Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Austin

My boyfriend and I came out to this establishment at 12:30/1 AM. We were appalled at the customer service we received. I’m unaware of our servers name because he never introduced himself to our table. We were sat by the host at one of the high tops near the bar - we requested a high top. He sat us at table that had 3 high tops pushed together. It still had silverware and menus from patrons who decided not to dine there - that should have been our first red flag. We helped our host by handing him the excess menus. Our server came by and grabbed our order. We came out to Applebee’s because we received a flyer in the mail and wanted 1/2 price apps. No where on the flyer did it mention that it was a limited menu. We wound up ordering a Caesar salad, boneless wings, a brisket quesadilla, and spinach and artichoke dip. My boyfriend’s Dr. Pepper never made it to the table until after 15-20 minutes - when my boyfriend had to walk to find our server and ask for his drink. He needed two refills in which we had to ask our host for. The host was courteous and helpful, but I found it to be unprofessional that he was on his cell phone in plain sight at the host stand. Our food finally came out and the quesadilla did not have any garnishes. I requested salsa and sour cream. Unfortunately, they don’t have guacamole. Again, our server forgot about our request and we had to ask for sour cream and salsa again. The tortilla chips on our spinach and artichoke dip looked like they were from the bottom of the bag. As we were eating, we observed our server sitting down at his other tables and engaging in flirting with female patrons. At one point, he was seen giving another sever a back massage. I finally got so frustrated that I approached one of the bartenders to ask for a manager. Next thing I know, the server who received the massage came over to our table to ask if we needed anything. I asked her if she was a manager to which she replied no and asked if she could grab one for us when she had the chance. We watched her walk back over to our sever at one of the POS stations and talk about us. The manager finally came over and I pointed out that there was a 7 or 8 top with children under the age of 5 sitting at a high top in the bar area, the fact that employees were on their phones, and the unsatisfactory service we received. He thankfully comped the bill, but I can say with certainty that we will not be back. I’ve worked in the service industry and know this is not the Applebee’s standard. If you’re a server, be sure to deliver the same level of service to all of your tables or let your management team know that you can’t handle more than...

Update: A Remarkable Turnaround

After posting my 1-star review, Applebee’s escalated the issue to the actual restaurant manager—and what a night-and-day difference in her response.

She immediately acknowledged the mistake, apologizing not only for the overcharge on the tip but also for the poor previous interactions.

Rather than making excuses, she verified the information, confirmed the overcharge, and took full accountability—no blaming a wet receipt or any other nonsense. She apologized again and focused on making things right.

In a world where great customer service feels increasingly rare, it was refreshing to finally deal with someone who demonstrated professionalism and genuine care.

Original Review: My friend and I are regulars at the Applebee’s located at 6315 South IH-35.

Last week, we had an experience that left us disappointed. We ordered identical entrees, but when our bills arrived, mine was inexplicably higher than my friend's. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the waitress had charged me for an extra order of fries. I pointed out the error, and she assured me she’d correct it. Given this and other issues during our visit, I still tipped just over 20%.

Later, while reviewing my credit card statement, I discovered that the charge from Applebee’s was higher than what I had authorized—the tip had nearly doubled.

I called the restaurant and asked to speak with a manager. The one who took my call gathered the details and promised to call me back within an hour or two. I made it clear that I would be available and waiting.

That call never came.

Since the receipt provided contact information for customer concerns, I sent an email to the designated contact at 10:40 p.m. To my surprise, I received a response within minutes.

The Applebee’s manager had investigated and confirmed a billing discrepancy. She reported the issue to her superior but failed to follow through with the promised callback.

The email I received included an apology—not for the unauthorized increase in my tip, but only for the "misunderstanding" regarding the callback. The manager explained that the receipt had gotten wet. However, she was able to read it well enough to identify the problem, so the explanation didn’t justify the oversight.

Ultimately, Applebee’s authorized a refund for the incorrect tip amount plus an additional 19 cents.

There was no genuine accountability. The manager had set an expectation for a callback and didn’t deliver. There was no direct apology for the altered tip amount—just a weak excuse.

Still no proper apology. So, so disappointing.

Check your bills. Keep your receipts. Verify credit card...

My significant and I came in to dine and it was horrible. We waiting in the front for 6 min without being greeted when we finally where the gentleman sat us at a table surrounded completely by filthy tables.

Server didn’t come to take order or greet us for another 10ish minutes after being sat but we did however have a nice view of every employee leaving the side door to go vape and disappear to the back parking lot around cars.

Server finally took our order and we received our drinks and apps and first round of the all you can eat wings. We however did not see our server again….until we looked out the window and saw our server driving off with the host who sat us.

25 min later an older lady came by and gave us some more food. We asked her what happened to our server and she responded with “he told me he was going to the store for the manager and told me to watch his tables”.

This lady was in no position to take care of the amount of tables in this building. Bartenders were too busy with regulars to help and manager was in the BOH or outside vaping.

After about 40 min of us looking around trying to pay we asked the bartender. She told us she would get him. We then spent the next 30 min watching the manager finally help everyone else and looking for the server.

We then asked three other employees for the manager but he each time he refused to come out to talk to us.

We ended up standing by the host stand when we saw our server walk back in through the side door holding a Togo drink in his hand with the host following right behind him.

My significant other has now tried paying our bill from 3 different employees but none would take the payment. We had an Applebees gift card and he gave it to the bartender which ended up being returned to us by the server when we asked for the manager.

The host walked up and asked us if we’ve been helped. I informed him that we have dined and that we have asked for the manager 5 times. He said “yikes” and leaves. We stood there for another 5ish minutes and then left.

My significant other and I are both in the restaurant industry and neither of us have dined at a place that has given us such a poor experience. We left hungry and beyond disappointed we spent one of our only days off dining at this establishment.

I emailed this to the General Manager who responded asking if she could call and when I responded saying yes and asking when they never...