Applebee’s customers gutted over date night passes — which sold out in 1 minute

It might be a while before you have the chance to be fancy like Applebee’s on a date night.

The fast-casual restaurant introduced an exclusive weekly “date night” pass for $200 — and it sold out within just one minute.

“Due to popular demand, the Applebee’s Date Night Pass has sold out!” Applebee’s website states. “Remember that Applebee’s is always a great destination for date night.”

The date night pass, sold only on the chain’s website, went on sale on Monday, Jan. 22 at noon ET — but was unavailable for some customers after about 30 seconds.

“Within the span of probably 30 seconds the Applebees date night pass was in my cart available and then sold out,” one disappointed customer posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The pass is valid to use 52 times from Feb. 1, 2024, through Jan. 31, 2025, and covers up to $30 of food and non-alcoholic beverages per use. However, it can’t be used more than once in a 24-hour period, the website states.

It’s unclear exactly how many date passes were sold — or if there will be another chance to snag one — but a spokesperson for the restaurant chain told USA Today that “there were tens of thousands of hungry guests waiting to try and snag a pass” and the “excitement and demand from guests for Applebee’s Date Night Pass far surpassed our expectations.”

However, many customers felt duped and cheated and started to wonder if Applebee’s sold a minimal amount of these passes.

“Literally spamming refresh on @Applebees for the date night and didn’t even see the option to purchase one. What’d they sell, like 5 of them?” one questioned.

“Listen, I’m not even mad if they sold 5. I’m mad cuz I emailed them to make sure I knew the right place and they gave me the wrong link lol,” another shared. “Just seemed extremely unorganized, and they didn’t think about how we would feel after the fact.”

“The button came up for me 10 minutes late, linking to a Shopify store that was already sold out. I’m guessing some insiders had that Shopify link long before the button went live,” someone theorized.

All of Applebee’s locations in the US are participating in the promotion except 16, including locations in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.