Applebee's — Restaurant in Calgary

Went here for our wedding anniversary. We couldn’t arrange a sitter so we had to go somewhere family friendly. We arrived and despite the place having a dinger when the door opened (and it being pretty much dead) we still waited nearly 10 minutes before a hostess came to seat us. The hostess then seated us directly beside another seated table when the entire rest of the section was empty. And we were right by the front doors which meant anyone coming in or out sent cold air to the table. While we tried to decide what to eat somehow the music got louder. As in we could barely hear each other speak. Our food was palletable but lacking flavour. Mashed potatoes had whole chunks of potatoes. They had a runner who was delivering meals (which makes little sense as the restaurant was dead). We saw the server a few bites in and then she was gonzo for the rest of our meal, despite clearly providing the same garbage service to the table who was sat directly behind us (again) why cluster the tables . Spread them out so the server is making reasonable rotations. We long finished our food (as did the table behind us) and she took their desert order before ours. And we asked for one to go box and the plates to be cleared. The kids deserts arrived and ours was still MIA despite having ordered it at the time we ordered our meal. And then she came back to ask us what it was again. Mind you she didn’t even come and ask until the kids had finished their dessert. And it was after she asked and left did she finally bring the box and cleared only two plates. And while we were waiting for ours (again) she asked the table behind us if they wanted to settle their bill. To which they replied they were still waiting on their child’s desert. Our desert came , it was clearly microwaved cake with an Obscene amount of fudge squirted all over it and the plate. And frankly it was gross. We waited eons again for her to come by so we could ask for the bill. As a former server there is no reason for such poor service. I understand when things are busy or other tables are difficult. But in our section when we left there was only 3 tables. (Not including is). She didn’t need a runner. She needed to be more attentive to the few tables she had. And she did write our order down so it’s not like she didn’t have something to turn back to. I wasn’t a fan of the lighting, it made it difficult to read the menu, the music was clearly too loud, I could hear other tables because they had to talk loud to hear each other. I won’t be back. It’s a lot for me to criticize service because I know it’ has a lot of moving parts, but with a runner ours was completely absentee. We didn’t say it was our anniversary because we aren’t looking for special treatment. But wow, on a slow Monday night you’d think you’d put...

The servers are doing their best, but this restaurant clearly feels neglected and has clearly given up.

The first thing I noticed was that the main restaurant was empty, yet everyone was packed into the front dining room, making it noisy, uncomfortable, and crowded; overwhelming both guests and staff. The entertainment was in the main restaurant, with every screen on despite no one being there. The bar lacked drink choices, only offering a small selection of liquors and liqueurs, with no scotches or bourbons despite the barbecue-centric menu. Our server did not know what the bar offered, and there was no extensive bar menu to reference.

Once seated, we were brought bar drinks without water, which may be due to water restrictions. When asked for water, it came in an old, beaten-up plastic cup. The appetizer, a spinach dip, was served without side plates, making sharing with the table difficult. The dip resembled soup more than a dip, yellowed with near-brown spinach and artichokes. It was the worst dip I have ever had (inedible), the pitas were the only redeeming part.

I ordered the steak, which did not come with any vegetables. Predictably I ordered it under because I knew it would come over, and to no surprise it did. The bagged mashed potatoes were dark yellow, having obviously been flipped from days before, and had already developed a glutinous skin by time it arrived at the table. The gravy was abnormally thick, gritty, and dusty, served in disposable plastic cups instead of washable dishware, indicating laziness and corner-cutting by the restaurant. The menu included an item called maple shrimp, which is a misguided abomination to fusion cuisine and the culinary industry. My wife's salad was wilted, plain, and looked like it was dug out of the scullery garbage.

Despite the server’s kindness and adjustment to our bill, the management was absent and seemingly unsupportive. The overall experience reflected poor corporate decisions and lackluster management. This franchise fails on almost all fronts. It seems like a place run by teenagers who don’t know any better and can’t be blamed for corporate decisions and poor management.

I understand this is a franchise restaurant, but with extensive industry experience, including experience with franchise restaurants, this franchise receives a failing score on...

I have no idea how to start. However we ordered 4 Bahama Mama not our first time so we know what to expect and what we got wasn't it( the waitress came oh the fruit fell of your glass I will get one for you after) the drink didn't taste like it should this was mentioned to the waitress, there was a sorry nothing else two of the drinks went back to the kitchen as it came out . Kids were getting wrestles so we ask if the kids food (chicken strips ) could be brought out before the adults. I don't know how this was taken but the response seem on the defense all the food will be brought out when it's ready. Food received total meltdown averted, we ask some water for the table greeted with how much water do you need ( I thought this was a common courtesy for everyone at a restaurant ) someone else walked around ask how was everything and if we need box we said yes to the boxes they disappeared no boxes. Our kids meal came with dessert, they were already out the door when the waitress came around to ask if we needed the dessert. We ordered it came in glass containers we indicated to the empty table and ask for it in to go containers. It was poured from the glass container into the plastic container then place on the table without take out spoons, which I ask for at the front they said they didn't have any. I mentioned this was the worst service overall ever and I was greeted with thank you have a great night. We have one Applebees left in the city and would love if service could be better. Food was mediocre. My sweet chill chicken strips where hard and the macaroni cheese wasn't creamy as the norm. Overall disappointment between our two families we spent over 300 dollars and both service and food was...