We are both “local” in the sense that we prefer local dives over anything commercialized. But, Applebee’s had a great deal on Mondays. All their steaks were $2 off. At this rate, it was quite affordable on a regular basis. This was their “regular” “special” they had had for months. They also had a great happy hour and had Shiner Bock on tap. (For those of you who’ve never lived in Texas, Shiner is a great Texas-only beer with a German influence. It’s very popular and is often as much as the imports, even though it’s made a couple of hours from here.)Our Applebee’s experience was much like that of Los Nortenos, but in two parts. We arrived as usual on a Monday night. L’s favorite steak was no longer on the menu. They had dumped all but one of their steaks in favor of some seasonal items. Now, we don’t expect much, but it was just a steak with Parmesan on it. How can they NOT be able to make it? But, steaks were still $2 off and they do make a great sirloin, so we ate dinner and still went back.
The next trip involved two problems. Not only were steaks not $2 off anymore, they had replaced Shiner Bock for Ziegenbock. When we asked about it, the explanation we got was that they were going for a more popular beer.
Let’s see, no specials and only “popular” beer instead of local tried-and-true-brew?