Applebee's Club House Grill spins an old favorite sandwich with a tangy/sweet twist.

Little did I know I was going to review a sandwich today. I was supposed to be on my way to Miami and when plans fell through we circled back around and up to the Applebee's at the Hunter's Creek Orlando Location.

I was going to get a burger but decided to try the ClubHouse Grill Sandwich. You can't go wrong with a club. The perfect marriage of turkey and ham with the crunch of bacon. The taste goes so well with the cheese, lettuce and tomato. This however wasn't your normal club. Applebees decided to take the club and add BBQ sauce to it. Was this the secret ingredient that was going to send your taste buds swirling into heaven or would this be a complete catastrophe ending in a deadly throw to the ground and a stomp.

Admitly while enjoying friendly chitchat at the table I had my doubts as to if I was going to like it. I knew the BBQ sauce was either going to make or break this sandwich. I knew it came with fries so if I didn't like it I had a backup.

Our server T.J. was very polite and was always there with anything we needed. Prompt polite service. I knew that if I hated the sandwich so much I could always have the service to positively report on.

The food was here and it was time for the moment of truth. The presentation was nice, the club was piled high, and the bacon looked nice and crisp. Nothing worse than wimpy limpy bacon, it can ruin a sandwich. I took one bite and as I chewed I had made up my mind. The BBQ sauce was delicious. It taste like it was meant to be on there the whole time. It didn't seem out of place, or an add on at the last minute. It was perfect for this club.


This isn't your average club, but if you are picky, you may want to stick to your milder fare. This is a bold flavor that has the ability to turn off those not looking for so much excitement. This is the perfect sandwich for a beer or 2 at lunch. It's one of those things you get when you are looking for fun and not watching your weight. I didn't have my camera with me, so the photo to the right is courtesy of chapstickaddict. Although mine looked very similar.


I searched the internet and it seemed that for some time the Club House Grill was taken off the menu. People loved it so much that they created a petition site to bring the favorite back. The loud outpouring from the sandwiches' fans persuaded Applebees to put it back on the menu.

I only found one negative review. The first thing they hated was the BBQ sauce and noted the bacon on paper thin and something you would find at McDonalds. I think the guy was turned off by the BBQ sauce and just wanted one more thing to complain about because the bacon I had was on par.


I think for me it was the type of BBQ they used they knew how to make it add flavor without overtaking the whole sandwich.


If you fancy yourself a sandwich connoisseur and are looking for a little tangy sweet, inexpensive grill and bar type food in a family setting than this is for you. I'm going to give this one 5 stars for taste, flavor and that little special ingredient.

Subway Challenge One

I endured a long process and some really sub-par sandwiches to bring you The Subway Challenge. I went, I challenged, I ate, and I wrote. I never wrote down which subways were what. I really thought it should be anonymous since the challenges involved only Florida chain subways and I knew as a former submaker myself that sometimes people ask for weird shit, and they teach you that customer satisfaction is of utmost importance. Customer is always right? Right? Wrong!

Well let's get to it
Challenge One was all about cheese pattern. I blogged a little in the past about subway cheese pattern and how they purposely do not spread the cheese triangles evenly. Here a manager explains why in this image below.

The challenge was to ask the Sub Artist if they could take the four slices and alternate them 1 up, 1 down, 1 up, 1 down. I decided 3 attempts would be enough to figure out if they are willing to go against the policy. The first time I went during the Lunch Rush. The girl looked over at the manager and said. "Sorry ma'am I'm not allowed to do that, but I can put the cheese off to the side and you can put it on yourself. " Of course I said, "Don't worry about it", and slid on over to the topping station.

The manager, who was at the register, made a point to tell me that the reason is because of the integrity of the "Subway Brand", there is a specific formula that makes the sandwiches taste better. "We do not deviate from the formula", he said. Can I tell you how hard it was not for me to lash back. I thought saying something would ruin my challenge and the point wasn't to be an angry unsatisfied customer it was to see if they would switch the cheese around. First off if you want integrity for the subway brand you may want to invest in better, fresher, non prepackaged meats, better quality cheeses and keep quality control on your bread. Secondly putting the cheese slices like that doesn't degrade from the taste, in fact it makes it more even. Most of the time ingredients are laid on for aesthetics and secondly to taste. I really wanted to say something but I didn't.

Time for a second go at this. Another store, a little bit after the Lunch Rush. The girl seemed very new but she was good at assembling the sandwich. It was only her up on the line and when I asked the dreaded question she said. Mmmm let me ask. She went in the back and emerged. Half wanting to please her boss and half wanting to please her customer she said in a quiet tone ," Well we aren't supposed to but I'll make an exception." "Just don't expect everyone to do it for you". And by everyone she meant anyone who was within eyeshot of the boss.

I get it, It's all about food cost and wanting to up-sale, but shouldn't we be atleast satified with the store model. The sandwich model should be tasty without having to add extras. I understand the idea and the want for extras because everyone has different taste. If I want extra bacon I should have to pay more. If I want extra cheese I should have to pay more but trying so hard to make the sandwich inadequate so people HAVE to buy extras is disgraceful.

So my third trip, I felt jaded. On my drive I yelled aloud what I was going to say to these anti cheese composition freaks. This was my last stop. I had already prepared to say something. It was good, it was directed at the company and not at the worker, it was righteous. It was point by point what I had thought. and I was going to let them have it.

It was late. about 8.55 pm when I walked in. I sighed and maintained my composure waiting untill they told me no. Waiting for when they would ask me if I wanted cheese or not. Something broke my concentration. "Ma'am would you like cheese on that?" "Oh sorry, it's been a long day, yes I would, and you can alternate the chesee, you know one up, one down?" "Alright". "Really", I said wide eyed. "Sure, not a problem," he said. Another girl emerged to top off my sub, and I asked her if I want extra of a topping if I'd have to pay more. She said no unless I asked for all of the toppings. "You come during the day?" She asked. "Yeah usually, I replied". She shook her head and laughed, we aren't as strict as them. Here at night we have a different customer and we like to honor that. I didn't see a manager, but I supposed one was in back perhaps doing a food order, as this grouping was dressed to standard and doing a lot of the corporate rules.

I was surprised they were much more happy and customer based that the day crews I had encountered at the other subways. More studies will need to be done to find out if night crew is really better at customer service than day crew.

As far as this challenge in concerned as long as a manger isn't looking you can get your cheese flipped. If you are pissed about this corporate order. Write Subway Headquaters, if enough people write things will get changed.

Some people say order a different cheese. The cheese they had were all triangle that I saw and the challenge was to get them to flip the default american cheese. So if you ask, and they say no, ask for a corporate card you can send in to get this issue irraticated.

Rip Donatos in Central Florida.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I'm afraid Donantos in Central Florida has died. All 7 Central Florida Stores have closed due lack of significant penetration in that market here. Their Pizza and Subs will be missed. I will never be able to get a Hot Big Don Italian Sub in the Central Florida area and for that I am saddened.

News Story: http://www.wftv.com/news/16695021/detail.html

Taste the sandwiches.

So I haven't posted in awhile but its not because I haven't been writing or reviewing sandwiches. I have a lot of back log stuff I plan to push out this weekend and on to next week

Sub Club Cards and Characters

According to wikipedia - "In early June 2005, Subway announced that the popular customer rewards program would be phased out due to counterfeiting. Another reason, which was not stated by the company, for the discontinuation of the program was that there was a large amount of internal theft of stamps by Subway employees and affiliates, including the sale of rolls of the stamps online at places such as eBay. Officially the Sub Club program has been discontinued in the US and Canada by Doctor's Associates[12], but additional markets have also made local decisions to discontinue the program."

When I worked there we accepted club cards and I'm here to tell you the real deal behind the phasing out of these cards. First off, Subway pays their workers minium wage, or pretty close to it. They also make their workers work almost every single holiday. You local subway is always open on Christmas when even Burger King is closed.

So it's no surprise to me that employees were selling rolls of the stamps on ebay, got to pay the bills and if you work at subway you are working paycheck to paycheck. I really think that if subway paid their workers even just a $1.50 a more an hour, service would be better, and they wouldn't have so many workers stealing things. I saw full bags of chicken terriyaki being stolen out of the back freezer, by disgruntled workers who knew they were getting screwed over and took matters into their own hands.

Hello Subway wake up and pay your people better you'd be surprised what a little money love would do for employee moral, service, and quality. Stop spending money on those stupid Jared commercials and pay your people better!

Review #3 Donatos Big Don Italian Sub.

I really like donatos pizza and I thought if I love their pizza will I love their subs? I just so happen to have a dollar off coupon on the fridge, which when I paid for the sub even though I came and picked it up I gave them a dollar tip. I figured if I'm going to write about them and I got a dollar off might as well. Anyway I got the sub home opened up the box and positioned it to see the insides and took the picture to the right.

I was surprised by what I saw. I really enjoyed the fact they they don't fluff their subs. Fluffying meaning that they just laid the meat down and didnt try to plump it up to look larger than what it is by curling or laying methods. Also they don't over do on the lettuce. One thing I hate is when sub shops want the sub to look larger so they add double the lettuce needed. Nice try coporate owners but I'm on to you , I know the lettuce trick. Anyway back to the review, the roma tomatoes were nice, jucy and red, as the yellow peppers added great flavor without overpowering the sandwich. The meat was a bit salty, that is expected with these types of meats. Ham and Salami are always salty.

I would have liked the cheese to be a little bit more melty and the ends of the bread to have more substance, as the ends ended up being more like pizza crust The bread was good and toasty and I loved the cornmeal bottom. All the ingredients were good, and the over all taste was wonderful.

4.0 stars It's a good italian sub from a pizza joint. Not the best I've ever had but decent with good quality ingredience and a nice toasty bread with a cornmeal bottom

More challenge talk.

A friend in the food service industry told me that I'd have a harder time then I think trying to get the subshops to add my own cheese. After reviewing his thoughts it made sense. I too still hold a food handlers license and if approached I would probably tell them that they can add their own cheese after I make. We don't have cheese waivers. I couldn't put it on the sandwich for safety reasons not for customer service reasons. Shops are required to keep meats and cheese at a certain tempeture or out of the danger zone. Putting unknown cheese on a sandwich is a liabilty.

So I'm trying to figure out what to do with the challenge. I want to keep it but I don't know how to score it. Customer service, or health issue. Maybe there is a right answer to this question.