Applebee's

[rte66man]

Hearing this news, just bums me out. This particular AppleBee's location, was my "Go-To" for special occasion dining, as well as an easy pick for hosting out of town guests/business clients visiting OKC for the very first time. It continues to be more and more challenging each and every day, to find good/quality food here in OKC.

Does anyone know what the plans are for the building/current space? I can't help but to think, that it would be an awesome location for a Chili's. (fingers crossed)

Seeing as there already is a Chilis on Memorial ( a mile west at Portland), I would seriously doubt it.

Still holding out for PAPPADEAUX

[jbkrems]

It won't be a Chili's since the nearest one is literally down the street. My recommendation is take your out of town business guests over to BJs. More selection there.

[Plutonic Panda]

Seeing as there already is a Chilis on Memorial ( a mile west at Portland), I would seriously doubt it.

Still holding out for PAPPADEAUX

They have one in Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Phoenix(Yes I drive all the way to Phoenix on occasion for Pappas), and one in Albuquerque. I asked if they are going to OKC and they liked my comment. Not sure what that means.

[Bill Robertson]

Hearing this news, just bums me out. This particular AppleBee's location, was my "Go-To" for special occasion dining, as well as an easy pick for hosting out of town guests/business clients visiting OKC for the very first time. It continues to be more and more challenging each and every day, to find good/quality food here in OKC.

Does anyone know what the plans are for the building/current space? I can't help but to think, that it would be an awesome location for a Chili's. (fingers crossed)

There's a real estate sign in front so I assume there are no plans.

[Bunty]

I heard Applebee's has good French onion soup.

[Filthy]

I'd put any Hal Smith or Good Egg restaurant over an Applebee's/Chili's and there are several smaller restaurateurs operating here now that I would choose over those two groups.

That's a pretty bold statement, as I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more quality selection than an establishment like Chilis. I mean, with the ability to offer you a savory Southwestern Egg Roll, with green dipping sauce for a pre dinner appetizer, and then compliment that with what some say might be the best "hand crafted" bacon burger offered in the metro. It's really unparalleled. But to each his own. (As I'm not one to cast judgement upon others.)

[jbkrems]

I would not be surprised if the pad that Applebee's sat on gets torn down and turned into clothing retail. There is something about restaurants and the Courtyard Marriott hotel which is right there... the upscale restaurant which used to be in the hotel closed several years ago, and now Applebee's bit the dust. Perhaps the location is cursed so far as restaurants are concerned.

[rezman]

I like Chilli's, though I don't go there very often. I really like their Honey Chipolte Chicken Crispers. They're dee-licious, and something I haven't seen anywhere else. Throw in their loaded mash potatos and cinnimon apples, and you have a pretty good meal.

[MikeLucky]

Hearing this news, just bums me out. This particular AppleBee's location, was my "Go-To" for special occasion dining, as well as an easy pick for hosting out of town guests/business clients visiting OKC for the very first time. It continues to be more and more challenging each and every day, to find good/quality food here in OKC.

Does anyone know what the plans are for the building/current space? I can't help but to think, that it would be an awesome location for a Chili's. (fingers crossed)

That's a pretty bold statement, as I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more quality selection than an establishment like Chilis. I mean, with the ability to offer you a savory Southwestern Egg Roll, with green dipping sauce for a pre dinner appetizer, and then compliment that with what some say might be the best "hand crafted" bacon burger offered in the metro. It's really unparalleled. But to each his own. (As I'm not one to cast judgement upon others.)

Okay please tell me this is just you being funny... I seriously hope you don't really take out-of-town visitors to Applebee's... lol. They probably think OKC is pretty lame if Applebee's or Chili's is a "go-to" choice. Lol

[rte66man]

That's a pretty bold statement, as I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more quality selection than an establishment like Chilis. I mean, with the ability to offer you a savory Southwestern Egg Roll, with green dipping sauce for a pre dinner appetizer, and then complement that with what some say might be the best "hand crafted" bacon burger offered in the metro. It's really unparalleled. But to each his own. (As I'm not one to cast judgement upon others.)

ftfy

[rte66man]

I like Chili's, though I don't go there very often. I really like their Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers. They're dee-licious, and something I haven't seen anywhere else. Throw in their loaded mash potatoes and cinnamon apples, and you have a pretty good meal.

FTFY. Like Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory with certain things, I go totally ape when I see "chipolte". It is and has always been "chipotle" and is pronounced "Chih-po(with a long 'o' sound)-tlee" not "Chi-pol-tee".

Whew, now I feel much better.......

[jccouger]

This thread is half people being sarcastic, and half people being serious not realizing people are being sarcastic.
Then the grammer police just checked in & I'm about to lose my ****.

I actually went to Applebees a few days ago because my sister bought me a gift card for some reason. They've done a lot of remodeling but wow that food is bad. They have no idea what they want to be, a family restaurant or a bar. Though neither of their attempts make for a "fun" atmosphere. Its all just so blah. Either way its amazing they have survived this long & there was actually quite a few people there when I went.

[MagzOK]

This was about 15 years ago when a young cousin of mine worked at Chilis, but he said back in the kitchen everything was precooked and sent to the individual locations. All the "cooks" would do is grab the precooked meal which was sealed in vacuum-sealed bags, then boil them for a predetermined amount of time. They would then cut open the water-heated meal and pour on plate and make it pretty. He also said that the queso was made using cheese powder with the processed meat and water. I was shocked! Not sure if this is how they do it now, but.....

[rezman]

FTFY. Like Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory with certain things, I go totally ape when I see "chipolte". It is and has always been "chipotle" and is pronounced "Chih-po(with a long 'o' sound)-tlee" not "Chi-pol-tee".

Whew, now I feel much better.......

Uh-oh ... spelling patrol! .. somebody call a whaaaaaambulance!

[rte66man]

Nah, just a combination of severe OCD and a desire to practice my typing skills.............

[Dustin]

I've only been to Applebee's twice and neither time was memorable or enjoyable. Not surprised it closed.

[Pete]

This will now be Mama Rita's:

http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.ph...587#post990587

[Pete]

Applebee's just closed the location at 4825 NW Expressway.

This was the one near Hideaway on the north side of the road between Meridian and MacArthur.

[OKCRealtor]

They should close them all, we would all be better off!

[stile99]

Personally, I could not care less if someone does or does not like their food. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and for every wag who will comment that their food was boring, or chain, or whatever, there's someone who eats there on the reg. That said, I most certainly am not sanguine about so many people suddenly losing their income and cannot for the life of me fathom how "we would all be better off" if even more did so. Especially the suddenly unemployed. If you think you have a better business model and can make a go of it, looks like there's a building available on NW Expressway. In between two hotels, even!

It does make one wonder though...whenever I'm on NW Expressway it doesn't seem like there is less traffic, but restaurants are closing along there. Since we still haven't figured out how to blame Amazon for the realty industry's problems, where else should we look? Maybe realtors who think an empty building is better than an ongoing business share a portion of the blame?

[Urbanized]

...It does make one wonder though...whenever I'm on NW Expressway it doesn't seem like there is less traffic, but restaurants are closing along there. Since we still haven't figured out how to blame Amazon for the realty industry's problems, where else should we look? Maybe realtors who think an empty building is better than an ongoing business share a portion of the blame?

Besides the public's changing tastes veering away from restaurants like Applebee's (this is happening everywhere in the U.S. and is also driven in part by generational changes), I would tend to blame bad land use policy for the past couple of generations. Donut development creates pockets of decline as the population surges towards the fringe. When my Dad moved to Surrey Hills in the early nineties there were very few options past about Rockwell, and they mostly went down NW Expressway to eat. These days they are more likely to hop on the turnpike and go to one of the many places that have appeared on that corridor, even as far down as Chisholm Creek. Especially since the commuter traffic up NW Expressway is so heavy (again driven by more people living further out). People in far NW OKC and even Edmond were a major part of the ecosystem for businesses on Northwest Expressway, and now there are hundreds of new options either closer or more convenient.

Also for the sake of clarity I know that your question was more rhetorical in nature and targeted more as a reply than information seeking.

[jn1780]

It's like the Sears of restaurants: Dying off slowly, of course I'm sure the applebees in smaller towns will last awhile.

[SEMIweather]

It does make one wonder though...whenever I'm on NW Expressway it doesn't seem like there is less traffic, but restaurants are closing along there. Since we still haven't figured out how to blame Amazon for the realty industry's problems, where else should we look? Maybe realtors who think an empty building is better than an ongoing business share a portion of the blame?

I think this has a lot to do with the fact that most people traveling on NW Expressway are just looking to get from one place to another. The design of the highway does not lend itself to people making impromptu stops.

[Roger S]

It's like the Sears of restaurants: Dying off slowly, of course I'm sure the applebees in smaller towns will last awhile.

The one in Ardmore always appears to be pretty busy in the evenings even with the locally owned, and popular, Two Frogs beside it serving a similar menu.

[Pete]

You can't add hundreds and hundreds of new restaurants and bars in a city the size of OKC and not have some casualties.

Think about all the new options that weren't available in 1998 when this was built.

Still, that was a 20-year run.