Applebee’s is one of those restaurant chains that lures clientele with its predictability.

If you’ve seen one Applebee’s, you’ve pretty much seen them all. An 18-seat horseshoe-shaped bar anchors the center of the building; a set of high tables are outside of the bar, and a double row of booths extends around the outer perimeter of the restaurant on three sides. Televisions broadcast sports in the bar area, while popular music may be heard throughout.

Applebee’s identifies itself as a “neighborhood bar and grill.” Its reputation rests upon a menu that, like the decor, varies remarkably little from one establishment to the next. Diners know what they are going to get, whether they’re in Dallas or Chicago or Central Oregon. The fiesta lime chicken, maple-glazed salmon and whiskey bacon burger are essentially the same, wherever you order them.

Established in Atlanta in 1980, the company has more than 2,000 franchise restaurants across the United States and in more than 15 foreign countries. One of them is on the north side of Bend, opposite the Bend River Promenade; another is in south Redmond, just off Airport Way.

Service issues

The Redmond restaurant is set up just a little differently from many other Applebee’s, if only because its main entrance is oddly located, away from the parking area and facing a concrete wall. Inside, however, it’s the same.

On two recent visits, evening and midday, a host casually greeted me at the front door and seated me. In short order, a server delivered a lengthy menu and offered to take a drink order. In the evening, my soft drink came promptly.

At lunchtime, I waited 10 minutes for a glass of water. The attendant apologized that “two orders came up, and I had to take care of them first,” but had she not been standing in the kitchen chatting with the cook, it could have been done a lot more quickly.

Otherwise, service was satisfactory, friendly and efficient if very ordinary. My dinner-hour server could have made a sale had he offered a side salad with my entree. And it would have been nice to know, when he asked if I wanted my potato “loaded,” that I would be charged an extra $1.49 for sides of butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon and chives.

Dinner and lunch

My evening meal was Shrimp ’n Parmesan Sirloin ($18.99), described as “a popular take on surf and turf.” My steak, an 8-ounce sirloin, was nicely grilled — medium rare, per my order — and tender. Accompanying garlic mashed potatoes and green beans, both in-house recipes, were excellent.

The shrimp, however, were far less pleasing. Sauteed in garlic and blackening spices, the half-dozen, fishy-tasting crustaceans could never have been called plump. A rich and lemony Parmesan cheese sauce didn’t help; I would have preferred Béarnaise.

When I returned for lunch, I was similarly nonplussed. My order was Spinach + Artichoke Chicken Penne ($12.99). The pasta tubes were properly cooked, just past al dente, and the grilled chicken — a tender breast, thinly sliced and laid atop the noodles — was just as I liked it. Diced tomatoes and parsley flakes were sprinkled on top.

But the vegetable component didn’t work. It was very salty, and left me thinking that the kitchen had merely repurposed its spinach-and-artichoke dip, one of its best-selling appetizers, as a pasta sauce.

I accompanied the meal with a small Caesar salad of crispy romaine leaves sprinkled with shredded Parmesan and finished with a house dressing. Like so much of the Applebee’s food, it was commonplace. That was especially true of the cookie-cutter croutons.

But the burger I took out for a friend was well-received. The American Standard Burger ($11.99) had a thick and juicy patty with bacon bits and minced onions blended into the beef mixture. Topped with melted American cheese, tomato, lettuce and pickles, it was served with a house-recipe sauce on a firm brioche bun. Even the fries were good.

While I’m unlikely to ever be a regular at Applebee’s, its discounted prices for the purchase of two lunches is very appealing. Depending upon selections, you can get two sandwiches (like a burger) or entrees (such as a pasta dish), plus soup or salad, for $20 to $25. That’s a substantial discount from a la carte ordering.

— John Gottberg Anderson can be reached at janderson@bendbulletin.com