Whether it’s the adverts in Talladega Nights, The Legend of Ricky Bobby, or the smooth voice of John Colbert, Applebee’s has a way with marketing.

In Phoenix, maybe they should focus on the cleanliness.

Ray Stern of Phoenix New Times writes that health inspection reports show that some Applebee’s facilities are clean, with well-trained employees, but Maricopa County restaurant inspection reports show that 10 of 22 Applebee’s in the Valley received a "no award" on their most recent inspection.

Ten more were rated only "silver," which really isn’t that great, either, (though we noticed a few of the silvers had recent gold ratings.) Only two Applebee’s received a "gold" rating on their most recent inspection: 13756 West Bell Road in Surprise and 2501 West Happy Valley Road in Phoenix. We’re guessing the district manager for Arizona lives in the north Valley area.

Scanning through the most poorly rated locations turns up more than a few of the type of violations we find vomit-inducing, such as mice poop, filthy drink-dispenser nozzles and the failure of employees to wash hands. Seems like a bit of company-wide training is needed.