Swiss Burger, Classic Bacon Cheeseburger, and the Impossible Cheeseburger made with a plant-based patty. The biggest outlier in Applebee's burger lineup is the Quesadilla Burger, a Tex-Mex fusion that replaces the bun with tortillas and comes with pico de gallo and Mexi-ranch sauce.

The Quesadilla Burger at Applebee's hasn't impressed diners, with the biggest complaint being its overly greasy texture and messy construction. For instance, one Yelp user complained, "I start to eat my quesadilla burger and it's falling apart from all the grease, no napkins accommodated. The whole burger was trash, I ate the fries but no thanks on the rest!" Another Yelp user echoed the complaint, saying that their burger was overly greasy.

As a casual dining restaurant, Applebee's specializes in classic U.S. fare, including burgers, steaks, chicken, pastas, salads, and desserts. While the chain's menu is broad, a number of its items miss the mark. To create a list of Applebee's least popular menu items, we analyzed hundreds of online reviews on platforms like Reddit, TripAdvisor, and Yelp. During our research, we paid particular attention to each item's flavor, texture, and general quality, noting particular concerns such as overly greasy and flavorless dishes.