Pepper Shakes it Out at Applebees in Manassas

Applebees Restaurant, 9501 Liberia Ave., Manassas

Price: $

Cleanliness 3/5

Atmosphere: 3/5

Forms of Payment: Cash, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diner’s Club

 Hours:

Mon-Thu 11 a.m.-11p.m; Fri-Sat 11a.m-.12a.m;. Sun 11a.m.-10p.m.

Now I thought the protocol was pretty standard when it comes to restaurant hosting. A patron walks in, you greet and seat them, have someone else seat them, or direct them toward the bar.

 But when I walked into the Applebees on Liberia Avenue this week, what I got was nothing, except a few blank stares from servers, as if they knew they were suppose to do something, but were unsure of exactly what that was. So I sat myself at the bar. After a few minutes with a ravishing hunger growing, one that made the time seem much longer than it actually was, I decided to go find my own menu. I returned to the hostess station and grabbed a paper one.

  I would have been fine waiting for the bartender, if not for the fact that there were only four people at the bar when I arrived, all who had drinks in front of them. And the bartender was just walking around the bar, not even acknowledging my presence.

When he did come over, I decided to place my order while I had the chance. I placed most of my order, but then asked for one second to look at something more. He left and didn’t return for several minutes. He kept going all over the place, everywhere but serving patrons, it seemed. Finally, I finalized my order and began my wait for the food. While I was waiting for the food, the bartender did answer my questions about the place and was actually very nice, just not very attentive.

 My food took about a half hour to prepare. I ordered mozzarella sticks and cheeseburger sliders for starters. The mozzarella sticks were good and fried to a golden brown. I hate it when they are undercooked. The marinara sauce was ordinary, that’s really the only word I can think of to describe it—not bad—just ordinary. The slider was fine; the meat patty was about two-thirds the size of the bread, my only complaint. It was very plain, but I solved that by dipping it in A-1 sauce.  The steak was well done and surprisingly did not come out burned. It was definitely a good deal for the price, not gristly like so many inexpensive steaks. The fries were also ordinary; they tasted like Wendy’s fries, you know, the old ones before the sea salt rendition. The red skin mashed potatoes were definitely homemade, but not whipped to a creamy perfection like those at Bonefish Grill, but good nonetheless.

Now for the bourbon chicken and shrimp. The shrimp was a little overcooked, giving it a slightly rubbery texture. The chicken was grilled well and still juicy. Both were seasoned appropriately, enough to add flavor to the meat without needing sauce, but not so much as to overwhelm the taste buds. Overall, the food was an extremely well priced. The service was nothing impressive, but I guess one can’t have it all.

 The service was certainly better than when I visited this Applebees two or three years ago, and the service was so bad, that we had to walk out. There was something floating in one of our drinks and the server told us that it wasn’t that big and not to sweat it. She told us that in order to exchange the drink, she would have to tell the manager and she wouldn’t be happy. Service has improved since then.

 This location has been open for about five years and the store manager has been there for about a year and six months. Overall, the place is ideal for grabbing a quick bite, but I would avoid going at peek times. I definitely recommend it for take-out. Order ahead and skip the wait. I probably will go back for take-out in the future, but I’ll never choose it for a birthday dinner.