It's certainly not the best food, but it is close to our house, usually prompt, and pretty cheap with the 2 for $20 and kids eat free. So, it was an OK choice on occasional nights when we didn't feel like cooking or just wanted a change of scenery.
That is, until last night. After first waiting for 15 minutes for any wait staff to appear, then waiting an additional several minutes for our waters to arrive (not to mention the additional 10 minutes for the single beer to brought out), then waiting for quite some time for our meals to arrive, we discovered that somehow 1 order wasn't placed. At this point it was a full hour from when we were seated. I waited an additional 10-15 minutes for my salad to arrive. The manager stopped by to offer chips and salsa, but we'd already had an app with the 2 for $20, so we declined.
At this point, the kids were tired and restless, and ready to head home. I packed my salad in a to go box and asked for the check. They offered a 10% discount, which amounted to less than $3 on the total bill. Unfortunately, at this point we discovered that the restaurant had stopped the kids eat free plan as well.
So, all told, the meal took twice as long as we planned, with a lot more hassle than necessary, and we spent more than the quality of food warranted, and certainly more than the overall experience warranted.
Since the primary reasons we chose Applebee's on nights like last night were the convenience and relative cheap cost, we won't bother going back in the future.