Richer people are eating more at Applebee's and IHOP

I didn't realize they are the same company. IHOP bought Applebee's in 2007. But, really I'm not surprised if Applebee's has had a good year, that annoying Walker Hayes song did wonders for them. As for richer people eating there, I mean it could be true, or some sort of corporate puffery.

Rich fat whores, you mean.

Not that I’ve seen. Then again, the definition of “rich” varies, I guess.

For what it was, I used to enjoy the Applebee's Sizzling N'awlins Skillet. I don't eat out much, so when I DID eat there, that's what I would get everytime, because it was my favorite. Some years ago, they "revamped" their menu and jettisoned that dish. So I stopped going altogether.

Also: For what it's worth, Olive Garden's menu is also extemely limited now. A few years ago, they "updated" their menu, and got rid of my favorite dish (Braised Beef & Tortolloni), among others. I got that dish because it was something I wouldn't really bother to make at home.

I haven't eaten at an Olive Garden since at least 2012, and probably won't again for the forseeable future. We all know it isn't "authentic", but a lot of people enjoy it for what it is. That was me. But no longer. I can make all of the stuff on the current menu now, and better. So why bother going? It's just going to disappoint me. And the bar isn't even that high to begin with. It's the fucking Olive Garden. They were never haute cuisine, but have all of the Darden properties gone straight down the shitter? It seems so.

Now, I mostly stick with locally-owned places. And I'm better for it.

The food at Applebee's is awful. it's flash frozen and then put into a convection oven. I haven't eaten there in years and never will!

Read the article. "Rich" means household income above 75K. Hmmm. So "richer people" means people one step above just getting by.

Also mentioned it that household income below 50K are down in patronage -

"We assume that they've left us for lower-cost options."

Tell me, what are the lower-cost options to iHop?

Rich people are cheap as fuck. They stay rich because they are very frugal with their money. While middle class love to overspend and put themselves in debt to maintain the image of being wealthier than they are.

In my experience, wealthy people like to eat in upscale places. If they’re feeling the pinch, they’ll just eat out less frequently, rather than somewhere downmarket. They will go “slumming” and visit ethnic neighborhoods to get soup dumplings or cuchofritos, but that’s forgivable.

I have a feeling this article is talking about suburbs and rural areas, where Applebee’s is the “nice” restaurant.

I don't eat in restaurants at all any more, my Taiwanese born neighbor said he went to IHOP and had to leave because of the taunts. I will continue to just eat at home.

DL's Klass-Obsessed Kweens will be all over this.

But as R6 correctly points out, the article says [bold] grew about 6% to 8% among households earning over $75,000 per year [/bold]

Outside of long-neglected precincts of deepest, darkest Flyoverstan, $75K for a family is Just Barely Above Poverty Level

But kudos to CNN for creating a headline many people will click on.

Eating out regularly is a big waste of money.

R9, Same. I live in a magnificent international city with fantastic options, but it just doesn’t make sense. For certain things, I will pay for carry out: Indian, soup dumplings, like that. I prefer my own cooking, otherwise. The last time I had chicken parmigiana at a restaurant (someone else’s dime), I was disgusted by it. For a fraction of the price, I can make it with Bell & Evans chicken, not greasy, with proper oil and as much cheese as I like.

I’m sorry for the restaurants who I KNOW are struggling, but it’s a rare treat for me now.

IHOP is ass. Applebee’s is alright, though.

Flash forward a few years. "Rich" people have found something else. Applebee's & IHOP now want their working class customers back.

I only entered an Applebee's once when I join several coworkers after hours for drinks, this was about 1995. I had a Coke, and someone else paid for the meal, it was a steak and cheesy potatoes with a side salad, bread sticks I think. It was so long ago, it was just okay, familiar comfort food, but it was also a very loud atmosphere. I haven't been to another one since. I agree with upthread comment, I prefer local restaurants, family owned with awesome food with good ingredients, and prepared like you are their family, and they're feeding you food they'd eat themselves, it tastes so much better.

I'm very careful with what I order at Ihop, and I only go when I'm traveling. Eggs, hash browns, and pancakes are relatively safe. When I worked at one years ago, it was overrun with roaches.

Here's a tip: Never get the croutons on your salad. 🤮

[quote] Tell me, what are the lower-cost options to iHop?

Waffle House?

Gas Station breakfasts are always a festive option.

If a gas station breaks an egg, fries it, and put it on a decent roll, it might be just what is needed.

If you have a Chinatown near you, then dim sum would be a better deal.

I've said this in other threads, but when I worked at Applebee's most of the food was fresh, especially things that go on the grill like steaks and burgers.

No one should eat at IHOP. Ugh. I went there once about 15 yrs ago and it was a shit hole. The tables weren't bused properly and were sticky and the chairs were dmaged so when you sat you were sitting on chairs with the plastic upholstery cut open and taped over, and the pancakes were not edible. Bacon and eggs half cooked and there is nothing worse than a gel egg that's half uncooked and the bacon was ...chewy...at best. They had this crap they called Blueberry syrup but it was corn syrup obviously. And the "cooking" odor made me want to gag. I never returned. Ever. I'd rather eat at McDonald's ...and I hate Mc Donald's.

The omelets at IHOP are horrible. They put a ladle-full of pancake batter into the egg. I prefer savory breakfast to pancakes and waffles.

IHOP is not cheap- at ALL.

[quote] $75K for a family is Just Barely Above Poverty Level

Something only an out-of-touch New Yorker would say.

No shit R25. The median household (HOUSEHOLD) income in the US was $67,500 in the US. My blood boils every time I see a post like that.

Yes, I make more than that as a single person, but I really appreciate that I am:

In the minority

Probably overpaid for what I do

Isn't 70K a low starting salary for a STEM graduate nowadays?

NOTHING is cheap anymore. A box of pasta at my supermarket (city, so the prices are higher) used to be $1.25. Now it’s $2.59.

I had to retire early to take care of my mother who just died last year. Now I'm 66. My annual income is $45,000. I don't eat out very often and when I do It's usually brunch because it's less expensive. I never go to places like IHOP or Applebee's. my mortgage and utilities is aboutv1600 a month. I'm very fortunate in that regard. I have an old car but it's in good condition. My rule is to always do preventive maintenance and I have a very small emergency fund, maybe $3000 to deal with unexpected issues. But I live close to the edge and don't have a lot of money saved. If I were to get sick, and need Chemo or something I'd be fucked.

Applebee’s is crap. How anyone can eat there, is beyond me. Perkins is better than Applebee’s.

IHOP is legitimately terrible. Please, take five seconds and look up the diners and restaurants in your city/town or wherever you're visiting. I'm sure you have something better and equally priced. Haven't been to a place yet that didn't have a better spot for breakfast than an IHOP.

Applebees is also terrible, but I forgive some of its customers - teenagers looking for a cheap place to take their date before a fucking. That's when it's acceptable to eat at Applebees.

Another place that has gone down recently, like in the [ast two years, is the Original Pancake House. I used to love to go there, but the last two times I was there it was not good. The food was cold, and they must have change their pancake recipe because they had no taste and they were like cardboard.

[quote] If I were to get sick, and need Chemo or something I'd be fucked.

You are 66, do you not have Medicare or Medicare Advantage?

I'll NEVER be so poor.

[quote] I mostly stick with locally-owned places. And I'm better for it.

Most local places are just as good as any of the Darden/big corporate chain slop. And I'd much rather keep the money in the community.

The problem with local places, especially when travelling, is that you never know what you are going to get. The strength of chain places is consistency. Also, many times local places can be a lot higher than the chains. We have a local Italian restaurant that serves the equivalent of the Olive Garden lunch portion of Chicken Parmigiana for more than OG charges for their dinner portion. And the OG version tastes a lot better and comes with unlimited breadsticks, salad, and soup.

I have a friend who is legitimately wealthy - corporate lawyer - who loves going to IHOP for a comfort food fix He knows the food is unhealthy, but he’s a bit of a carb-junkie and since he grew up rather poor in Chicago I’m sure it’s really more about what IHOP meant to him as a kid. I have some fond 70s childhood memories of IHOP myself, but the food is just too terrible now.

The last time I went to a restaurant like this was a a dozen years ago, a Dennys while driving through northern Wisconsin — there was literally nowhere else to eat. The Moon Over My Hammy was inedible, so there was really no place to eat at all.

Hunger is preferable to Dennys.

The one time I went to Applebee's--on a road trip, it was obvious that they were Ponderosa with table service, with the same mystery meat steaks.

I've always enjoyed eating at Applebee's because there are several good menu options (it's hard to mess up salads) and it is reasonably priced. I'm well off enough to eat at higher end places but have zero desire to do so. Paying $60 or more per person just to eat one meal is obscene.

The only thing I ever get at Applebee's is the riblets.

R33 Yes, I have Medicare Advantage, but it doesn't cover everything. I had eye surgery last month and my portion was $800. That might not seem like a lot, but it is. And the pharmacies are terrible. Especially CVS. My eye drops cost about $12 but my co-pay was $20 and that's what I had to pay. I have drugs I must take every day for a medical condition and I get them from Costco Pharmacy, without using my prescription drug insurance, because it is cheaper.

I suppose if my car broke down and it was going to take several hours to fix it and I was starving with no other options I would go to either. Probably Applebees over IHOP. But honestly I would prefer peanut butter crackers from a vending machine over either one.

I remember a college professor of mine said after awhile you start to realize there are really only about 5-7 things you probably should outsource to a restaurant. Other than that, anything you want is probably better homemade.

OP said that Applebee's was high class. Well, that was just a lie.

Even fat whores should have some standards

It's hard to believe that everything at Applebee's is made on site, do they really have cooks making all those menu items from scratch? I thought it is all made in a central kitchen and shipped.

Why would I eat at a corporate crap factory when for the same price I can get great local Mexican or Asian food?

Answer: I don’t have idiot kids who only eat nuggets

For all of the big chain sit down restaurants, the vast majority of the food is now shipped to them pre-made, heat and serve. That cuts down on their costs as they have quality control at every location and don't have to train the staff on how to prepare new items.

I don't get the hate for IHOP. The make pancakes. How can they mess up pancakes?

R49, trust me. They can.

Part of the problem with IHOP is inconsistency. The main selling point of a chain restaurant is consistency, you should be able to go in any location and order the same thing and have it be the same or close to it. That doesn’t happen at IHOP. One location can be great with a wonderful staff, but the next one you go to can taste completely awful and have a surly staff. Even though they are corporate siblings Applebee’s does seem to have mastered consistency go in any of their locations and it feels the same and the food tastes the same.

Look. There's no excuse for filth. None. And as far as the product, I find the IHOP offerings too sweet. Definitely bad for you. We used to eat Pancakes or waffles once a week when I grew up. My mother's pancakes were delicious, but they weren't sweet and we didn't do weird toppings. Some fruit, maybe syrup and butter. In summer we'd have Waffles and ice cream.But that was it. I don't need sprinkles and fake whipped cream and all kinds of sugar shit on my pancakes.

Snide grammar Nazi here. OP —- do you mean more rich people are eating at those restaurants, or rich people are costuming more food at those restaurants?

r53 costuming? what high falooting pansy talk is that?

You people ain't got no class.

Rich people can be the lamest people imaginable. Except for maybe their taste in drugs and booze they should never be seen as an example of what to eat or practically anything else. I would rather gamble with a local restaurant and loose once in awhile than eat that corporate frozen paste designed in a lab in New Jersey.Taco trucks generally rock.

I would prefer to stop at a grocery store and find a few natural fresh items to eat than eat in these crap restaurants. You can get a highly sanitary salad made in a clean food processing room, not some filthy restaurant kitchen, or a sandwich from the in store deli, or some hummus and bag of dipping vegetables - again produced in a clean facility. A piece of fruit. A piece of cake or a brownie. Whatever. If I go to a restaurant I want it to be fresh food that has flavor. Local ethnic place would attract me more than a chain restaurant, though in Europe SOME countries have acceptable McDonalds, believe it or not. The ingredients are a much higher quality in then in the USA. But if I see a Turkish or Lebanese joint I'll just go there.

Some restaurant cooks and servers do really disgusting things to the food they prepare and then send it out for unsuspecting customers to eat. I know it happens and there is no way to tell how many are doing it, it might be very few but there is no way of knowing when or where it happens. I would prefer to eat my own cooking and prepare my own meals. Too many restaurants have health code violations.

IHOP? Ugh. When I can go to The Camellia Grill.

[quote] Snide grammar Nazi here. OP —- do you mean more rich people are eating at those restaurants, or rich people are costuming more food at those restaurants?

Lol, R53. I just copied the headline from CNN, but fair point.

Let the rich go to these shitholes. Applebees, IHOP, etc. We know where to find great local stuff and we also eat healthy,we eat at home. Tomorrow's menu is already set. I will have two homemade high protein oatflour pancakes with fresh blueberries. I will have a large mixed greens salad, a baked potato and baked salmon fillet. For dessert I will have a small sliver of pound cake and some green tea.

I heard the that business per firms are going the way of gift cards. You can buy for these places in bulk. I heard business are holding group meetings here, instead of chartering them. IHOP an ABs are usually near regional business travel regional areas. This is why these two, which at first seems random.

Poor Gen Z!

Smart phone interface spell check, you butchered this.

I was mad for I hop's chicken fried steak and eggs,side of pancakes with strawberry syrup, and hash browns, cooked extra crispy. By 2005 they were just terrible.No matter what part of the country you were in. Havent eaten there in 20 years.I do miss that chicken fried steak though !

Now in English, please, R62?

More like cheap people and businesses who buy those bulk restaurant gift cards. Cost co has them.

Are the rich eating at waffle house now too? Holding team meetings? That would be funny.

They are both shitholes. If those were my options, I'd never eat in a restaurant again.

There are a lot of shit overpriced restaurant that cater to the middle class. They cannot be doing well right now.

Ihop's pancakes are good but their eggs I can make better at home. My mom orders from the Senior menu so you can save there.

I hadn't been in Applebee's in years but it was the only place open late on a Sunday night so a group of us went there. Half price appetizers and I had the oriental chicken wrap and I was surprised it was good.

There is no IHOP on the Vineyard. Not even in Oak Bluffs.

I rarely eat out because I cook better than the available options. Vegetarian meals are often as or more expensive, and I am not paying $30 dollars for a plate of pasta and bad sauce.

R4, not all of Darden has gone down the shitter. Olive Garden aspires to the shitter.

I used to go to Applebees as a kid with my parents and I thought it was cool when they brought the fajitas out sizzing in a pan. I posted above that I haven't been there in years, when I looked at the menu now they no longer have those fajtas. WTF?

Olive Garden is pure shit.

I just looked at Olive Garden's menu, since I've only been once for a work event. $18 for one portion of baked ziti, most likely microwaved? No thanks, I can make a entire casserole for a few more bucks. And that's with good sausage, sauce and fresh mozzarella.

They can shove it up their asses.

For those of you extolling the virtues of going to locally owned eateries instead of Applebee's, just be glad you have that as an option. Not all of us do.

Where does one live where Applebee's is the only option?

Applebee's is never the only option.

I live in the Midwest. I didn't say Applebee's was the only option. It's just that all of the options are franchises. It's the best of those options.

On Sunday nights it's hard to find places open past 10 pm here or open late on a Friday or Saturday night that is not a bar. That's when I have gone to Applebee's with family or friends.

[quote] I heard the that business per firms are going the way of gift cards. You can buy for these places in bulk. I heard business are holding group meetings here, instead of chartering them. IHOP an ABs are usually near regional business travel regional areas. This is why these two, which at first seems random.

This word puzzle is driving me crazy. Can someone please decipher?

I am shocked my IHOP is still open, whenever we have gone there, usually there is only 1 other table of people. My nephew loves it, otherwise it wouldn't be my first pick.

R6 that would be White Castle and McDonald’s

[quote] For dessert I will have a small sliver of pound cake and some green tea.

Mary!

R80 Also, don't forget that just because something is local that, that doesn't automatically make it great. There are plenty of local places where you are eating frozen food they bought from a supplier or from Sam's or Costco. And, some of them are just horrible. I remember a road trip in college where we decided not to go to the Pizza Hut next door but to instead walk a few blocks to a local pizza place where the pizza tasted like Kraft singles on top of ketchup on top of soggy cardboard. They claimed to have been there since 1955 but honestly even Chef Boyardee pizza kits, which I think came out in the fifties makes better pizzas than that place did. We should've gone to the hut. That local place certainly did not out pizza them.

r86 was this in Michigan? There is a famous place here people rave about that reminds me of Apian Way pizzas which were the poor man's Chef Boyardeel.

Isn't "small sliver" redundant?

[quote] If you have a Chinatown near you, then dim sum would be a better deal.

Twice. Two of the most disgusting meals I've ever eaten.

I was at dinner with a good friend with whom I'd had dim sum as a Sunday brunch earlier that day (was visiting Vancouver) and he remarked to the third person with us that I seemed to have liked it. I said, "Don't you ever do that to me again".

The thing is, I like ordinary Chinese food (and Thai, and Indian).

R87 No it was Virginia, I think.

^^^We were with two Asian women at the dim sum and I was being polite.

With Yelp and Trip Advisor, it's pretty easy to find a decent spot these days that is not a shitty chain.

OP, I'm guessing that this shift is a small trend of slightly better off people trading down and less well-off people having less discretionary income and really not something very big.

[quote] I've always enjoyed eating at Applebee's because there are several good menu options

There aren't good options. It's all horrifyingly bad, bland shit.

[quote] Where does one live where Applebee's is the only option?

sad rust belt towns with one Applebee's, one McD's and a gas station that sells breakfast sandwiches.

Eating more what?

Rooty Tooty Costs Less Loot-y

R95 I bet you suck the soul out of life

If I'm in the mood for fast casual, my first choice is not going to be Applebee's or IHOP. You'll find me at BJ's, for obvious reasons. 😏😉