Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Bemidji

We go for dinner & we choose the 2 for $27. We order house salads for both of us, figuring the Caesar salad would NOT be available because of the romaine lettuce recall. The garden salad comes with Romaine (😣 DILEMMA 😣 this is hours after the CDC releases the news a man has died & 122 people are sick) so when the waitress finally comes back & is nervous & trys to explain it but mixes it up we end up just say no thanks & she take the salads. No offer to replace with an appetizer choice? Ok then the manager comes out with a piece of paper stating at the letter from corporate headquarters stating they get their Romaine from California and that the outbreak is from Arizona and that he couldn't come out cuz he had been cooking and I said most of the restaurants we have been to have pulled all Romaine products & that is why we ordered the house salad versus the Caesar salad & we don't feel comfortable eating it and that was it no comps just a sorry I'm told to serve it and I'm just doing what I'm told. Management should have had a meeting with server so that servers were prepared with answers for customers who are concerned about the lettuce without defensive & obviously irritated. I feel like there should have been some kind of a comp besides corporate says it's okay to eat? FYI, I have a restaurant management degree, this is not the way I would have handled foodborne illness outbreak. In the end the Bourbon Street chicken & shimp were ok, a bit greasy and hard to swallow after our experience. ● UPDATE: 5-16-2018 The Minnesota officials said the 10 confirmed cases “have been recently identified and linked to the multi-state outbreak.” If the Manager of Bemidji's Applebee's doesn't take time to train & educate the staff on the latest news on foodborne illness to reassure thier food products are safe, DON'T expect me to come and spend my money there! ●UPDATE 6-1-2018 In all, the outbreak has infected 197 people in 35 states, including 12 reported cases in Minnesota. Only California (45) and Pennsylvania (24) have more than Minnesota.  All 12 Minnesota cases have been reported since May 1. It's unclear when exactly the two deaths occurred, but they are new to the report since the last CDC...

We were a family of 12 on Monday July 28.we were celebrating our daughters 17 th birthday! There were 5 adults and 7 children ages 2 through 17. We ordered appetizers at 5 pm which did not arrive until 6pm. The meals arrived approx 15 min later. Way too long for the 2 year old and her mom and they had to leave and sit in the car waiting for everyone . My husbands meal was cold , requested they heat in microwave. It came a second time and it was still cold , my son in laws was both cold and burnt, I ordered steak medium rare. It was well done . It was gross but I was not willing to to wait 90 min again. I tried to eat it but couldn’t, 5 yr olds burger burnt, 13 and 17 year old had alfredo. It looked brownish and gross not edible . Everyone meal was either cold or gross. Yes our money was given back to us but Unfortunately it ruined our celebration and we had to stop at a grocery store and pick up chicken. I have always been a fan of Applebees but this was so stressful and so bad that I don’t think we will ever be able to go there again. We heard many others complain yet it did not appear they were even talking...

09/28/2023 - Evening meal.

Absolutely horrible experience. Food was fine,, just like most Applebee's. However, bartender was slow and inattentive.

The checkout was the worse I have ever experienced in any restaurant ever. The bartender asked if I was done. I said yes. She then says 'xxx is the bill'. I ask to see the bill first. Normally this should not be an issue. However, she gets very defensive and says 'YOU want to see the bill first?'. I say, 'yes, if that's not a problem'. She goes ballistic after that. 'I don't get paid enough to deal with people like you',, me 'excuse me,, what? because I want to see the bill before paying?' etc. etc. Then she goes to the manager and I watch them converse. The manager then rolls her eyes, sighs, and walks over to me. I am literally sitting 5 feet from them watching them talk. The manager comes over,, says 'I will take care of the bill'. No apology for the comments, no anything, except 'I will talk to her'.

NEVER, go there if this manager or bartender is working.

Asking for the bill before paying seems to be a HUGE issue for...