If you’re trying to get intoxicated on the cheap, then Applebee’s $1 margaritas is a pretty easy way to accomplish that task. The chain has brought back its Dollarita, which features tequila, triple sec, and lime in a 12-ounce rocks glass and sells for only one dollar.
A TikToker named Elliott (@callmebelly) decided to try these Dollaritas, along with their 50-cent flavoring add-ons, in a viral TikTok that’s accrued over 2.1 million views on the popular social media platform. Commenters shared their own personal anecdotes of taking full advantage of the promotion and the aftermath of what it was like going hard on such a cheap drink deal.
@callmebelly this is dangerous 🍸🍹#applebees #chainrestaurant #chainrestaurants #margaritas ♬ original sound – elliott
Elliott begins his video in the parking lot of an Applebee’s, which sets the thesis for his clip: he’s going to foray into the realm of the Dollarita and report his findings.
“Supposedly Applebee’s has $1 drinks like margaritas, I do not believe it we are gonna go see if this is real, fact or cap?” he says.
The clip then transitions to him inside of the restaurant, he zooms his camera into two “easy-pour” coolers stationed at the bar. “I think that’s the $1 margaritas,” he says.
The next shot is of him sitting at a booth stating that there are some special stipulations associated with the cheap beverage promotion. “I guess you can get five drinks max but after 3 drinks, the manager has to approve it to make sure that you’re good,” he notes.
Elliott records an Applebee’s employee breaking down how the $1 margaritas ordering process works. He then puts in a shot of two margaritas; one is a traditional-looking drink while the other is colored electric blue. “Margaritas for $1 and add flavors for 50 cents,” Elliott writes in a text overlay of the clip.
The TikToker tries the blue raspberry variant first.
“No salt on the rim, it’s OK… It’s good. It tastes like a slushy,” he says after taking a sip. His assessment of the regular margarita seems more favorable, as he calls the drink “better” than its neon-tinged counterpart. It’s also 50 cents cheaper.
Elliott says that he had a “few more” throughout his meal and even recorded the POS screen to show what his total damage was for 4 of the margaritas: “4x Dollarita RX,” he writes.
As the video closed, however, Elliott shows that his time at Applebee’s wasn’t without incident. “They cut off someone who was acting up,” he writes in the text overlay, suggesting that there were folks who were definitely trying to take full advantage of the margarita deal at the popular restaurant chain.
Some commenters said that they had different experiences at their own Applebee’s locations, like one user who said that they were never denied drinks during the $1 promotion. “The Applebees in my small town doesn’t cut you off unless you get out of hand. My girl and I drank for 3 hours on them,” they said.
Other folks said that they hit the sauce hard, similar to the people at the end of Elliott’s video.
“Mine did $1 long islands and I had to be carried out of Applebees,” one viewer wrote.
Another quipped, “I’m banned from Applebees because of the last time they did this.”
One person suggested that the promotion is a great way for college students to party on a budget. “When I turned 21 applebees did the dollaritas and we went 2x/week to get BLASTED for so cheap in our lil college town,” they shared.
Turns out getting turnt on Applebee’s promotions is a pastime for several TikTokers, as one individual in the comments penned, “The Halloween drink they had put me and my bff in the GRAVE.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Applebee’s via email and Elliott via Instagram direct message for further comment.
