Applebee's
reviews and complaints

My wife and I went for our anniversary dinner at Applebee's Medallion Center location over a month ago. When entering a large group was seated before us but the 3 waitresses nearby literally turned their backs and ignored us. Never have I entered a place of business without a greeting or told someone will be right with you. Many minutes later we were finally seated and had a great waiter.

During our meal a manager came by and asked how was everything. I told her about the discourteous staff we initially met. She said that would take care of it. But I don't believe anything was done, as she didn't ever return. The next morning I wrote a long letter to their store and filed an online complaint.

A week later I heard back from Jillian and talked for over 20 minutes about our lack of service. She was very nice and said the situation was addressed and that she would be sending us a gift certificate for a couple free meals as compensation.

Three weeks later we get an Award later for $10. Talk about a fast and effective solution. Hell, I tipped the waiter more then that! What a great way to build a reputation and get repeat business. That is 3 times now that we have been snubbed and insulted for a simple mistake that was uncalled for. The follow up was much worst and only exasperated the situation. Why say you are sorry if you really don't care about a good paying customer?

We arrived at Applebee's for Lunch at 11:00 am. We watched people come and go. The door's were locked. We waited until 11:30 am and I found the number thru information and I called them and asked what time do you open. The reply on the other end was 11:oo am, I then asked why are your doors not open. They replied oops guess we forgot to open them. Did not even occur to them that they had no business. Manager never came out to appologise or show his, her face. We then did get a good meal, but had to rush it down cause had an appt. at 12:30.

Again I went for lunch and drinks. This location was out of Jack Daniels. How does a bar operate like this? Is the bar manager doing their job. There is no excuse for a business to operate like this. I spend a lot of money when I go there. Because of this I left and went to another business that never is out of Jack Daniels! I have had several conversations with different GM's from this location about this problem. They all say it will not happen again. Some one must be held accountable for this. How does a bar manager not realize what is selling at their location? Do people have to leave and never again come back because they can not provide their order? Please explain how a business can continually be out of a product that is in demand at their business. This is very unprofessional and poor management.

I would just like to say that I have loved Applebees since I could remember... But tonight I went with a girlfriend of mine from work for dinner after work. We started out having a great night, our waitress was a lil nutty but she was fun. We both ordered Sirloin Steaks & Brocolli with baked potatoes. We got our food in a timely matter it wasn't until she about took a bite of her brocolli that she finds... A DEAD BUG! She instantly looked at me like she saw a ghost! We got a manager over to our table, who proceeds to tell us " Usually we find them in the SALADS! Lettuce is Lettuce" But not brocolli... I looked at her like she was ###ed. First of all WHO in the HELL says something like that? Why make your company look even worse than the impression I just received! So she made my friends food free, great! But what about me? I had only taken 4 bites of my steak... and I got charged $13 ...$13 for 4 FREAKING BITES OF STEAK! Are you kidding me?! I will not be going back & Yea I'm one person they have plenty of other customers... But i will post this everywhere & I will let everyone i know, know.

At first all seemed well, until the waitress came back after ordering and asked me to get something different because they were out of sliders. That was ok with me, I understand you can run out of things. We then waited at least 45 minutes before the food started to come out two orders at a time, but 5 and 10 minutes apart on top of fries being cold orders being mixed up and a bad attitude from the waitress as we began to express the problems that was arriving. At this time, as we finally recieve our food, getting refills or bottomless soup refills or any other needs was nearly impossible, and I finally went to the bar and got a refill on my drink which at least triggered another waitress to ask the rest of the table for service needed. Thank God for her! By now we have been in the uncrowded restaurant for nearly 2 hours and guess what? Our checks arrive and now we ( being 2 parties of four get charged for an extra Uss ( unlimited soup and salad) on both of our bills. The bill read as 2 USS and the waitress says the buttons are touchy . 1 or 2 showed on the bill and our first thought is if it was a mistake how do you show 2 instead of 1 on both bills? We felt as if we were being ripped off on purpose. Then on top of that we were charged 15% gratuity on top of our total price and we had un-tippable service! That is not normal for me as I tip 15 to 20 percent on most occasions, services rendered well. This is the worst part and my reason for never requesting Applebees Huber Heights to anyone I know in the area. When we asked for a manager and shared our disgust for the 2 hours of terrible service, he made us seem like we were the bad company and never tried to accomadate us for any of the trouble we had just been through. This was a slap in the face to me and the ruddest I have been treated, as he walked away with an attitude towards us ( remember the customer)! I wasnt looking for a hand out, just an honest explanation and apology for the aweful service. I only hope no one else has to go through this for a Sunday afternoon luncheon. Sincerely, Craig Crace ( [protected]@aol.com).

I stoped and picked up oriental chicken salad for my wife and a full rack if ribs with sweet and spicy. The salad was great but the ribs had no meat and were dried out. I felt it was not worth the $30 I spent. I did this 6-18-10 at the Lohman store. I should have known they were old and dried out because they were out early and were probably left overs.

My 13 year old wanted to buy herself a steak with the money earned from her lawn mowing jobs from this afternoon. She had done a great job, it was a long day, so I said ok. The local steakhouse, Johnny's Char House, has wonderful steaks but are too pricey for her $60 earnings. Long story short, I would not let her spend half her earnings on Johnny's, so she settled for Applebee's (I had recently had the very small but very good portobello mushroom steak). We called in the order for curb side service (we were filthy and tired) and the nice young man said it was too late for that so we picked up in bar area. The steak was ordered as medium (not our usual medium well) but it was medium well, no pink center. I asked for A-1. The guy said no problem. When we got home, there was no A-1 in the bag. I ordered a side of mushrooms, there were very few. There was, I felt, too much fat to trim off ... but this was ok because the dog got a treat : ) And, lastly, the price listed on the website was $15.69 but the receipt states $16.79. The best part is that the broccoli/squash/carrot medley (I ate, she didn't want) and the mashed potatoes were both great.

In hindsight, I wish I had let her have the Johnny's steak for her jobs well done. I would have been happy to have "quietly covered" the difference when I went in to pick it up for her. Lesson learned.

Below is an area for "proof photos" but I do not know how to do? Not even sure if this letter will reach anyone but I felt the need to send. I suppose a picture of the steak would have sufficed as well as the receipt? The receipt shows as follows:
AM B TB #201
Date: 5/22/10 TIME: 22:53 Guests: 1
1 NY Strip 16.79
1 **TO GO** 0.00
1 GMUSH TOP 1.49
Check TOTAL: 18.28
TAX: 1.83
TOTAL DUE: 20.11
DUPLICATE # 1

Thank you for your time.

Sharon (and Lucy) Farley
1114 Gifford St
DeKalb, IL 60115
[protected]@niu.edu

Was at the restaurant this evening and on my receipt was e-mail address applebeesfeedback.com to answer a survey for a chance to win $1000.00. I could not find the survey. please let me know where it is. I only have 3 days to answer.

We went to the Applebees restaurant in Newton, NJ on Oct. 26 at around 5 p.m.. We were seated promptly and told what the special was and the drinks featured and that our waiter would be right with us. We sat there for 15 min. and NO one came to even take our drink order. We've gone there quite a few times and never had any problem, what happened? It shouldn't take that long to get a drink order or for the waiter to come to the table. I was very disappointed.

Thanks for your time and patience.

I and my husband were at this AppleBee's resturant, ordered our food which was a hamburger meal for my husband and the Rib dinner for myself. the waiter brought the meal I started eating my ribs and there was a hard bristle in the rib that I bit into. I made the waiter aware and he asked me to put the bristle on the napkin so he could take it back to show it to his manager. when the waiter came back he asked me if I wanted another or did I want him to wrap the rib that I had ordered up. I told him no and he offered me a free dessert. I told him we were done. The manager came out and asked was this the table that had the ribs and if I wanted him to have them make me another rib. I said no. The waiter came back to the table and said that they took off the appetizer and gave me a discount off of the rib dinner. When we looked at the bill the bill was $22, I asked where was the discount and he said they took off $4.99, I said they should have offered to give me the meal free seeing I had not eaten much of the meal. I feel that both the manager and the waiter were unprofessional and I am requesting that the manager and waiter be reprimanded.

I ordered the hot wings, and my wife ordered the "new Knife and Fork Sirloin Steak Sandwich". My wings were bloody on the inside near the bone, so I told the waiter (who was outstanding). He said he would inform the manager. Manager comes and tells me that the red/pink part is just a "vein" and that they cook all their wings for the same amount of time. I had to tell him again they were not cooked completely. He then offered to cook them a couple of extra minutes longer for me. They came out acceptable the second time around. But the manager didn't want to make us happy, we could just tell.

My wife's "New Knife and Fork Sirloin" was a complete waste of money. We told our waiter as we were paying and leaving. He even said we were not the first to complain about this new $7.99 sandwich plate.

Then to top it all off, I go online to complete my "survey" and the serial number on my receipt is "not valid". Give me a break! This food is disgusting!

For the amount of $ I spent there with my family, the experiance was not worth going back. The server showed no interest or urgency with our table. Waited 20 min. for soup to find out that they were out of that kind, so wre ordered clam chowder. This clam chowder was the worst ver seen or tasted, Just clam juice with some bits in it. Clam Chowder at Des Moines Creek Restaurnt surpasses this one by 100%. Portions are small, alfredo sauce is no better then out of a jar, and the molten cake...ice cold and hard. Didn't tell thre server because you couldn't find her any way, not a single refill of even water was offered. Money is tight now a days and I won't be spending any more there.

If your sales have dropped in Orangeburg SC, it is not due to the economy! One day I suggested that some of my coworkers join me for lunch at this establishment, I was immediately told that they no longer eat there, because the staff is very unprofessional, although I felt the same due to another unpleasant experience Myself and another coworker decided to go anyway. When we arrived we were seated by the hostess, and told that someone would take our drink orders. After being seated we both took turns going to the restroom to wash our hands, meanwhile we still had no drinks. After sitting there for approximately (7) minutes watching the waitresses stand around the bar catching up on the latest gossip we got up and left. As we were leaving I heard a waitress saying "I dont know why they're leaving no one sat them down anyway". Now excuse me, why would I walk into an establishment and seat myself especially when I know that you are seated at Applebees. I strongly encourage enforced policies and proceedures, because the employees act as if they do not want to be at work.

Applebees is not only ridiculous, it is a hazard to the health of its customers. They have a bar in the middle of the restaurant in which people are exhaling clouds of smoke, and then also in half of the restaurant. Then they ask you, "smoking or non-smoking?" Are you stupid?! So we are seated in a non-smoking section and then right next to us (literally only a wall with poles separates us) a couple is smoking. And so then everyone else not smoking is also at risk for developing lung cancer and asthma attacks. So STUPID. Get smart and put up a wall that smoke can't go through at least.

I was totally disappointed with my visit to your restaurant. Your half priced appetizers changed. You use to have vegetable pizza and quesidillas, but now most of the appetizers are fried. I ordered Orange Chicken, small order. It was so spicy I could not eat it. I asked the waitress about it and she said that it had crushed red peppers in it. The meal was $7.49. I called the waitress over and asked for something else. She was not sure if I could do it. I asked for the mini bacon cheeseburgers. She was not sure of the price, but said that she would call it even. Well the cheeseburgers only cost $5.99, but we were charged the price of the orange chicken. Also my husband got the sizzling fajitas at the price of $8.49. He was charge the more expensive order of $11.99. When we left we checked the menu prices and call this to the attention of the manager. Instead of the manager adjusting our bill or backing it out, the waitress took the difference of $4 out of her tip pocket to take care of the price difference. This made us feel terrible that she was giving up her tip money. We gave the money back to the manager for him to return it to her. We concluded that it was a bad experience and will not return to Applebees. We were even overcharged with a second mountain dew which we did not order.

I recently went to Applebees here in Hamilton, NJ and the food was HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRRRRIBBBLE! I ordered my food for the carside pickup, and when I got home to have my lunch, the food was cold and nasty. Ordering the Chicken Alfredo (minus) the broccoli, boneless chicken wings w/honey BBQ (for someone else), and a hot fudge sundae for my little girl. Welllll... the noodles for the Chicken Alfredo was dried out, the boneless wings were hard (like they been over cooked and dunked in sauce) and the sundae, WHAT A JOKE... you couldn't even call it a sundae! It was ONE bite of ice cream w/whip cream and a squirt (less then that) of fudge. It was HORRIBLE! I recommend if you go here, CHECK YOUR FOOD BEFORE YOU LEAVE...OTHERWISE, YOU WON'T GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR! Oh yeah, I went BACK to the restuarant to complain, and the manager said to me, "Their's NOTHING wrong with the food." We got into a bit of a tib bit, and the manger refused to do ANYTHING. HORRIBLE AND DEPLORABLE!

my husband and i desided to eat at applebees in the new bronx mall after shopping on 1/31/10, when the grammes was on, we desided to eat at the bar so that we would be able to watch the tv while we were eatting, the bartender was nice enough to put it on for us, then the manager came and changed the channel, we asked why she was doing that, she then said it can not be on, she said we can watch the news r sports, i asked why, she then said with an attiuded, look its sports r news thats it, r we can leave, i then said just pack up the food so that we can leave, she said that is up to u . Since i am a paying customer and being that i did not want to watch anything that was degrading in any way, i do not understand why i could not watch it, but yet they had rap playing loud in this place as if i am in a club, but i could not watch the grammies that comes on once a year for just 2hrs, and it could not b explaned to me why .

I have filed 2 previous complaints concerning a situation, and NOTHING has been done. I had another related incident tonight that upset me. The biggest issue is the failure of management to take proper action to discipline a very rude and unreasonable server. They further have been VERY rude and judgemental of me, without giving proper consideration to my complaints.
I am 61 year old retired military officer and a respected member of the communnity.

First off, several months ago I received VERY rude service from my server, Ginger St.John. When taking my order she was VERY short and rude. There came a point when I politely asked if I could ask her a question, to which she VERY rudely said NO as she turned and walked away. She definitely has an unfoundes dislike for me.I have tried to get her to explain why she was so ANGRY with me, but will not explain, not try to work out whatever problem she has with me.

Several weeks later she(Ginger) came in very angrily and rudely butted in on a conversation I was having with the bartender(Susan). She then scolded me about an issue outside of the restaurant and didnot involve her at all. I spoke to the manager (David Elliott)that night and he has taken NO action.

At this time I filed a complaint with Applebee's Corp, and nothing happened. I first wanted to NEVER go into Applebee's again, but I enjoy the restaraunt, other that for this situation, and diddn't think I should have to stay away because of bad management.

I decided to avoid Ginger as much as possible, but tonight some friends asked me to join them. It just so happened to be in Gingers section. She refused to serve me. The manager(David Elliott) scoulled me in front of other guest, for sitting in her section, and I felt he was about to have me removed.

I don't understand why Applebee's Corp would allow such treatment of a regular customer( 3-4 times a week for the last 3-4 years) to continue.

Joseph Conner