A woman waited over an hour for Applebee’s all-you-can-eat deal, and said ‘I was literally assaulted by that meal’

A TikTok creator says she felt “assaulted” by her meal after waiting over an hour for Applebee’s limited-time all-you-can-eat deal, as detailed by BroBible. Lizi Gomez, who posts as @lizi.gomezz, documented the experience with her husband. The pair went in with high expectations, each aiming to eat four plates of the $15.99 deal. The offer includes boneless wings served with six sauce options and riblets available in three sauces.

It also includes Double Crunch Shrimp with cocktail sauce, coleslaw, and endless fries, with the freedom to switch between all three items on later rounds. The first round arrived after a lengthy wait, and Gomez’s initial reaction was fairly neutral. “Tasting exactly how I would expect Applebee’s to taste,” she said. “Like middle-class America. Kind of dry, but I’m not mad. $15, what can I expect?” She finished the first plate without much trouble, calling it “absolutely easy.”

The wait between rounds is where things fell apart. Gomez said she felt like the restaurant was “trying to make us lose by not bringing the rounds fast enough,” though she insisted she wasn’t planning to leave early. By the time the second round arrived, closer to an hour and a half after they sat down, her patience had worn thin. She described the food as “extremely unappetizing” and said the riblet in particular was “horrible.” Food quality complaints at popular chain restaurants have gone viral before, including a side-by-side ribeye comparison that ranked Applebee’s steak far below several competitors.

She gave up on her four-plate goal

Gomez ultimately abandoned the challenge she and her husband had set for themselves. “I know I said four plates, but I’ve suffered enough,” she said. “I’m just taking my loss and going home.” Her final verdict was blunt. “I was literally assaulted by that meal,” she said. “Applebee’s needs to count their days.” She gave the deal a zero out of ten.

Gomez isn’t alone in her frustration. Other customers have raised similar complaints under Applebee’s own promotional videos for the deal, citing long waits between rounds and shrinking portion sizes after the first plate. One person compared the pacing unfavorably to a competitor, writing, “They take forever on purpose so you leave. Olive Garden brings it before you even finish.”

A Reddit user who tried an earlier version of the same deal described getting just five lightly sauced wings on a refill, and said a riblet order came back as a single piece “slathered in cold sauce.” Applebee’s is owned by Dine Brands Global, which also owns IHOP and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and operates more than 1,500 Applebee’s locations worldwide.

The company has been investing heavily in remodeling underperforming locations. It has also been expanding dual-branded restaurants that combine Applebee’s with IHOP, part of a broader push to improve consistency across its system. Reactions under Gomez’s video were similarly split, with some calling Applebee’s “the worst restaurant” they could think of, while others said they genuinely enjoy the chain’s food.

Applebee’s has not publicly commented on the incident.