Applebee's Review & Giveaway

Applebee's is one of our favorite restaurants to go to- with something for everyone, they have a great menu selection and awesome appetizers!
In fact, being a finger-food person I usually order their appetizer sampler as my meal cuz it's just so delicious and has a little bit of everything- boneless wings, cheese sticks, quesadillas, and spinach & artichoke dip with chips.

Applebee's has a new Under 550 calories meals!! They have a great selection of them- and that's what we tried.
Here's the press release information on their new menu options:

 Applebee’s® has Solutions for America’s New Year’s Resolutions

Seventy-One Percent of U.S. Adults Say Keeping Food-Related Resolutions More Difficult in Restaurants than at Home

Applebee’s Expands “Unbelievably Great Tasting and Under 550 Calories™” Menu,


Launches New Skinny Bee™ Cocktails


LENEXA, Kan. – (Dec. 31, 2010) – More than seven in ten Americans making food-related resolutions in 2011 say keeping those resolutions is more difficult when eating out than when eating at home, according to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill®. However, three in four say a wide variety of lower-calorie meals to choose from when eating out would make keeping those resolutions much easier.


As the world’s largest casual dining chain, Applebee’s surveyed adults via Harris Interactive on their attitudes toward choices offered in restaurants and what they feel about New Year’s food-related solutions.

Applebee’s is expanding its selection of “Unbelievably Great Tasting and Under 550 Calories” menu to six items, adding Signature Sirloin with Garlic Herb Shrimp and a Teriyaki Pasta with Chicken or Shrimp to its line-up. Applebee’s is also putting two new under-120 calorie SkinnyBee cocktails next to its already-popular SkinnyBee Margarita, adding a Mojito and Long Island Iced Tea to the mix.

“Our guests want more choices and they don’t want to sacrifice flavor or portion size,” said Mike Archer, president of Applebee’s Services, Inc. “At Applebee’s, we offer our guests choices of flavor-packed, full portion entrées under 550 calories and new lower calorie SkinnyBee cocktails. It’s more of what they want for their resolutions or their dietary choices year-round.”

Other findings among those surveyed include:

• 60 percent plan to make food-related New Year’s resolutions.

• Among those adults,

o 71 percent agree that it is more difficult to keep their food-related resolutions when dining out than when eating at home;

o 75 percent say that having a wide variety of lower-calorie meals to choose from when dining out would make it easier for them to keep those resolutions; and

o 41 percent resolve to lower their overall calorie intake.

• 69 percent will dine out at restaurants more often or equally as often in 2011 as they did in 2010.

• 76 percent say they would choose a lower-calorie item over a higher-calorie item if taste and portion size were comparable.

• 51 percent of surveyed adults agreed that they would prefer to drink lower calorie versions of alcoholic beverages like margaritas, mojitos and Long Island iced teas than their higher calorie counterparts.

Applebee’s new “Unbelievably Great Tasting and Under 550 Calories” items include:

• Signature Sirloin with Garlic Herb Shrimp (Great Tasting, Under 550 Calories) – Applebee’s 7 oz. sirloin grilled and topped with succulent shrimp in a light cream sauce and served with herb potatoes, seasonal vegetables, fresh bruschetta, sliced almonds and chopped parsley

• Teriyaki Shrimp Pasta (Great Tasting, Under 550 Calories) – Grilled seasoned shrimp, broccoli, red peppers, carrots, sugar snap peas, bok choy, water chestnuts and mushrooms top steaming whole wheat Asian noodles in a rich teriyaki sauce with cilantro. Teriyaki Chicken Pasta is also available.
Downloadable images and item descriptions are available at http://www.tobebuiltmnr.com/.
About Applebee’s

Applebee’s (www.applebees.com) is the world’s largest casual dining chain, with approximately 2,000 locations in 49 states, 16 countries and one U.S. territory. Based in Lenexa, Kan., Applebee’s takes pride in providing a welcoming, neighborhood environment where everyone can enjoy the dining experience. Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar® is a DineEquity, Inc. (NYSE: DIN) brand, and is franchised and operated by Applebee’s Services, Inc. and its affiliates.

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So! We had some AMAZING pictures of our food- but when the laptop got water dumped on it we lost them :(
We ordered one of their steak with shrimp & vegetables U550 meals- it was great! The shrimp had great flavor, and the steak was melt in your mouth good!
 

Another one of my personal favorites is their baby back ribs!  Any ribs at Applebee's are amazing!  They have a selection of sauces you can get them in- making them perfect for personalization for the BBQ lover to the Spicy lover!

And as for deserts............. well usually we are too full from all the great tasting food to order desert in the same sitting, but I have gone to Applebee's specifically for deserts with friends & family.  They have a Blondie brownie that's amazing- in fact it's my mom's favorite.  And they have some cute little shot glass size desserts that are perfect for the small "hit the spot" without hitting your waistline dessert! (they are pretty thick- almost like a thick cookie or brownie batter)

*this review is our honest and unbias opinion, we were not paid to do this review but were given a gift certificate to offset the cost of our food for the review*

So now to include you in on the fun stuff!! 
Applebee's has generously offered to give one of our readers a $25 gift certificate!!!

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