We have a family tradition we are working on right now. Every Sunday after church one of us gets to pick a place to eat. I have to confess, I mainly made up this tradition so I could force the family to go to eat Indian food without as much complaining. We rotate through me, my wife, my son and my oldest daughter (baby doesn't get a vote yet) - everyone gets a chance to go where they want to eat. It actually works out well as there is much less arguing and it feels like a fair way to get some grub. (We did have to outlaw Chuck E Cheese as a choice). At any rate, our kids tended to chose Chili's or Applebees for reasons unbeknownst to me. These three restaurants are basically the same place to me - bland, below average food from the freezer. After going to all three multiple times, I thought I would offer my opinion on which one is best in Tyler as they are all pretty close to one another and the food is almost identical.
The spread: I won't go into too much details, but they offer your standard American food: burgers, sandwiches, fries etc. Each one tries to have its own personality, but for me the menus and prices are interchangable.
The verdict:
Applebees - For some reason, my daughter loves Applebees. I can't tell if it is because she like saying the name or there is some commercial that has imprinted the name on her mind. She loves her some Applebees. I can't stand the place. My wife and I are trying to eat relatively healthy and both of our entrees were nearly inedible. Neither of us finished our food. The kids seemed to enjoy their food though. Perhaps because we went with the healthier options we got the worse Applebees has to offer, so stick with hamburgers or something the kitchen can't screw up. Applebees Edible Tyler Roses: 1 out of 5, tread carefully and don't venture out.
Chilis - This used to be a favorite of mine, particularly growing up. The food was nothing to write home about, but it was palatable and decently priced. I usually go with Chicken Fajitas, club sandwich or Oldtimer burger. On our last two visits to Chili's the service was horrible (45+ minutes to receive food) and the food was nearly inedible when it arrived. I'm not sure how you screw up microwaving or reheating frozen food, but they managed to do so. The service was so bad on one trip I actually didn't leave a tip - I normally start at 20%, and have only not left a tip on maybe 1 or 2 other occasions in my life. The food is so bad and service so poor, we have put Chili's on the banned list for choices on Sunday. Chili's Edible Tyler Roses: 0 out of 5, we won't return until there is some change in management.
TGI Fridays - We had always skipped TGI Fridays for a long time, but we gave them a try lately and we were impressed. The service was friendly, the food came out fast and the food was uninspired, but decent enough. Of the three, this is the one I am happy to go to. So the winner is TGI Fridays!! TGI Fridays Edible Tyler Roses: 3 out of 5, the winner of mediocre chain restaurants!!
Isn't there a place in, or close, to Tyler, that has a hand pounded breaded pork tendreloin sandwich??? I need one!
ReplyDeleteI sure don't know of one!
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