Ode to Applebee’s

It’s not farm-to-table. It’s not organic. The animals were probably not humanely raised on quiet grassy bucolic pastoral pastures, the kind that inspire landscape painters. Even though its walls are decorated with images of local little leagues and police cars, it’s not locally-owned. Sqab is not on the menu. No one is trying to win a James Beard Award. James Beard? Who’s he? Is he the guy who plows your neighbor’s driveway? What’s his number?

Applebee’s is a corporate American chain restaurant. The image of the Hudson Applebee’s restaurant on their website is not even the image of the actual restaurant. All of the locations on their website use the same generic image. Does it even matter?

At some point, someone ran some numbers and determined that this Applebee’s at 420 Fairview in Greenport, needed to close. Everyone who works there is going to have to find another job. It’s a shame, and a loss.

Few people, even in Hudson, know that Applebee’s serves until they close, which is midnight on the weekends. No other restaurant nearby serves that late. After 9pm, the appetizers are half-off, and drinks hover around the $5-10 range. You can buy two entrées and an appetizer for $25.

Since it is open late, you could go with a group after seeing a play or movie and dissect the plot over an order of spinach artichoke dip. You could catch up with an old friend and talk about everything and nothing while, with reckless abandon, you continuously order plates of wings alongside five dollar pretzels with mustard. Nary a care! Fried cheese sticks with sugar-sweetened marinara sauce? YES! You could go to Applebee’s in a faded face of makeup and a Mrs. Roper muumuu after a night of bar-hopping and no one looked twice. If you wanted a quiet space to get away from the bridal shower parties, tourists, and people asking about the latest round of changes to Hudson’s Airbnb law, you could “hide-out” at Applebee’s. No one bothered you.

If you’ve lived here long enough you know that sometimes it’s nice to live in a small town….and sometimes, it’s not.

Grandparents could take their grandchildren to Applebee’s and have them order from the “Kid’s Menu” (How many restaurants in Hudson have a Kid’s Menu? How many people still have kids?). If the kids ran around a little, who cares? It’s part of the fun (as long as they’re not mine, I don’t care).

There’s a certain amount of pride that comes from taking your family out to dinner. It’s not just the dinner, but it’s the feeling that you can provide a nice meal for your loved ones, and know it’s not going to break the bank. When you look at multiple generations around a table eating together, there’s a simple joy. Applebee’s gave that to so many families.

This “Tipsy Leprechaun” drink, below, at $5, is a toast to Applebee’s and their wonderful staff. I wish you the best of everything in the future!

Thank you for the memories!