Restaurant Review: Applebee\’s & IHOP Combo Restaurant

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Erica

The GMRENCEN partnered with me for this experience. All opinions expressed in this piece are my own.

Detroit has one of the best foodie scenes around and it just got cooler with the addition of the first-ever Applebee\’s & IHOP combo restaurant. When you walk in the atmosphere is relaxed there is the IHOP Express Bar, buffet area, dining space, 21 and up lounge and of course the bar area. I will admit the infusion of both restaurants together had me thinking they were nuts, but after going and trying things out I was definitely very impressed.

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Did you know?
• Breakfast is served all day long.
• IHOP has an express bar that will get you in and out quickly
• The Buffet is designed to get people in the city in and out of the restaurant quickly and easily.
• With different food combinations offered daily to keep things fresh and new this is definitely a place you want to add to your list. The buffet area has community seating for a friendly dining experience.
• Meeting room has an entire wall dedicated to a dry erase board, which makes your meetings even easier to host.

We started the evening with the Boneless Wings as our appetizer. The wings are crispy breaded pieces of boneless chicken tossed in your choice of Classic Hot Buffalo sauce, Honey BBQ sauce or Sweet Asian chile sauce. We went with the Sweet Asian chile sauce, and it did not disappoint. These boneless wings had just the right amount of kick.

Drinks
As you may or may not know I do not drink…. at all. However my date for the evening does and he gave two of their signature cocktails a try. Rye Not? start your evening with high quality Manhattan, which I was told was the best Manhattan he has ever tasted. He also tried the Poloma de Fresa which he enjoyed as well. What’s really nice is they have a variety of local beers and liquors that they serve showing they’re really dedicated to Detroit. All the cocktails are spirit forward, therefore each one lets the ingredients do the talking.

Main courses
I ordered the Cedar Grilled Lemon Chicken which is cedar-seasoned grilled chicken on cranberry-pecan rice and quinoa with Granny Smith apple relish and lemon vinaigrette. This was one of the healthier options on the menu, and came in at just 600 calories and 43 grams of protein. This dish was definitely delicious, and packed with a ton of flavor which sometimes is lacked in healthier food options.

He ordered a Half Rack of Double-Glazed Baby Back Ribs. Slow-cooked to fall-off-the-bone tenderness and slathered in your choice of Spicy Texas BBQ sauce or Honey BBQ sauce (he went with spicy Texas). The verdict, these ribs were really good and did fall off the bone.

Dessert
One thing I really like about A is he always wants dessert, and even if he doesn’t he can be talked into it. One thing we have in common is we both have a thing for sprinkles (obv I do more than he does, but it works). Instead of going for a traditional dessert we took it to the next level and ordered the Cupcake Pancakes off the IHOP portion of the menu. The Cupcake Pancakes come as a stack of four buttermilk pancakes that are filled with festive rainbow sprinkles and topped with cupcake icing, more sprinkles and of course whipped cream. The pancakes tasted just like a cupcake, and while they are insanely sweet they are so good. If you are a confetti cake, sprinkles on ice cream and everywhere else lover I cannot recommend these pancakes enough.