I was surprised today when Ghosty called and told me he was coming home early but would be working this Saturday to make up the hours. We decided to make this a "freebie"day and catch up on some pre-vacation errands, mostly things which needed to be done for him (alteration of suits, purchasing of new sandals. My big pressing errand were Tassimo Latte refills which alas, were not available).
Prior to leaving the house we grabbed a bite at home; leftover Chinese food. Nothing spectacular, just decent take-out from around the corner. Problem was it barely hit the spot so we found ourselves rather ravenous at the tail end of our outing.
Ghosty mentioned he felt like having a salad, which surprised me. He's more the hamburger type of guy (although, as mentioned previously beef burgers are out these days, so it's turkey or garden burgers). He suggested going to Applebee's - NOT one of my favorites by any means. I'm not adverse to chain restaurants but this one is rather low on the totem pole of eateries in my world. Seems each time I go there I'm inevitably disappointed. The last time we wound up having a free desert giving to us because things went so poorly (I would have preferred they took money off the bill instead, we didn't want the desert and hardly touched it).
This time, I acquiesced since choices were slim where we happened to be. It was that; Chevy's (a poor excuse for Mexican as we were reminded recently), or eating stale popcorn inside the Target where the Tassimo coffee pods were on sale.
One of the things which creeps me out about Applebees is this over-graciousness which pervades the place the moment you step in the door; as if you've walked into a 5 star restaurant. They open the door for you. Inquire how your day is. Mention the weather. Try and talk you into appetizers and alcoholic drinks. Push "specials" at you. All with a false smile in which lies a hidden smirk. It bothers me. I am convinced that none of those people want to work there, even less than most in this industry.
So there we were and salads were on both of our minds. Ghosty ordered some kind of spinach salad with shrimp. I ordered the "Asian Chicken Salad". This was billed as being a "medley of Asian greens" with Chinese noodles, almonds and fried chicken with an Asian dressing. Sounded pretty good.
The waitress drops the bowls in front of us, and departs. Ghosty's is exactly as described and looks quite appealing. Mine, is another story. What I see before me is a bowl full of iceberg lettuce with the expected other items. Not an "Asian" green to be found. Mind you, I know what an Asian salad should be. Typically in Japanese restaurants for instance, you are served a mesclun mix, which is tender baby greens with Mizuna added in (an actual Asian green), and sometimes pea shoots. It is most certainly not iceberg lettuce!
I decided I wanted question the waitress about this,even though the salad itself did taste fine. The dressing was tasty, the chicken crisp and well cooked. It's just that I felt rooked, like I'd had a bait and switch done on me. The whole point of ordering this particular salad was because I wanted greens which had some nutritional value. I may as well have ordered a glass of water as far as Iceberg is concerned. I mean, had they run out of the "Asian greens"? Was it a mistake? An oversight? I needed to find out.
The waitress comes over and I ask her why the menu says "Asian greens" when it clearly is iceberg lettuce. She kind of gives me a sideways glance, like she is going to tell me a dark secret and indeed, she is. Seems she's well aware this description is not quite right. She eatsthis salad all the time herself, and admits it's incorrect. Seems other Applebee's get the lettuce mix correctly but for some reason? Their store has not been getting the mix with the right amount of the "Asian" part in it. With this, she picks up my knife and starts to pick at my salad, showing me tiny pieces of "Asian" lettuce mixed in amongst the iceberg. As if to prove to me just how "Asian" it realy is, even though she and I already are aware it's a sham.
I'm sort of amused by this - that she had the nerve to try and convince me there was something other than iceberg in there, and yet she was commiserating with me at the same time. Let alone, that she picked up my utensil to do this, which somehow I'm rather sure was not proper waitress etiquette. She asked if I wanted something else, I said no as it wasn't "bad" per se, just not as written on the menu.
With this, Ghosty jokingly mentions that I'll be writing this on my Blog. She kind of gives a small nervous laugh, and walks away. We start snapping pictures of the salad, laughing (see poorly lit and rather bad photo above).
The manager comes over, concerned. Also to reiterate the situation with the salad mix and *is* everything ok? I again say it's fine, that I just wanted to clarify the menu inconsistency. He seems rather relieved and walks off.
We finish, the check arrives. Frankly, I thought they were going to do "something" about the bill at that point, but nothing. I was disappointed. By coincidence there is a contest going on and if you save the receipt (which I did), and call within 2 days to their 800 number to let them know "how they are doing' you can possibly win $1000.
Well, I will be calling for sure now, just to at least let them know they should perhaps reword the menu and just called it a "Fried Chicken Salad". At least, no confusion comes out of it when you leave out what lettuce it's arriving on. I know I was making a mountain out of a molehill, I do that sometimes. Truly, let them use what they want, I could care less - just don't get me all excited for something I'm not going to be able to have and call it what it really is. I still would have probably gotten the darn thing anyway, but at least I wouldn't have been annoyed.
Prior to leaving the house we grabbed a bite at home; leftover Chinese food. Nothing spectacular, just decent take-out from around the corner. Problem was it barely hit the spot so we found ourselves rather ravenous at the tail end of our outing.
Ghosty mentioned he felt like having a salad, which surprised me. He's more the hamburger type of guy (although, as mentioned previously beef burgers are out these days, so it's turkey or garden burgers). He suggested going to Applebee's - NOT one of my favorites by any means. I'm not adverse to chain restaurants but this one is rather low on the totem pole of eateries in my world. Seems each time I go there I'm inevitably disappointed. The last time we wound up having a free desert giving to us because things went so poorly (I would have preferred they took money off the bill instead, we didn't want the desert and hardly touched it).
This time, I acquiesced since choices were slim where we happened to be. It was that; Chevy's (a poor excuse for Mexican as we were reminded recently), or eating stale popcorn inside the Target where the Tassimo coffee pods were on sale.
One of the things which creeps me out about Applebees is this over-graciousness which pervades the place the moment you step in the door; as if you've walked into a 5 star restaurant. They open the door for you. Inquire how your day is. Mention the weather. Try and talk you into appetizers and alcoholic drinks. Push "specials" at you. All with a false smile in which lies a hidden smirk. It bothers me. I am convinced that none of those people want to work there, even less than most in this industry.
So there we were and salads were on both of our minds. Ghosty ordered some kind of spinach salad with shrimp. I ordered the "Asian Chicken Salad". This was billed as being a "medley of Asian greens" with Chinese noodles, almonds and fried chicken with an Asian dressing. Sounded pretty good.
The waitress drops the bowls in front of us, and departs. Ghosty's is exactly as described and looks quite appealing. Mine, is another story. What I see before me is a bowl full of iceberg lettuce with the expected other items. Not an "Asian" green to be found. Mind you, I know what an Asian salad should be. Typically in Japanese restaurants for instance, you are served a mesclun mix, which is tender baby greens with Mizuna added in (an actual Asian green), and sometimes pea shoots. It is most certainly not iceberg lettuce!
I decided I wanted question the waitress about this,even though the salad itself did taste fine. The dressing was tasty, the chicken crisp and well cooked. It's just that I felt rooked, like I'd had a bait and switch done on me. The whole point of ordering this particular salad was because I wanted greens which had some nutritional value. I may as well have ordered a glass of water as far as Iceberg is concerned. I mean, had they run out of the "Asian greens"? Was it a mistake? An oversight? I needed to find out.
The waitress comes over and I ask her why the menu says "Asian greens" when it clearly is iceberg lettuce. She kind of gives me a sideways glance, like she is going to tell me a dark secret and indeed, she is. Seems she's well aware this description is not quite right. She eatsthis salad all the time herself, and admits it's incorrect. Seems other Applebee's get the lettuce mix correctly but for some reason? Their store has not been getting the mix with the right amount of the "Asian" part in it. With this, she picks up my knife and starts to pick at my salad, showing me tiny pieces of "Asian" lettuce mixed in amongst the iceberg. As if to prove to me just how "Asian" it realy is, even though she and I already are aware it's a sham.
I'm sort of amused by this - that she had the nerve to try and convince me there was something other than iceberg in there, and yet she was commiserating with me at the same time. Let alone, that she picked up my utensil to do this, which somehow I'm rather sure was not proper waitress etiquette. She asked if I wanted something else, I said no as it wasn't "bad" per se, just not as written on the menu.
With this, Ghosty jokingly mentions that I'll be writing this on my Blog. She kind of gives a small nervous laugh, and walks away. We start snapping pictures of the salad, laughing (see poorly lit and rather bad photo above).
The manager comes over, concerned. Also to reiterate the situation with the salad mix and *is* everything ok? I again say it's fine, that I just wanted to clarify the menu inconsistency. He seems rather relieved and walks off.
We finish, the check arrives. Frankly, I thought they were going to do "something" about the bill at that point, but nothing. I was disappointed. By coincidence there is a contest going on and if you save the receipt (which I did), and call within 2 days to their 800 number to let them know "how they are doing' you can possibly win $1000.
Well, I will be calling for sure now, just to at least let them know they should perhaps reword the menu and just called it a "Fried Chicken Salad". At least, no confusion comes out of it when you leave out what lettuce it's arriving on. I know I was making a mountain out of a molehill, I do that sometimes. Truly, let them use what they want, I could care less - just don't get me all excited for something I'm not going to be able to have and call it what it really is. I still would have probably gotten the darn thing anyway, but at least I wouldn't have been annoyed.
You know that really bugs me too, when you're expecting something a bit different and it just doesn't happen. Sometimes I suspect restaurants hope us diners won't know the difference!
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