About 15 years ago I lived near Martinsville, Va., and there was an Applebee’s there. I tried it a few times and it was good, but it was never a restaurant that I frequented. I am not really sure why. It just didn’t grab me for some reason. But I went to another one closer to home with a friend recently and it was pretty dang good. They also had great prices {I think I remember them being pretty expensive back in the day} so I decided to start eating there more often. I have been seeing advertisements for the new Wood Fired Menu and thought it looked really good, so Jay and I decided to eat at an Applebee’s in Winston Salem, NC just a couple days ago.

You could really eat cheap at Applebee’s now if you want to. They had an entire section in the menu that featured 2/$20 and 2/$25 meals. These included an appetizer and 2 meals. I often drink water in restaurants, so that is a steal. I had my heart set on one of the Wood Fired Salads, though, so we didn’t go that route. Perhaps next time. So, let me share with you what Jay and I did have.

Brew Pub Pretzels + Beer Cheese Dip

Blue Moon® white cheddar beer cheese dip and honey Dijon.

I think these were my favorite part of the meal. Oh man, were they good. You get 4 soft, thick Pretzel sticks and plenty of beer cheese. I think I would enjoy just coming in and having appetizers one day just so that I could have an excuse to eat more of these. Definitely try them.

Price: $6.99

Grilled Watermelon & Spicy Shrimp Salad

Mixed greens, cucumbers, feta, almonds, with a house-made mint-Greek yogurt dressing.

Ok, let me start out by saying that my watermelon was not grilled, as you can see in my picture. It was served cold. That is not really a complaint although I was interested to see how the watermelon would turn out grilled. I just felt anyone reading this should know if they have their heart set on grilled watermelon, that might not happen {at least it might not happen if you eat at the location we ate at in Winston Salem, NC}.

Having said that, this salad was FANTASTIC. The watermelon and feta cheese were so interesting together. And the salad dressing that they used was tangy and phenomenal – very similar to a vinaigrette. I used to always put ranch dressing on everything but have recently started going with the dressings that are suggested and that has been a great choice. There’s a big world of food to try out there and not everything needs Ranch dressing, lol. And, the shrimp. Oh man, it was great. There was a good amount of it and it was spicy {though not overly spicy} as promised. So, we are left with the watermelon. Would the watermelon being grilled as advertised have made it better? I doubt it. This salad was so good and the price was right. I would definitely order it again. Yum. 🙂

Price: $10.99

Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp

Cajun-seasoned chicken, blackened shrimp, sautéed onion and mushroom, crispy red potatoes. Served on a sizzling hot skillet.

Jay had this and he let me have a bite of his chicken and it was crazy good. Here are his thoughts: “Although the chicken was certainly good, the hits of this meal were the spicy shrimp and the red potatoes in my book. The potatoes tasted as though they were cooked in peanut oil, so be careful if you have a nut allergy. The shrimp had a nice little bite to it, combined with a wonderful grilled flavor that was perfection.”

Price: $12.69

Cracker Jack Banana Cheesecake

Have you ever heard of such? We generally never order dessert but this was so different that we just had to try it. Jay and I ordered one Cracker Jack Banana Cheesecake to share. Trust me, that is plenty. This dessert is really rich, but so so good. I asked the waiter if people often ordered this and he said that they did and that it had been on the menu for about a month or so he thought. I think you could split this between 3 or 4 people if you like. And yes, all you grown up kids like me, there was a prize in the bag of Cracker Jacks. 😀

Price: $6.99

Final Thoughts

All in all, I think this was a fabulous meal. Our total was $40.20 for 1 appetizer, 2 main courses and 1 dessert. I think that was a fair price for what we got – especially the main courses. If you want to eat cheaper, I suggest skipping on either the dessert or appetizer {or both – as they are a bit expensive, but worth the money if you get them}. Or you could order one of the deals that I mentioned towards the top of the post.

Want to see the rest of our food pictures from Applebee’s? Check them out on Flickr.

What Did You Think Of Our Applebee’s Review?

Have you ever eaten at Applebee’s? What has been your experience? Have you tried anything on the new Woodfired Menu? What did you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.