Vegetarian Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.
Entering on a Christmas Eve afternoon, we were immediately greeted and sat in the bar area.
This Applebee’s like any other Applebee’s we have visited was set up in a typical Applebee’s fashion. The bar flooring area is ‘sunken’ a few feet lower than general seating that surrounds three sides of the bar area. The bar area also generally has ‘high tables’ with tall chairs with additional seating at the bar. The seating encircling the bar is comprised of regular tables and chairs or booth seating. As usual, the seating area is spacious, clean and inviting.
**We did not have to use restrooms, so no comment on that ambiance!
Choosing a Veggie Treat
Actually, for vegetarians there are not many straight forward vegetarian options. Lunch time has a nice menu with combo choices of vegetarian soups (cream of mushroom or tomato basil) with salad or sandwich (only vegetarian sandwich is a BLT grilled cheese- without the “B” or bacon). Other than this, in the meal menu, there are pasta entries that are listed default with meat ingredients. Most of these possibly can be made without the meat, but have yet to try that order. We like the ‘burger’ choices here as the regular size burger sandwiches can all be substituted with veggie burgers. Keep this tip in mind as the burger options are interesting. On this trip we received the quesadilla burger (remember to ask to omit the bacon in the cheese spread) and the cowboy burger (without the bacon). We have had the quesadilla burger and find this to be a unique option, as we have not had this at any other restaurant. Though we are quite certain to have the quesadilla burger again, this is not so true with the cowboy burger. Though overall the taste of the cowboy burger was tempting, the bar-be-que sauce was very distracting, especially for us that don’t prefer the smoky smell or taste of bar-be-que. We did not get the bruschetta burger, though we have in the past and highly recommend this as it has a fresh and addicting taste.
We did order an appetizer, the potato skin sans bacon. The potato skins were good, but bland. Would have been nice to have it as a nachos dish, topped with jalapeños and beans or have something crunchy on top, like diced red onions.
They did not have hot sauce as a condiment, though did mix ‘wing sauce’ for us, which was tasty and fulfilled the spice requirement, but had a texture and smell that was a little odd for me as it did remind me of chicken wings so I did not eat much of it.
Additionally, as I occasionally enjoy a mixed drink, I did try the pomegranate margarita on this visit. It was very tasty as it was mixed with POM brand pomegranate juice. It was so tasty and fruity that we neither noticed the strong taste of the alcohol or the bitterness of pomegranate juice. They seemed to balance and ‘even each other’ out. I recommend this drink to anyone who likes margarita sans salt.
Checking In
Our waiter was attentive and very friendly. Though it was quite busy, he attended to us timely and refilled our drinks as required.
See you later
No concerns here, bill was received by us and paid in a timely fashion.
Pay Scale
$16-20 per person (1 appetizer, 1 coffee, 1 mixed drink and 2 main meals)
Tips 10-15% I think we gave closer to 12-13%
Star System
Overall 3.5/5
Though we appreciate the flexibility of the menu to create vegetarian options out of non-vegetarian ones and the ability to omit meat ingredients to do the same, we often find it challenging to choose a menu item. We like to come to Applebee’s because of the appetizers, ambiance and service, but we always come in with a hesitation as we know, as vegetarians, that finding a tasty option is a little challenging.
To find/Contact
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar
applebees.com
(585) 425-4700
Get directions: To here - From here
Notes: I have also eaten at these locations with similar feedback: Pittsford Plaza, Penfield (Webster), Rochester (Irondequoit), Paddy Creek Circle (Rochester/ Greece), Cortland, NY
Notes: One reason we have tried so many locations is due to getting a ‘free’ gift card to Applebee’s when purchasing the special car wash coupon packet from Delta Sonic.
Review based on October 2008 visit.
Have you eaten at Applebee’s? If so, please share your thoughts below.
Thank you for reading!
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