Our Servers/Bartenders and my friends Candy and Jaci. Welcome To Dining With Dan I Cook.
UPDATE…. TO THE UPDATE
The Grill Cooks and GM Jim coming out for a round of applause from my diners.
The dinner was fantastic! I really want to thank my 27 diners and management/staff for making this event a success.
6 ounce Sirloin
Wood Grilled Salmon
The star of the show was the Cheeseburger Egg-rolls, the sirloin, and the Salmon. I only had the Southwest Beef and Black Bean Soup, and the Sirloin (medium) with mashed potatoes. I’m not a salmon fan but I wish I tried the Cheeseburger Egg-rolls. Everyone kept saying the egg-rolls tasted like a Big Mac. I love Big Macs so next time I will be ordering that app for sure. As for the meat, it was good. Nice seasoning and it was cooked a perfect medium. I can see Applebee’s giving Outback a run for their money in the near future. For the price point, I think Applebee’s is very affordable and the food is perfect for a family night out. The only issue which I saw was the soup needed some sharp cheddar cheese on top with a dollop of sour cream and some green onions for color. That’s very minor in my eyes.
Diners Chef Mike, Joe I Cook and Terry.
My VIP Coral Springs Charter AD Mike Higgins and his wife Jeanette
I will be posting a separate article which will include a bunch of pictures taken by my friend Adam Baron:
http://www.adambaronphoto.com/
This post will be more of a video blog of the dinner.
More Diners! We Owned the Place!
Verdict
4 Beers for Applebee’s. I think you surprised some of my guests with the quality of your food. No doubt everyone loved the service. Thanks again! My next Dining With Dine I Cook will be at Gabose Korean Restaurant in Lauderhill. I don’t have a date year because I’m gonna take a break LOL. Once I met with owners Fred and Susan I’ll post more information. Stay Hungry!
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Everything is a go for the Tuesday Dinner! We will meet at the bar at 6:00p (we have the whole bar reserved for our event). Seating will be assigned by me. Between 6:00p and 6:30p you can have some drinks and the management “might” give us a tour of the kitchen to all my guests. This is still being worked on. Apps will be served at 6:30p followed by dinner.
Our menu is pretty solid. We will share some Apps of Steak Quesadillas, Cheeseburger Egg Rolls, Sirloin Wonton Tacos, and Salsa Verde Beef Nachos. Everyone will also receive the Southwest Steak and Black Bean Soup
For main course you will have a choice of one of the following:
Bone In Pork Chop with Apple Chutney
Hand Cut USDA Choice Top Sirloin
Cedar Grilled Salmon with Maple Mustard Glaze
Sirloin Stir Fry
Butcher’s Meat and Potatoes
Pepper Crusted Sirloin and Whole Grains
You also get a choice of a side item.
General Manager Jim said if you get the salmon dish but want to try some steak he will make that happen. He will bring out some portions to sample. Jim promised that there will be plenty of food and no one will go home hungry!
Adam Baron, co-owner of Coralspringstalk.com will be taking photographs for my blog. Again, I want to thank Adam and his wife Sharon for helping me out.
The Rules
The rules for my dining events are simple. I want everyone to have a great time, be friendly, and polite. I will ask each of my diners to post a review on my blog of the dinner. Any constructive criticism will be emailed to me so I can share it with Management, privately. I’ve said this a hundred times…..I’m not here to hurt or destroy any businesses in my community. Why? Because no one is perfect. Remember there are no refunds because I am pre-paying for this event. In the future, I’ll be getting PayPal to make paying for these events much easier. Remember, I’m sorta new at this and still getting my feet wet…I appreciate everyone’s patience with me! If you are one of the lucky ones that made the cut for this event I’m sure you’ll have a GREAT TIME..Stay Hungry!
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It was a light and fun filled night at Applebee’s Coral Springs June 14th. I LOVED that they had the group sitting at the bar, it was comfortable yet close together. The appetizers were hot and fresh. MY favorite and seemingly the favorite of many of us were the cheeseburger egg rolls…everything I love rolled and fried accompanied by an flavorful dipping sauce YUMMO!!! The bean soup was fresh, piping hot and had a great spicy bite to it. The main course I chose their new fire grilled sirloin. Ordered medium rare it was perfectly cooked, nice and pink and juicy on the inside and nice seasoning on the outside sear. NO NEED FOR STEAK SAUCE HERE!! At the insistence of Dan my friends and I also ordered the pork chop. Now I can never cook pork right, either under done or over done….well let me say Applebee’s was right on target. Juicy, flavorful it was perfect! The management, wait staff and bartenders were efficient and friendly….all around a fun great evening and I can’t wait till the next adventure Dan!
Great comments Carol Ann and thank you so much for attending. Next time we need your Chicago Loving Boss should come:)
Thanks for a great night at Applebee’s. The night was well planned, filled with great food, drink, and people. I would agree that hands down, the best appetizer by far was the cheeseburger egg roll. It had the perfect combination of meet cheese and spice. The outside was crunchy with a delicious creamy filling. The Bone-in pork chop was good and the baked potato was served with it was excellent. Many restaurants now serve baked potato’s that are way over cooked and have a weird cotton-like texture. The Potato was cooked “just like mamma used to make.” Even though service was not supposed to be a rated category, I would be remiss not to mention the great service that we received from our 2 bartenders. The best way to sum up my experience is to let you know that I’m in for the next Dining with Dan…..b-faer
The service was truly excellent. Candy, Jaci and management did a fantastic job!
A small part of me wishes I would have stuck to my original order and tried the pork chop (It was served with an apple chutney and looked and smelled delicious!) But I kept to the theme of steak and boxed half of my steak for my steak-lovers at home. The steak did not disappoint, as it was perfectly seasoned and cooked a perfect medium rare. The baked potato was enormous and served with plenty of butter and sour cream on the side.
Now, I love my steak, hamburgers and Mexican foods, so I was very excited to join this particular Dining with Dan. For my comments, I would like to focus on the appetizers as they were all superb.
The Salsa Verde Beef Nachos were what you would expect, but generously so. The toppings were abundant and in the right proportions and enjoyable.
The Sirloin Won Ton Tacos were a bit different, of course, falling more into an Asian-Style. They were sweet with a hint of ginger and delicious. The steak was marinated with just the right amount of flavor. I feared something so unique and different may require a particular palate to enjoy it, but this simple girl enjoyed it with pleasant suprise. If you would like to try something different without fear of it being too different, this is a great choice.
The Steak Quesadillas, too, were what you would expect, but generously so. Plenty of steak, Plenty of cheese with just the right amount of flavor. Extremely satisfying.
The Southwest Steak and Black Bean soup was savory and mouthwatering. Just enough heat for those medium lovers. Although descibed as a soup, and not thick enough to be considered a chili, this soup was over flowing with steak, beans, corn, tomatoes and spices and flavor that was hearty enough to be considered a meal. With a side of sour cream and some tortilla strips a mild lover could easily handle this. Add some jalepenos and the hot lovers will enjoy it, too.
I saved the best for last, of course. The Cheeseburger Egg Rolls. Now to describe them as a Big Mac would not be doing this appetizer justice. Although it did have a Big Mac-like sauce on the side, this appetizer was nothing short of amazing. The egg roll in lieu of bread complimented the stuffing in a way that both provided comfort and excitement. In short, nothing but warm yumminess. Yes! Let’s just sum up the entire evening this way! Yumminess!
Great review! It was good to see you after all these years. Thank you so much for attending.
Apps
Egg roll – tasted like a Big Mac with no lettuce and extra cheese. The pickles in the eggroll provided the right amount of acidity to cut through the fat of the cheese.
Soup
Nice flavor, a touch on the salty side, not over heavy hand with the salt, but too much base or that the beans weren’t rinsed enough, salty. Nice slow background heat. Beef was tender but dry.
Entrée
Pork Chop and mashed potatoes
Pork chop was perfectly cooked. Juicy and picked a nice amount of smoke. The Chutney was flavorful and not overly sweet. Mashed potatoes where nice not overly garlicy
Bartenders
Kicked Ass! Attentive, worked well together, personable
Everything last night was excellent.
Food and company PERFECT
Bravo, thank you Dan for organizing this great night out. My wife and I were raving about the friends and great food at Applebee’s. Great food and cold beer, it doesn’t get any better than that. I agree that the Egg Rolls were the hit of appetizers. Both my wife and I thought our meals were tasty and just the right temperature. I enjoyed the Pepper-Crusted Sirloin & Whole Grains. My wife was very impressed with her Cedar Grilled Salmon with Maple Mustard Glaze.
You are too kind Dan and proud to be your VIP. Lol
Mike Higgins
This was my first “Dan i Cook, i Eat, i Drink” event. Amazing! I’ll be a regular, can’t wait for the next one. So glad Applebee’s Coral Springs was my first event to attend. This store location has been a hang-out of mine for a while and where I met “The Man Dan”. While this is primarily an evaluation of the food offerings, I must say as always’s the service at this location is dead on perfect. Thanks to Candy and my friend Jackie behind the bar last night, always the best.
Applebee’s has been elevating it’s game for a while and I’ve watched it over the past few years. Burgers are now amazing along with other great bar items and the low calorie menu is one of the best you’ll find. The roll out of the new wood fire items, especially steak has really closed that gab in a major way. Last night the Southwest Steak and Black Bean Soup blew everyone away, so good I think I’ll hit Applebee’s Sawgrass tonight for that again (high restu quality). The reviews about the the steak items were positive around the bar but I chose to try the wood fire grilled Salmon and boy did that knock me off my feet. Texture perfect, seasoning perfect.
All in all the new menu is a hit and I would know as I’m in an Applebee’s once a week and have heard the rave reviews from all over. 2 for 1 drinks is a closer of the deal, how can you go wrong. Enjoy a very friendly bar atmosphere at Applebee’s CS with David, Jackie, Scott, Candy and so many others.
Dan i Cook and Applebee’s arranged a great evening with food, drinks and friends (new and old). I have to admit, I have not eaten at an Applebee’s for at least 10 years, mainly because there isn’t one near me. However, at this event I clearly understood why Applebee’s is a “neighborhood bar and grill”. It’s a great place for families with varying tastebuds and ranges of food preferences. Parents can enjoy a delicious “grown up” meal and adult beverage(s) (2 for 1 happy hour!!), while the children enjoy their favorite childhood dishes. Mind you, my four year choose the wedge salad and LOVED IT!
The food (appetizers, entrees) that I had the opportunity to taste, had a great blend of flavor that could satisfy a range of palates. Ultimately, I am a “small bites” person and I really enjoyed the cheeseburger egg rolls and nachos. I am pretty much a sucker for both on any given day. Add cheese sauce….YUM! If it wasn’t 90+ degrees outside, I would have enjoyed the soup more. It was hearty with just the right amount of kick. Once the weather cools off, I wiould like to try the soup again. And now for the entree. Whenever I hear fire-grill, I think steak. So top-sirloin it was for me. The steak was cook just right and the portion was perfect too. Most importantly, the steak was not over seasoned. I ate half and enjoyed the other half for lunch today.
Overall, I would rate the new fire-grill menu as a success with two thumbs up. I definitely cannot wait for the next Dan I Cook, I Eat, I Drink event. I LOVE Korean food. So count me in.
I’m a little late with my Applebee’s review but here it is.
By far my favorite appetizer was that cheeseburger egg roll! That yummy Big Mac taste that we all hate to admit we like, right down to that hint of pickle. They were just fabulous and fun to eat.
The soup was a little salty but delicious. A little spicy. I think a perfect compliment to that soup soup be a dollop of sour cream and maybe a few tortilla strips. I would ask them for some sour cream next time. Really enjoyed it though.
For my entree I chose the pork chop and mashed potatoes. Delicious. Pork chop was succulent and juicy. I also tried the salmon, it was delicious! Would happily order either one.
Finally drinks… Peach sangria was awesome as were the ladies behind the bar.
Great time and great food. I must say it gave me a new perspective on Applebee’s.