Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Albemarle

I'm glad so many others have had positive experiences. Initially, I did too, but their seemingly lack of concern for safety during this pandemic is appalling.

I'd just made it to my hotel after a long drive & fieldwork; I'm not from here so a restaurant right next door to my hotel was a lovely surprise. I couldn't wait to get some good food & I haven't been to an applebee's since moving to NC from OR.

I asked for a menu for a to-go order. The hostess brought one to me. I observed another server to be sitting down at the front benches, where customers usually wait to be seated. Her mask was pulled down. The two emps at the podium were both wearing theirs. They were all friendly & I thought this experience was gonna go better than it did.

When I was ready to place my order, it was then* I was informed I'd have to go to another part of the restaurant - walking thru an area where people are eating & obvs no masks is unacceptable. If I'd been told to begin with, I'd have left. When I inquired about how they were making things safe, they said that I could call them. Holy hell, I'm right there. So get a server who is actually wearing their mask APPROPRIATELY, not the one who's been hanging out w/her nose hanging out. I was mad & although the "dnose server made a half-aed gesture to take my order, they'd already blown it. Tell people when they arrive where they need to be for take out. Also, have a server come to the customer. It's not hard to make simple adjustments for safety & travellers unfamiliar w/the area. You really sending people outside to call? Absurd.

I get it that only certain people can take to-go orders. It's a ridiculous rule in NC. I think it has to do with tipped staff. Personally, I always tip on take out.

As far as I'm aware, the current Governor's orders are for everyone to be wearing masks in public & no more than 10 people gathering. What am I missing? I get it, this all sucks, but at least* public establishments should be following the governor's mandates.

So I ended up having to go somewhere else,...

Ordered at 4p for Carside pickup at 6p. Arrived and parked in carside space at 6:05p. Received acknowledgement on app. After seeing no employee checking on any vehicle, went in around 6:15. Food was ready but was told they could not take my $50 in gift cards for payment due to computer issue. I was not going to pay without gift cards so offered to pay the $4 allowing them to keep and process the $50 in gift cards. They acted if that was not an option so I told them they could keep the food. They got another employee involved and was able to help but it took a long time. I finally walked out with food around 6:40 just to find out when getting to the car and surveying our order that it was incomplete. (Eye roll) I went back in and had to wait while the bartender made a shake. He was distracted talking to servers and had to be reminded after a few minutes about the shake. I finally got back to my vehicle at 6:55pm very frustrated with cold food. While inside the restaurant for 40-45 minutes trying to get things figured out, it was busy and packed. I wish they could have provided carside service as advertised so I didn’t have to be so highly exposed to people and possibly COVID. Extremely disappointed and likely not to return. The time before that we tried this same restaurant we were sat at a booth and after 45 mins had still not had a server check on us so we left. If it weren’t for being given gift cards we probably wouldn’t have made this order but I did have some hope that service would be better this time. I was wrong and felt I should have at least not had to pay the $4. I work in the local tourism industry and could not recommend this restaurant to the more than 500k average visitors we receive through our...

My dude and I have been coming to this Applebee's for quite some time now. The food (for the most part) is good. We really like to come in for the experience. There are 2 and a half servers that make this experience worth while. Hailey and Andrew are the best!!!! Today we came in just for our sampler platter. We thought we were gonna have someone we didn't know but when I seen Haileys face, I asked for her. We have had her many times and I knew the experience would be that much better. She's so personable and attentive. She really cares about her customers and is extremely efficient in understanding what I want before I even know I wanted it. Drinks are a big thing to us. She never let our drinks even come close to a halfway point. 10/10 as always. Of course I have to give Andrew a shout-out because he was our OG original server that we would Always ask for. My daughter absolutely loves him because he always remembers she wants a blueberry lemonade (with a secret gummy that we're not supposed to know about). She was really big into fairy stones for awhile there and when we came to eat, he randomly popped up with a fairy stone necklese for her. She still has that necklese. As I said, we come here for the experience more than the food. These 2 servers are the ones we always hope to see. Minor shout out to the girl with purple hair and glasses. I don't know her name. She was working today. I think we've had her maybe 3 times. She is also super sweet and does amazingly. With customer service this good and a family friendly,safe environment that this apple bees has.. we will always go to "Applebee's on a date night"- if you don't know that song.. that's...