Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Angola

Several times we've been here and they've been short staffed. The last visit we had, the waitress was not the most efficient. She was very nice, but passed our table several times before even stopping to say hi and take our beverage order. We sat there for at least 10 minutes before getting our drink order in. And waited at least 5 more minutes for our sodas. We ordered our food right away. It took a very long time for our food to come out. My soda was empty and our waitress went by the table several times without acknowledging our glasses were empty. We flagged her down to get refills while we waited for food. It was around 30 mins for our food. She did eventually stop to tell us they were short a cook. When we got our food, it was just okay. I ordered a chicken sandwich and the chicken was over cooked. My husband's food was just okay too. It took awhile for our waitress to bring our bill (even though she passed the table several times) and again it took awhile for her to take our payment. We understand places bring short staffed. But efficiency would help a lot! A waitress should be able to stop by more than one table before going to the back. She did this every time she stopped at a table, instead of stopping at multiple tables. For example get a drink order at one, drop a bill off at another, take a order etc before going to the back. Sadly disappointed and this has happened multiple times there. We were in there for an hour and a half just for 2 dinners and sodas.

Update at a new visit recently- unfortunately it wasn't better this time. Our server was very nice and did a good job. We went in for the all you can eat Riblets Shrimp and Chicken. I ordered a chicken salad and my husband ordered the all you can eat deal. It was fairly busy. Our first order came in a decent amount of time. My husband ate his 1st plate and they had put in a 2nd order of shrimp when they served the 1st order. He finished that along with his fries. I had a chicken salad, didnt get the breadstick until my salad was basically gone. Not the end of the world because my husband wanted more shrimp anyway. He asked for another order. The time between asking for more shrimp until he got it was really long. When they brought out an order, it was 6 pieces of shrimp. They apologized that they were short in the kitchen. But why get all you can eat if it's going to be 20 or more minutes just to be brought out more shrimp. Your fries and coleslaw aren't refilled, so you're left sitting there waiting for 6 more pieces. My salad was gone, until I got my breadstick, otherwise I was just sitting there doing nothing. He really wanted a 4th order of shrimp (yes, he loves shrimp!!) But, we had already been in there for about an hour and a half and we really didn't want to sit there for another 20 minutes for 6 pieces of shrimp. My suggestion, if you know you are short in the kitchen and it's an all you can eat deal, why not ask, how many pieces of shrimp you'd like...bring more than 6 out if you know its going to be how long for the next pieces. Offer more something, so youre not left sitting at the table for 20 or more minutes with nothing. I understand being short staffed but there are much better ways to handle your business. And add that whatever cleaners they use, its ruined the tables. They are sticky from the finish, which is really not a great feeling when you're eating dinner. It's been that way for some time. Spend the money to refinish or replace your tables. It makes the experience even worse. Even the cup was sticking to it. Food was good, but the rest not...

It’s a good thing that this wasn’t a paid mystery shop. The food was amazing! The food impressed me in so many ways that that alone kept this a 4 star Review.

Upon arrival and being asked where we would sit, I was disappointed to find that all of the booths they attempted to seat us in needed wiped down. We ended up at a table.

I didn’t pay much attention to the restaurant outside that and I didn’t go to the bathroom or the bar for a full review as if I was a professional mystery shopper. It was freezing cold in the dining area, they had the AC cranked so high that it wasn’t even inviting. There were about 4 other families in the entire restaurant which could have something to do with the poor service.

Our server was young, over weight and not very well put together. She was kind of rude. She forgot our lemons when we asked for them for our waters and she made excuses for the bar (that was NOT busy). I think she just forgot to order our drinks.

I could put all of that aside but her service never improved.

From the very beginning she did everything wrong. I questioned the gluten free menu and options and when I ordered my salad take a wild guess what was on them? Croutons. If I order a glutton free menu item and hold a conversation with you about a gluten free menu, don’t you think you should question the customer if they want croutons on their salad or not?

At one point we had every single empty dish piled on the end of the table and she walked by it 3 times. She dropped the check before she ever removed one dish. Don’t they train to pre bus tables? She acted as if she just wanted us out of the restaurant so she could visit with her friends.

Personally would not ever give her a shift again if I was manager and I have worked in the industry for decades. She would have gotten a 5% tip (enough to cover Bar, host and bus). Good thing I wasn’t paying this check.

As for Applebees as a whole, when I have eaten there, it’s been always good and always good service and great atmosphere. This particular incident was less than desirable and I will hesitate to return if floor management doesn’t step up their training and improve the services quality that a customer comes to expect from a Corporate company.

This small town WILL take their business local or somewhere else and shut Big Corp down if you don’t improve the quality of...

My WORST experience eating out at any restaurant ever!! I'm 54 was with my wife...brother, his wife and our parents who are close to their 80's we all concluded it was the worst restaurant experience... had we read the reviews sooner it would've saved us having to come to that conclusion!!! Who ever is managing this establishment... Needs fired !! The waitress right off ,either was having a bad today or definitely didn't want to be be there... ATTITUDE terrible!! We waited nearly 1 1/2 hours for our food 2-3 of us that order salad got ours my wife didn't until our orders came , but only after reminding 2 different waiter she didn't get hers !! We watched 3 different customers get up and leave after ordering... people waiting to be seated , when there was plenty of empty seating... finally leave after tired of waiting... a lady who had been waiting for a long time , came over asked us if our orders here were taking a long time... I politely said way too long ... they ended up leaving. We recieved the wrong bills , but hey after 2 hours I can not blame her.. I nearly forgot my own name at that point! Food was ok only saving grace is that this worst experience allowed us time to socialize with our parents!! In all this establishment not only lost $$ thousands in a matter of a few short hours... we will never eat there again... it is an embarrassment to the Applebees franchise!!!! Sorry not sorry !! 1st time I ever took time to write a review again 53 and it was the worst experience ever !! I see in the reviews your replies to these bad experiences people are having ... I would think you might actually do something about these issues, instead of replying were sorry... actions speak way louder than words !! Just a thought. And fix that pothole in the parking lot...