It's not a great neighborhood but it's not that bad either

Southwest Jalapeno Burger, a photo by jaceman4 on Flickr.

What?! Two Applebee's reviews?! My standards are really slipping aren't they? Perhaps that's what some of you are thinking, or perhaps this has you questioning my credibility, but, hey, I'm indiscriminate like that with burgers. Besides, I'm at Applebee's, what the heck else am I going to get? That being said, my parents wanted to come here for the two entrees for $20 thing so I figure, anytime I come to one of these places, I'm going with a burger, I mean, that's at least something they can't screw up TOO badly right? So far so good.

So this burger looked pretty interesting to me, namely because all the other burgers didn't really look like burgers (basically other food with burger meat, Philly burger? Quesadilla burger? Com'on, not to say that they're bad but they certainly ain't no burgers, generally speaking). The meat was pretty well prepared, the cheese melty, and the bun performed its job serviceably, without falling apart or getting in the way of the burger consumption. The chipotle mayo was applied somewhat lopsidedly, but I suppose I can't expect too much from an Applebee's kitchen. That being said, it was mostly the candied jalapeno's that caught my attention, both on the menu and on my palate. They gave the burger a nice tangy flavor. I personally like a little more kick, but this was still okay. Add in pickle chips and gets more tangy. It was an interesting experience, which ultimately made the chipotle mayo somewhat useless, unless there's some subtle mixing of the flavor happening that I didn't notice.

Fries are fries are fries. I know, I say it a lot, but this is Applebee's, there's not much to say about it. I mean, com'on, they serve tortilla chips with their spinach and artichoke dip, if that's normal, then I guess I'm a snob. But hey, free refills (drinks only). Dude, it's Applebee's, if you're coming here, I'm sure there's a good reason, I'm not going to say more.