35% Of People Think This Is Applebee's Best Cocktail - Mashed Survey

Applebee's is well-known for many different things: burgers, wings, appetizers, and of course, cocktails. It's the "neighborhood bar and grill" after all. While some individuals, like certain Reddit users, may have a poor opinion of Applebee's thanks to the cheap quality of the food, there's no denying that the company is a fan of marketing cocktails through a variety of promotions and deals all year round.

The chain recently announced the return of its "Spooky Sips," the annual line of Halloween-themed cocktails that includes everything from passion fruit and cherry cocktails with gummy brains and frozen berry slushies spiked with tequila. The return of Halloween cocktails comes blazing on the heels of the summer cocktail lineup that collaborated with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Applebee's even had a $1 cocktail line which, according to VinePair, set the bar and grill apart in the eyes of drink lovers who wanted as much booze as they could get for very little money. All in all, Applebees offers cocktails that promise to be wild, colorful, and most importantly, cheap.

But what exactly is the best cocktail you can get at Applebees? Do you need to wait for a seasonal cocktail or is it something that you can get any time at your local 'Bees? Mashed polled 582 individuals to find out — and the answer may not be that much of a surprise to some.

Out of the 582 people polled, it would appear that 35% of those individuals consider the margarita to be the best option to get at Applebee's on Friday night. For comparison, 27.84% put Long Island Iced Tea in second place, 17.70% put Captain Bahama Mama in third place, 9.79% put Red Sangria in fourth place, and 9.11% put the Shark Bowl cocktail in fifth place. 

What exactly is it that makes the margarita so popular? Is it because it's a simple, no-frills drink and is an easy and reliable choice or does Applebee's have some kind of secret to making a pretty good margarita? According to one Applebee's employee, the restaurant's dollar margaritas may not be as high-quality as one might assue. 

The Huffington Post reports that, in 2017, an Applebee's employee detailed in a video how the margarita is made using "bottom-shelf" tequila, tap water, and margarita mix concentrate. The employee seemed to have nothing but disgust for the dollar margarita, noting that those who like the drink are "animals who can't taste things." Of course, one can argue that, for the price, you really wouldn't be expecting it to be made with high-quality ingredients. But it seems some employees may not be fans as much as some customers are.

Whatever the case, FSR Magazine reports that the video may not be "valid," and that the real recipe was a combination of tequila and margarita mix, with filtered water added as per the margarita mix's instructions.