Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Arlington

This was the most appalling customer service I have ever received in a restaurant in over 40 years of dining in a variety of restaurants all over the US! The excursion began with awaiting acknowledgement we existed to be seated for well over 10 minutes in their super crowded overly busy restaurant lobby which contained the whole 3 persons in our party. I told her we forgot our phones in the car, she muttered something and gave us the one and only menu she had available. i requested a child's menu, she couldn't bother to pick it up...required way too much effort to pick up 2 pieces of paper and move to a table. She must have been horribly exhausted from all her effort! Luckily the 3 of us are adaptable humans who do have the ability to read and communicate. The waiter came promptly and we ordered an horderve, while we determined what meals we wanted. He was prompt at serving the thinnest, flavorless cheese sauce with chips. The consistency of pancake syrup was thicker! Finally, 15 minutes later he returned to get our order. He comes back stating 1st they don't have a "children's" grilled cheese they only have an "adult"??? The menu they provided didn't reflect an adult grilled cheese at all. Ok. we were ok with this switch.Wow what could the difference be....Texas Toast vs regular sliced bread???? Who knows??? I ordered savory grilled chicken. The menu we received stated it was with 2 sides of my choosing. The waiter came back and stated it did not come with 2 sides, if I wanted 2 sides I could pay additional!!! I provided him with the copy of their own menu and said take this back to whomever is in charge and show them it is on your menu and this is what I have ordered! The Manager, according to our waitstaff person, sent him back to tell me it came with rice, not the 2 sides I requested. I sent him back with a message we will pay our tab for what we currently ordered and I will inform the public and the corporate office of the Manager's lack of professionalism and I will ensure that Brinker Internatonal, the mother corporation, is well aware of this lack of courtesy. I feel certain Brinker will be happy to know their well trained, over-paid stooge for a manager determined losing a seated paying customer was much preferred over not providing what their menu they provided stated. Nor taking a moment to come over and apologetically explain their paper menu was in error and ASK if the substitution would be acceptable to the PATRON, not the cook or the Manager. I'm quite sure the manager won't mind looking for a new job when this attitude closes this already troubled restaurant! The best thing you can do Brinker is quietly visit this establishment you will appreciate just what we did...laziness, lack of professionalism, lack of courtesy, unkempt premises, slovenly dressed hostess..she needs some tips on personal hygiene. Our waiter was polite, obviously as green as the grass outside. His appearance was sloppy for what I am accustomed to in a Brinker run and trained establishment. What a shame Brinker International you used to run excellent restaurants with well trained professional staff! I refuse to part with my money to reward a company that doesn't give a rats two cents about...

I had a horrible experience! I have lived in Arlington for 10 years, so I've been here quite a few times, but I have NEVER been met with such poor service and unprofessional behavior. I ordered the "all you can eat." When our food arrived, I immediately noticed that my fries were cold, (1) but the chicken stops were piping hot, so I told the waiter. He replied that he'd bring me more fries. At that time, I let him know that I would like an order of riblets as my second order, to which he replied OK. My first order of fries was never replaced.(2) Instead, he brought me a much smaller portion of fries 15 minutes later when he brought the riblets. I have him grace because we had noticed that he was working the entire section. However, when I began to eat the fries, I was appalled to notice that half of the order was fresh, but the other half was cold, AGAIN.... (3) Then I looked at the riblets, and there was some type of debris on the (crumbs of some sort).(4) At this point, we had been there for an hour, and I was over it. I asked to speak with the manager, whose name was Caroline. She came over, listened to my grievance, and offered to replace the items. I told her that at this point, I'm just ready to go because it's 11:00 and I don't have another hour to spend, hoping to get edible food. We asked for our bill and we're astonished to find that nothing had been done about my meal. When I asked to speak to the manager again, she took 10 minutes to come to my table She even went to address another table who had had issues and left without even acknowledging us, before returning 3 to 4 minutes later. When she returned (with armed security),I was given a look of indignation and treated as if I was trying to get over on her, when I told her that I should not be charged full price for my meal. I had never raised my voice throughout all of this and could not understand why security was called over a customer complaint when the customer was not posing a threat. I will NEVER return to this location and will definitely consider not ever eating at Applebee's again. Why would you bring an and security guard to discuss a bill dispute??? And what's so hard about taking accountability for piss poor service? The look she gave me told me everything that I needed to know, I've seen that look many times Caroline, no need...

Went in for a late lunch, so the restaurant was not busy. However, I had the misfortune of being seated by a loud obnoxious abrasive table, so I asked to move. The hostess and waiter (David) were great and let me sit in the back. Problem solved... WRONG, it had only began.

I had to wait almost 25 min for my food; while two tables had come in after me, ordered and received their food before I received mine! My fries were cold and the side of ranch I had ordered with my meal was not delivered either. I then asked for a fresh order of fries and ranch, which was missing when the hot fries were delivered. I still had to ask an additional 2 times (5 times in total) to receive the ranch, at which point it was worthless as I had already finished my sandwich and most of the fries. My poor waiter was trying to help the table next to me, it seems they had run out of cream and he had been looking for more cream else where. When I went to pay I noticed I had been charged extra for the hot fries!! I asked about this and was told the only way I could have received hot fries was by ordering them as a side... REALLY?????? David was very apologetic and seemed even embarrassed I had been charged, which was not his fault as he was having to go look for cream. When I went to find the Manager and complain, I know she did not listen to what I was saying. I had specifically stated I was not upset with my waiter, but the very first thing she did was to confront him!!!!!!! He was doing his job plus what SHE should have been doing. I was beyond upset when I saw how she reacted... so I went back inside the restaurant and told the servers standing by the door to let David know I was not upset with him and that I had left him a tip, and asked them to make sure he received it.

Very poorly managed, no supervision of the serving staff, kitchen or general flow/vibe of the restaurant itself. If well managed this could have been avoided by freeing the servers to care for their tables, have sent someone right up the road for cream (which the bartender should have had anyway) and defused any issues by speaking to the customers. Hopefully someone associated with the restaurant will read this review and make the...