Applebee's Best Steaks and Ribs, Explained: What Each Cut Is Actually Like and Which One to Order

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Most people do not need a ranking. They need the right plate for their situation, so start here:

Every Steak and Rib Plate, With the Numbers That Actually Matter

The figures below are the listed figures from our steaks and ribs menu. Protein and sodium are quoted only where our nutrition chart publishes them for that exact dish; for the ribeye and the riblets, no exact nutrition row is published there, so only calories are quoted here. Read the honest note on figures below the ranking before comparing these calories with other sites — several trackers quote steak-only figures that run lower than the with-sides figures used here.

Two things jump out. First, the whole category spans $7.00 ($16.99 to $23.99), so the gap between the cheapest steak and the most expensive plate is real money, unlike the narrow burger menu — price should be part of the decision here. Second, the calorie spread is just as wide: the half rack of ribs matches the 6 oz. sirloin at 760 calories despite costing $6.00 more, while the Bourbon Street Steak at 1,430 calories is nearly double either of them. Order by appetite and flavour, not by the name of the cut alone.

1. Bourbon Street Steak: The Signature, and the Most Flavour

What you get: a grilled top sirloin seasoned with bold Cajun spices and garlic butter, served sizzling over sautéed mushrooms and caramelised onions, $19.99, with sides.

How it eats: this is the plate with the most going on, and the sizzle is part of the point — the garlic butter, mushrooms and onions give the lean sirloin a richness it would not have on its own. At 1,430 calories and 71 grams of protein, it is both the heaviest and the highest-protein plate in this category, so it suits a proper appetite, not a light dinner. It is also the most consistently ordered dish in the category according to one independent steak guide, and our own menu page calls the Bourbon Street family the best-liked steakhouse-style plate on the menu.

One honest counterpoint: a Daily Meal tasting of popular Applebee's entrées in 2026 ranked this steak in the middle of its list, finding the Cajun seasoning milder than the name promises — salt, pepper, garlic and maybe paprika, rather than real heat. If you want a spicy steak, this is seasoned, not fiery. Do not confuse it with the Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp, the Cajun skillet dish from the chicken menu — same seasoning family, different plate, and the chicken and shrimp version is the one that tops several entrée rankings.

Skip it if: you want a light meal, you dislike mushrooms or onions, or you are watching sodium — at 3,430 milligrams, this is the saltiest plate in the category.

2. 8 oz. Top Sirloin: The Best All-Round Steak

What you get: a USDA Select 8 ounce top sirloin steak, lightly seasoned and grilled to order, $18.99, with sides.

How it eats: exactly like a good steakhouse sirloin should — lean, beefy, simply seasoned so the grill flavour leads. At 830 calories with 55 grams of protein, it gives the most protein for the calories of any plate here except the Bourbon Street Steak, and it is the safest recommendation on this page: no novelty build, no sauce to argue with, no bone to work around. Sirloin is a lean cut, so it dries out when cooked well-done — order it a notch rarer than usual, medium-rare to medium, and send it back if it arrives overcooked. Our own menu page gives the same doneness advice, and independent steak coverage agrees.

Order it smarter: sirloin has appeared as an entrée choice on the 2 for $25 deal, with an upcharge that varies by restaurant, so if two of you are ordering entrées, check our upcharge guide and our 2 for $25 guide before paying full price for two steaks.

Skip it if: you want marbling and richness — that is the ribeye's job, not the sirloin's — or you want a sauced, skillet-style plate, which is the Bourbon Street Steak above.

3. Double-Glazed Baby Back Ribs (Half Rack): The Rib Order

What you get: slow-cooked pork baby back ribs finished with caramelised barbecue glaze, $22.99, with sides.

How it eats: tender, sticky and sweet-savoury, with the glaze doing most of the talking — this is the rib plate to order if you want ribs rather than a steak that happens to be on the same page. At 760 calories it ties the 6 oz. sirloin as the lightest plate in the category, and at 1,300 milligrams of sodium it is the lowest-sodium entrée in the whole category, which is unusual for a glazed rib plate. Independent trackers agree on the half rack's 760 calories exactly, which is rare in this category — it is the one figure every source lines up on.

Skip it if: you want a full rack — some restaurants list a full rack at a higher price, and it is not on our category page, so its price and calories are not quoted here — or you dislike sweet barbecue glaze. And like every rib plate, this one is messier than a steak: order it when you do not mind eating with your hands.

4. Ribeye Steak (12 oz.): The Richest Cut, With a Warning

What you get: a 12 oz. ribeye, well marbled and grilled to order, $23.99, with sides — the most expensive plate on the steaks and ribs menu.

How it eats: when it is cooked right, this is the steak with the most flavour in the cut itself: the marbling bastes the meat as it grills, so it eats richer and juicier than any sirloin here. That "when" is doing real work, though. Customer-review roundups have ranked Applebee's ribeye among the worst chain ribeyes, and a June 2026 four-chain ribeye test found the Applebee's ribeye overcooked in places, chewy and short on flavour, scoring it 3.6 out of 10 against 8.2 for LongHorn and 7.1 for Texas Roadhouse. The same test's steakhouse ribeyes cost $27.49 to $28.99, so Applebee's is cheaper — but the gap in execution is the price of that saving.

Order it smarter: be explicit about doneness when you order, and be ready to send it back if it arrives well-done when you asked for medium-rare. If a properly cooked ribeye is the whole point of the evening, a steakhouse is the safer spend; if you are already at Applebee's and want the richest cut on its menu, this is it.

Skip it if: you dislike fatty cuts, you are watching calories for the price — the 8 oz. sirloin gives nearly as much steak satisfaction for $5.00 less — or you do not want to gamble on doneness.

5. 6 oz. Top Sirloin: The Cheapest Steak, and the Lightest Plate

What you get: a smaller cut of USDA Select top sirloin, grilled to order, $16.99, with sides — 43 grams of protein for 760 calories.

How it eats: like the 8 oz. sirloin, only smaller: same lean, simply seasoned, beefy flavour, same need to order it a notch rarer than usual. It is the right order for a lighter appetite, for pairing with a shareable starter — our best appetizers guide shows which starters leave room for a steak — or for anyone who wants steak flavour without a $20-plus plate. One caution from customer coverage: delivery orders of this cut have drawn complaints about portion size looking small for the price, and delivery prices run higher than the dine-in figure above, so this is a dine-in order first.

Skip it if: you have a big appetite — the 2 oz. step up to the 8 oz. sirloin costs $2.00 and is the better value per bite — or you want the cheapest possible steak dinner, in which case the 2 for $25 route in the section below can beat either sirloin on its own.

6. Applebee's Riblets: Sauce First, Bone Second

What you get: pork riblets slow-cooked and tossed in honey barbecue sauce, served with classic fries and coleslaw, $17.99, at 1,080 calories.

How it eats: the sauce is the star, and the riblets are the delivery system — sweet, sticky, fall-apart pork with plenty of bone to work around. Fans of the dish love exactly that, and the riblets are a long-running neighbourhood original. But this is the most hit-and-miss plate in the category by our own menu page's assessment, and the portion is the least predictable: independent trackers split between a smaller riblets plate (around 940 calories) and a larger platter (around 1,350 to 1,410 calories), with our listed 1,080 calories sitting between them, so what arrives can vary more than any other plate here.

Skip it if: you dislike working around bones, you want a tidy plate, or you want predictable value — the half rack of baby back ribs above costs more but gives you a cleaner, more consistent rib order.

How to Pay Less for the Same Steak

Three routes, in order of how reliably they work. First, the 2 for $25: sirloin has appeared as an entrée on the deal, with an upcharge that varies by restaurant, so two people ordering entrées should check our specials and deals page and the upcharge guide before paying two full steak prices. Second, dine in rather than ordering delivery: delivery menus for these same steaks routinely list higher prices than the dine-in figures above — one tracker lists the 8 oz. sirloin as high as $22.49 and the Bourbon Street Steak as high as $24.39 — so Carside To Go or dine-in is usually cheaper for the same plate; check our takeout guide for how that works. Third, skip the steakhouse comparison trap: a steakhouse ribeye costs more, but if a perfectly cooked ribeye is what you actually want, the extra few dollars there can be better value than a disappointing ribeye here — spend the Applebee's money on the Bourbon Street Steak or the sirloin, where this kitchen is most consistent.

One honest note on prices: the prices above are this guide's listed menu prices. Applebee's is franchised and individual restaurants set their own, so check your local menu before you order — the cuts, the portions and the ordering advice in this article hold either way.

One Honest Note on the Figures in This Guide

Calorie figures for Applebee's steaks move between sources, and the reason is portions, not errors. The figures quoted here are the with-sides figures from our menu and nutrition pages — the sirloin nutrition rows carry 45 grams of carbohydrate and over 2,000 milligrams of sodium because they include the sides served with the steak. Independent trackers that quote the steak alone list lower figures: 560 calories for the 6 oz. sirloin and 620 for the 8 oz., against 760 and 830 here, and roughly 820 for the Bourbon Street Steak against 1,430 here. The half rack of ribs is the exception — every source agrees on 760 calories. Prices move the same way: our listed $16.99 to $23.99 range sits below several trackers' current local figures, which run to $24.99 for a full rack and $25.99 and above for the ribeye at some restaurants. Treat every figure here as the listed reference, and your local menu as the final word.

Steaks and Ribs You May See Elsewhere, but Not on Our Category Page

Our steaks and ribs page lists the six plates above. Some locations also list extra items — a Shrimp 'N Parmesan Sirloin (sirloin topped with shrimp and parmesan cream, roughly $24 to $26 at trackers), a full rack of Double-Glazed Baby Back Ribs (roughly $25 to $31), and a Riblets Platter distinct from the smaller Riblets Plate — and those are real items at those restaurants, not errors on your menu. If your restaurant lists one of them, order by the same rules in this guide: the shrimp sirloin is the surf-and-turf alternative to the Bourbon Street Steak, and the full rack is the sharing or very hungry version of the half rack. Their prices are not quoted as listed figures here because they are not on our category page and they vary even more by location than the six above. If you need the allergen picture for any of them, our allergen guide carries the full picture, and our sizzling skillets guide covers the closest thing to a steakhouse skillet experience on the wider menu.