Tuscany Village Victoria Bc

Your Restaurant Sucks: Applebee's: Dysfunctional Family ...

The newly opened Applebee's at Tuscany Village in Saanich is almost indistinguishable from other chain restaurants in the Americana food genre. Think Boston Pizza without the pizza. Applebee's bills itself as a bar & grill, but it feels much more like a family restaurant with a bar. The aim, of course, is to be all things to as many demographics as possible. Millions upon millions of dollars have been spent on marketing by the big American chains, and every time I enter one of these places it shows, rather glaringly, that every last detail is the product of corporate marketing and branding research. I very much doubt the original Applebee's that opened in the state of Georgia in 1980 bears any resemblance to the Madison Avenue-created cookie-cutter spinoffs of today. If I can get beyond the fact that Applebee's is an American chain with an infamously bad reputation for poor labour practices, I can usually settle in and enjoy if the food is good. Regrettably, the "clubhouse" I ordered here was a sad rendition of the real thing. Pressed chicken and ham are bad enough, but using only two slices of bread when the real deal requires three, I feel cheated every time I get a clubhouse sandwich with no third layer of bread. To add insult to taste bud injury, Applebee's version of the classic club has BBQ sauce slathered within. Yuk!!! What genius in the Applebee's menu marketing department dreamed this innovation up? He or she ought to be fired! The rest of the sprawling menu looks like fast food versions of items seen on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives . You get all the cholesterol with a fraction of the flavour, creativity and freshness. I'm sure this place will go over well amongst some university students who have long sought an alternative to nearby Boston Pizza (see my review of Boston Pizza here ).

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