Applebee's in Branson, MO offers decent food at a fair price, sub-par service, plenty of seating, and a full bar.
Monday-Sunday: 10:30am - Midnight (or later)
**Probably the only restaurant in Branson that is open after 11:00pm.
**Hours are the same year round.
Overall Rating: 7.1 / 10
Location: 1836 West 76 Highway
Branson, MO 65616
Phone: 417-336-5053
Parking: There is plenty of parking all around the restaurant.
Cost: Very Fair - 5 of us ate for $83.90. This included 3 bar drinks, 3 entrees, an appetizer, soup, and 4 desserts.
Would I go back again?: Sure. I'm not a huge fan of Applebee's, but for an Applebee's - this one is pretty good. It was better than what I expected.
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Whenever we got to Applebee's, we were greeted right away by a hostess. There were five of us and a baby, and at first we were seated close to the bar (which allows smoking) - obviously not a good thing if you have a baby with you. Our server introduced himself almost immediately and was accommodating by moving us to a different table far away from the bar area. A nice gesture on his part, and he didn't seemed bothered by us sitting outside of "his" section.
After being seated, our server first began by taking our drink orders (which were delivered within 2 minutes). Overall, the service was sub-par. He was a very nice guy, but was not attentive or available all the time. I will say that he seemed to be new - so that may be why he wasn't 100% on top of things. He had a hard time keeping our drinks full, pre-busing the table, and delivering the food all at the same time. Also, I ordered soup to have before my entree, but it actually came out with my entree. (Maybe this is standard, I don't know - but if you order something like a soup or salad be sure to let your server know that you want it before you get your entree.) I don't want it to sound like the service was terrible, because it wasn't. Again, our server was very polite and better than a lot of the past servers I have had at Applebee's. He offered dessert, placed our order correctly, and checked back after the food was delivered.
It took 20 minutes and 5 seconds from order to delivery. A little long, in my opinion, especially considering how slow the restaurant was. All the food did come out hot, fresh, and exactly as ordered (see pictures below). I will emphasize though that if you are ordering a steak from Applebee's, be sure to order it a little under done than what you really want (for example, order medium rare if you want medium). Two of us order steaks - which were cooked right and flavorful, but a little fatty for a sirloin. Overall, the soup, appetizer, entrees, and desserts all tasted good. I have no major complaints about the food.
The atmosphere of the restaurant was nice. There is a full bar (again, with smoking), plenty of HD tvs scattered throughout, and several different sections with plenty of seating available. The tables were clean, employees were nice, and a manager did stop by to check on us. Also, they play a light, alternative mix of music.
All in all, I was pretty satisfied with our experience at Applebee's. As I mentioned before, I am not a big fan of Applebee's so for me to say I was satisfied with our experience here, is saying a lot. Good luck!
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Complaints:
- Sub-par Service: The service wasn't terrible, but wasn't great. Read above for a full description.
- Long Order to Delivery Time: It took a little longer than normal for us to receive all of our food. Especially the soup - which was delivered with all of the entrees.
Entrance
Bar
Bar
Bar Table Setup
White Peach Sangria
SkinnyBee Mojito
French Onion Soup
Appetizer Sampler
Roasted Garlic Sirloin with Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables (under 550 calories)
Shrimp and Parmesan Sirloin with Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables
Brownie with Ice Cream (only $1.00)
Maple Butter Blondie
Lastly, check out Applebee's website - I took a minute to look at it and was impressed!
I hope this review was helpful! Keep in mind, the restaurant was not busy at the time. In my opinion, whether a restaurant is busy or not is key to any dining experience.