We have two residences. One in Austin, TX and the other in Hurricane, WV. We have gone to this particular Applebees every week for the past year whenever we are at this residence. Probably like most people, we lost interest in Applebees for many years. We then found this location. We gained interest again because the food is consistently good and the prices are reasonable. I always look forward to the Bourdon Street Chicken dinner. I came to the conclusion that Applebees reinvented itself. I became such a fan that I would take our guests to this particular Applebees.
So you are probably wondering, "Why only two stars?". That is because of the most bewildering experience at the restaurant today that lacked common reasoning and tact. My wife, sister-in-law, and I went for our weekly visit. My sister-in-law ordered a margartia. She is 50+ years of age. There is no mistaking her for an underaged drinker. The server asked for her ID. That was not the issue. It is what occurred afterward that caused the issue. My senior aged sister-in-law did not have her ID with her. She was refused the drink. That was weird, but still somewhat understandable. My wife did have her ID and ordered herself a margarita.
Now for the astonishing event. As we were waiting for our meals, my sister-in-law took a sip of my wife's margarita. The manager must have been monitoring us as she aggressively came to our table and told my sister-in-law in a rude and patronizing tone that she could not take a sip of my wife's margarita. She then abruptly left. I was stunned. The more that I thought about it I decided to discuss the situation with the manager. I asked for her to return to the table. I told her that we understand that she must enforce rules, but we were offended by her tone. We have been regulars for over a year. She stated the law requires her to check all IDs. I stated that is understandable, but never once have any of us been asked for an ID at this location for the past year. She stated that the servers should have asked. I then responded that, based on her response, that they have apparently therefore been breaking the law for the past year. She did not have a good response other than to state, "If you take another sip, I will have to ask you to leave.". We then decided to cancel our orders and leave immediately. The manager did not seem fazed about losing long term customers along with all of the guests that we have brought to the restaurant.
Imagine such an exchange with senior aged patrons! Apparently, Applebees took a step too far during its reinvention, at least at this location. They uninvented themselves in our eyes. I can no longer be a customer and can no longer recommend this location despite how good the Bourdon Street Chicken tastes. The customer experience was incredibily disappointing and was void of reasonable consideration.
It will be interesting to see if management responses to this review with more than the routine, "That is our policy". A thorough response will need to address the inconsistency in enforcing policy during the past year, the rudeness, and the poor treatment of senior aged patrons who have been loyal regulars. read more