Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Bismarck

We went for half priced appetizers. Our server was amazing! He and the other server on the floor were doing a fabulous job. They were in the weeds and still managed to be friendly, provide great service and the cooks did an exceptional job on the prep and timeliness of getting the food up and out of the kitchen.

But OH MY GOSH. Applebees managers…. What are those industrial lights you have because the lights were horrid. The staff (only 2 on the floor and a bar tender that I saw) were working their butts off but the lights were so uncomfortable I felt like I was in an interrogation. At one point the light got brighter and you could hear an intake of breath around the restaurant.

Now hear me out, if that is a ploy to get people to eat as fast as possible and not come back, excellent job. We generally eat at the North Applebees, but if they have those lights we won’t be eating there either.

If it’s miserable as a patron, I can imagine what working in there with those lights does to the servers (even if they don’t realize it). The server managed to get the lights dimmed (and it was better), but even dimmed they were rough.

We love you Applebees how you gonna do people dirty with those shadeless industrial bulbs. We wanna be comfy, you want us to eat and drink more… down with the lights Applebees and then we wil return! Until then it’s a no thank you even when the food and service...

I arrived and sat for almost 8 minutes before being greeted. Only 5 people seated and that was including my husband and myself. Ordered drinks and was told a 5 minute wait. No problem I have no issue waiting however over 10 minutes later no drinks and the server had yet to return to my table. Finally server comes back out but still no bartender. Another few minutes and bartender arrives. Spends several minutes doing who knows what.... cashing out tickets is what it appeared. He then continued to do whatever while also HEAVILY sniffling. The sniffling will make more sense momentarily. He makes our drinks and then bounces around like a high functioning squirrel cracked out on cocaine. Ordered all you can eat... food comes out.. we sit 10 minutes waiting to order more od the all you can eat. No server in sight we decided enough was enough and tabbed out.

The staff needs to be re-trained on how to br a server. Your staff should also undergo drug testing considering the bartender was definitely under the influence. Before a comment comes as to why I didn't contact the manager. She was busy speaking with a customer about a job and then many inappropriate things. I didn't feel comfortable...

We're just in town for the night and wanted to get something to eat at a familiar restaurant so we know we'll get good food, right? Well it turned out to be the worst experience we've ever had at an Applebee's, I didn't have the heart to tell them in person because the employees were very nice and the atmosphere was great. They seemed like nice people but first off we didn't get to order until we sat there for about 15 minutes wondering where our server was. Finally she showed up and didn't apologize for the wait or anything as if she wasn't gone for very long. Then we waited another 15-20 minutes for the food. Our appetizers arrived at the same time as our food, that was strange. I ordered the Bourbon Street Steak and it was alright, my dad ordered the chicken with portabella and his was cold, actually cold not just lukewarm. Also they had asked if we wanted a basket of bread-sticks so we assumed they were free, I suppose we should have asked before saying yes. They weren't expensive or anything, but we wouldn't have gotten them if we knew we had to pay for them. Overall, slow service, practically no service, and something was up...