Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Albuquerque

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to express my disappointment with my recent experiences at the Applebee’s location on Yale. I have been a loyal customer, frequently ordering delivery two to three times a week and occasionally dining in. However, the service during my recent visits has been unacceptable, particularly in the evenings.

Incident Details:

Date: Friday Night

Upon arrival, we waited at the front for about 10 minutes before anyone came to greet us. During this time, I noticed two empty booths that were suitable for my needs, as I have a disability and require a comfortable seating arrangement. Despite there being a server in the area, the manager, who I believe is named Mike, told us there were no servers available and that we would have to wait over 20 minutes for a table. He then suggested I sit in a normal chair at a handicap table, which was highly uncomfortable and inappropriate given my condition.

This treatment made me feel as though my disability was a problem for the staff. As a frequent customer who spends about $150 to $200 weekly at Applebee’s, this experience was disheartening.

Additional Concerns:

Inconsistent Service and Missing Items: Every time I order delivery at night, there are issues with missing or incorrect items. This has become a recurring problem.

Unhelpful Response to Community Issues: On a previous visit, I informed the manager about a homeless person asking for food outside and suggested we contact 311 for assistance. The manager not only refused to help but also advised against feeding the person, which completely ruined our dining experience.

These issues highlight a pattern of poor service and lack of empathy from the night staff at this location. I ended up dining at Chili’s that evening, where the staff knew me by name and provided the comfortable seating I needed.

Expected Resolution:

As a loyal customer, I hope to see significant improvements in the service at this location, especially during the evening hours. If these issues are not addressed, I will have to reconsider my loyalty to Applebee’s and take my business elsewhere.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt response and...

15 years ago, I never would have gone to Applebee's at all. It was a sports bar that served greasy pub grub, as it's called in the UK. Things had changed. They'd built this location. I tried it. The food had changed drastically and was far more diverse and healthy and good. I've been a regular - they're one of the only places that's open with decent food past 10pm in this entire idiotic city. I have even been willing to overlook somewhat rude service at times and their not appropriately accommodating a disabled person (I have PTSD and really kind of insist on dark, quiet corner booths with my back to a wall and facing the door, not around the bar, kiddies - big reason I come here late and I've told you).

Last night, I went in, and discovered to my horror that all the good stuff on the menu, grilled squash, sweet potato fries, garden salads, had ALL been taken off - and replaced with the exact same greasy chicken strips and riblets from McDonald's and gross burgers they used to have. Everything is heavy meat and bacon and grease now. Even their one grilled chicken sandwich comes with bacon and even a chicken salad is FRIED chicken. I guess they never want anyone who remotely cares about eating well to ever eat there again? Just let's deliberately serve nothing but junk and make people fat and sick? I was told, "Well, we still have some healthy options..." Yep, one with Alfredo sauce (very healthy) and one that used to be good salmon, but... did I mention this? Not yet... The food quality has absolutely dropped off a cliff over just the past few months. I've been served 2 inedible steaks (literally inedible, burnt hunks of fat and gristle) and a portion of that salmon that was probably unwise of me to actually place in my mouth, but I survived.

EXTREMELY disappointed by this restaurant's precipitous fall from grace, and will likely not be back. To any location - until they get their corporate act together and return to the pretty decent menu they had just last week when I went in and stop serving pure garbage like they used to. No idea what prompted them to go back. Stupidity and greed I assume -...

I was looking for a place to eat dinner before flying back home the very next day. I settled on Applebee's for two reasons: we don't really have Applebee's any more in Chicagoland, only a few locations; and I wanted to compare it to Chili's (because I dined there a week earlier.)

At 8:24PM on Apr. 11th, I arrived at the restaurant. There was a homeless person sitting by the front entrance. He said something incoherent to me.

I was immediately seated but not approached by any wait-staff until 8:40PM. Yes, basically I sat there looking at my phone for more than 15 min. until a server finally showed up. (In this case, a staff member should have approached me and said, 'Someone will be right with you. Can I get you a glass of water to start with? Or, did you want something to drink?)

At 8:40PM, I ordered water and Bourbon Steak together because I didn't want to wait any longer. Around 8:50PM, I was served a sizzling steak soaked in fatty oil that didn't taste anything like Bourbon or even a steak. At 9:05PM, I finished my entrée, and at 9:10PM, ordered a dessert. (Here, my server should have asked me if I wanted a dessert instead of me asking her if I could see the dessert menu. While my server, Yulissa, was nice, she made no effort to upsell. Maybe she wanted to go home after a long day, but the restaurant hours were until midnight.) The lava cake with ice cream was most likely pre-made because it tasted like a store-bought and served to me in less than 2 min. from the time I ordered. At 9:17PM, I finished my dessert, and at 9:20PM, I was given my check.

At 9:30PM, while I was waiting for my ride in the restaurant parking lot, another homeless person approached me and asked for change. I politely told him that I didn't have any because I didn't have any. Then, he just walked away.

My final verdict:...