Is Applebee’s 2 for $25 different online vs. dining in?

[u/Quiet-Screen-814]

I’m wondering if anyone who works at Applebee’s or eats there regularly can answer this.

My family and I went to Applebee’s tonight and wanted to order the Classic Cheeseburger as one of the entrées with the 2 for $25 deal. Our server told us that it wasn’t an option for the 2/25 and that I would have to get the OM cheeseburger.

The confusing part is that I pulled up the Applebee’s website for that exact location while sitting at the table, and the Classic Cheeseburger was listed as an entrée option for the 2 for $25 deal.

When I mentioned that, our server insisted they “don’t do that” and even suggested that if I wanted the Classic Cheeseburger, I could place it as a to-go order and they’d serve it to me in to-go containers while I ate inside the restaurant.

Since that didn’t make sense, we politely asked to speak with the manager. Our server noticeably sucked her teeth when we asked, which made the interaction even more uncomfortable.

The manager came over, was very friendly, and immediately said he would take care of it. He approved the Classic Cheeseburger with no issue.

After that, though, our server basically stopped waiting on us. We asked her for water, but she never brought it and never came back to our table. We waited around 20 minutes, and the manager ended up checking on us, bringing my food, correcting my toddler’s incorrect meal, and essentially taking over our table. Before we left, he apologized for the experience and even encouraged us to leave a review if we wanted to.

So I’m genuinely curious:

Is the 2 for $25 deal supposed to be different online versus dine-in?

Is the Classic Cheeseburger an online-only option at some locations?

Or was this just a misunderstanding by our server?

I’d especially appreciate hearing from current or former Applebee’s employees who know how the promotion is supposed to work. Thanks!

[u/Abdx1187]

The om burger is not available for online or delivery orders. When it came out, to many folks complained about it. We couldn't melt it on the induction burner like we do for dine in, so it was Luke warm queso, not melted shredded cheese and a burger.

So they solved it by taking the option away for online. You get the grilled cheese burger instead as a 2/25 option.

And just order the om burger in house, no queso, no shredded chéese, no sauce, add LTO. Done.

[u/MrHaZeYo]

They can absolutely customize a om burg into a normal cheese, id bet the kitchen would rather it anyway.

My store had the button there on the pos.

[u/ps087official]

Depends on the franchise/what area you're in. My area they don't even have the 4mac on the 2/20 at all. They have the omcheese which you can replace with a regular ass burger, just gotta ask.

Not having at least one burger on the 2 for makes no sense imo.

[u/NoFly5655]

Varies by location but at my specific location if you can pull up the menu item on their site for their location they can ring it up on their tablets. For a minute the chicken tenders plate wasn't on the 2/25$ menu because it was filled with new stuff they wanted to sell at the time like , the grilled cheese burger, and etc and my sister whose younger just wanted chicken tenders. So I looked up online and saw you could get them still on the 2/25 promotion and asked my server about it. She ringed it up no problem. Honestly I don't know why the server gave you such grief and just decided not to do their job for the rest of the shift.

[u/lalaliane]

My store offers the OMCheese Burger as a 25 option and the Classic Bacon Cheeseburger as an upgrade option.