REVISED REVIEW
Leaving my one-star rating and the facts, but updating this to be more kind / helpful.
We have now been offered a free meal there after our review, but we absolutely won't visit this location until it is under new ownership or new management, fixed. Read the other one-star reviews.
1/4-1/3 full restaurant. Waiter complained each table visit about management / cooks. Salads took too long, missing croutons, very watery. Watched other tables have food delivery issues. Both entrees took too long and were lukewarm. My entree was totally wrong. My wife nibbled at her entree. After 20 minutes of waiting for mine without a manager or waiter checking in I just gave up. My wife was done eating, I was starving. Had to ask the host for a manager. Now have learned I got the bar manager. I said clearly, "I don't want my entree. Just give us the bill. We want to leave." Then it was 5 minutes with the bar manager squabbling about the bill. They were going to charge us for the full two for $25 despite saying they took off my entree? They tossed the 2 for $25 pricing and charged us regular full price around $24. Minimally it should have been the 2 for $25 minus some cost for my entree, nowhere close to $24. Bar manager did say "If you want I can comp you the meal." Being good sports we said we would just pay for the portion of the 2 for $25 we got, but they still charged us full price. We weren't coming in there to complain and try to get a free meal. Exasperated when we paid the $24 they didn't give us enough change. There is no way to candy-coat those facts. This dining experience was a disaster.
I'm hoping the restaurant owner and Applebee's corporate will read this. We're not sure you had an actual restaurant manager on duty. They always float around and stop by tables to check in. Your surveys even ask if that happened so we know it's common procedure. That night a manager was nowhere to be seen. It may not have been that bar manager's job to handle restaurant manager's duties. The bar manager (name deleted) needs training if you expect her to be a whole restaurant manager. If there are that many issues with a guest's experience it is not a question of "If you like I could comp you" it is an, "I'm so sorry. Look I'm taking care of this and hope you guys will come back." PERIOD. Even before then, if it is taking 20 minutes to fix a wrong entree, you either 1. make it immediately, 2. also remake my wife's entree so we can eat together or 3. come out and apologize and say it's coming right up and dessert is on us. SOMETHING. The waiter (name deleted) needs a coaching meeting. He did try to advocate for our meal several times, but there really is no reason for a guest to ever hear about how incompetent the staff is. It just was depressing. We see him mentioned in another review for the same issue. I hope both this bar manager and waiter can be successful with the right support and correction.
The overarching issue here is ownership, leadership. So many reviews here mention "understaffing." Right now it seems this location is doomed to fail which is sad. We used to love eating here. It was always packed. With the complaints we heard about the cooks I would be concerned if they are trained which if not could lead to even more damaging issues like food poisoning or health code inspection issues. Do yourself a favor. Bring in a temporary, well-seasoned, Applebee's manager from somewhere else. Pay your workers a decent wage and train them well. Let them know you have their backs to equip them for all sorts of situations like ours. The owner and regional manager need to pop in time to time for a while to ensure things are back on track.
I'm still waiting to hear from corporate so I can express not only our disappointment but also our concern. It was that bad. A huge table full of guests next to us left because they saw all the food and management issues. Do it for your guests. Do it for your own success. read more