Locations:

 

212-262 - 3030

 

234 West 42nd Street    

212-391-7414 (voice)  

 

North End Avenue

    

 

The Dining Room of the 50th street Applebee’s is on the second floor over-looking Broadway (there is a cocktail lounge on the first floor) and if you are fortunate enough to get a window table, there is a nice view of the Times Square area.  For a chain operation, Applebee’s does a nice job with the décor.  The dining room walls are adorned with old posters and other attractive memorabilia. Plus, because the building is adjacent to the Winter Garden Theater, some of the art relates to the Theater’s early days (in one of the special event rooms upstairs you can find original performance posters of Al Jolson).

 

Bring your family to Applebee’s or come with friends.  It’s an especially nice restaurant if you want a basic menu that offers healthy portions at wallet-friendly prices. The appetizers are called “sharable starters” because they can feed more than one person.  For example, ten-piece serving of Buffalo Chicken Wings (that come a bit spicy and with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing) are $10.99, and if you spend an additional 50 cents, you can have them boneless.  Other appetizers include fried onion strips for $6.29, Chicken Quesadilla Grande for $11.99, Mozzarella Sticks and more. We ordered an “Appetizer Sampler” platter for $14.99 that had a nice variety of items including a tasty Spinach and Artichoke Dip.

 

There are a number of hearty salad selections which come with chicken or steak strips and would suffice as a meal unto themselves (these are in the $12-14 range). You can also get Caesar Salad with grilled chicken, shrimp, salmon or steak, the latter two costing a few dollars more. If you are a steak lover, you can choose from a number of cuts all of which are served with garlic mashed potatoes and other accouterments.  By the way, the mashed potatoes are quite tasty and come with bits of potato skins mixed in. The steak dishes are mostly under $20, which is very reasonable price for New York City.

 

The menu also lists a number of grilled items (chicken and ribs) as well as “Neighborhood Favorites.” These include Buttermilk Shrimp, Fish & Chips, Shrimp or Chicken Alfredo and several other chicken dishes. Most of these items are in the $15 to $20 range, with some items a bit more, such as the Baby Back Ribs.                                  

 

That’s not all! The extensive menu also has a number of Weight Watchers dishes...calories, fat content and fiber count included.  And they still sound appetizing, such as the “Sizzling Chicken Skillet” that comes with steamed peppers, squash, mushrooms and onions, or the “Grilled Tilapia with Mango Salsa” that comes served on a bed of rice pilaf, with steamed veggies. For those preferring a more basic prices, there are also burgers, sandwiches and roll-ups, all under $15.

 

As you can see, at Applebees there’s something for everyone and you’ll still have money left over to pay for the theater tickets.  As they say in their ads... at Applebee's You’re ”Eatin’ Good in the Neighborhood”, even if the neighborhood happens to be Times Square.

 

Locations: