Let me start off by saying that I take pride in the fact that I don't usually burden other people with my children. They are typically well mannered children, the older one (who knows how to talk) always says "please" and "thank you" and my younger son (1 years old) on average hardly makes any noise because he's too busy stuffing his face.
However, any child can have a bad day.
My younger son was sleeping when my mother in law decided to take us to Applebees after a day of shopping. When he woke up in Applebee's he was clearly taken by surprise. He wailed loudly, and the waitress came over. She had already gotten us settled with drinks and we had placed our food order. No backing out now. "Do you want some warm water for a bottle?" she inquired politely. We thanked her and she went to grab some water.
Meanwhile, my older son who was drawing quietly on his kids menu got a little overzealous and knocked his soda everywhere. When the waitress returned she didn't look the least bit annoyed and went to fetch a towel, smiling and talking to the kids all the while. At this point I was uber embarassed and ready to high tail it out of there, but she made me feel much more at ease. She chatted with us about her three boys and told us stories about back when they were in diapers. The food came out quickly, I ordered the Won Ton Tacos (usually an appetizer) as an entree and it was great.
Applebee's is family friendly. From food to atmosphere they're a great option for when you can't get away from the kiddos. Although you can get much higher quality food somewhere else, I don't think I would overlook them any time I want to take my kids with me. They have Weight Watchers endorsed food too - and it's tasty!