Applebee's

On Sunday, October 27, 2014, my daughter and I had lunch at Applebee's Neighborhood Bar & Grill, at 150 Crock Wells Mill Drive, in the Walmart Shopping Center off Route 50 west of Winchester, Virginia.

The restaurant is located in the front part of the shopping center, and the sign is visible from Route 50. Hours are Sunday-Thursday, 11:00 AM-12:00 AM; Friday-Saturday, 11:00 AM-1:00 AM. The phone number is (540) 723-6357.

The entrance is through a vestibule in the right front of the building. Immediately inside the entry are seats on your right for waiting and a receptionist's station. The dining area is divided by several waist-high partitions. The room to your right has an L-shaped bar against the right wall, with a dozen high-rise chairs.

A large video screen is on the wall behind the bar, with a smaller screen on the left. Another screen is on this room's back wall, and two more on the front wall. Seating in this room has booths against the partition on your left, along with several tables between the booths and the bar.

A second room in the center and a third one on the left provide additional seating with booths and tables. We were seated in one of the bar area's booths.

James, our server, handed us several kinds of menus. This always confuses me; I prefer having everything on a single, multipage menu. Categories included Appetizers, Salads, Sandwiches, Hand-Crafted Burgers, Lunch Combos, Entrees & Main Dishes, 2 for $20, Fan Favs, Have It All, Kids, Desserts, and Beverages.

My daughter ordered an American BLT from the Sandwich Menu. It was six slices of crisp Applewood smoked bacon piled high and smothered with melted American cheese on freshly toasted Tuscan bread with smoky mayo, fresh iceberg lettuce and tomato slices, served with French fries.

I chose the Roma Pepper Steak from the Entrees Menu. It was a 7-ounce sirloin spread with chunky Roma pepper relish, served with red potatoes and a grilled Portobello mushroom cap stuffed with a creamy white wine artichoke cheese spread. We also had an order of Fried Onion Rings, which was large enough four people, and took most of them home.

I thought that the kitchen was a little slow; 25 minutes elapsed from when we placed our order and received our food. It was hot, indicating that it hadn't been sitting around waiting to be served.

Our server was attentive, but not overly so. The food was good, and Applebee's is on my Keeper list. The ambience is pleasant, and the walls are decorated with pictures. Their Web page is http://www.applebees.com, and shows the menu.