Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Cape Coral

This is my personal experience here, it’s a long explanation but a well worthy read.

I stopped by today on Father’s Day with my family. The whole time I wondered why an Applebees was so empty on a holiday like Father’s Day in a city that’s growing so exponentially like Cape. I would soon find out the answer as my visit progressed.

We ordered a couple steaks along with other items on the menu, when we got the steaks the meat had an odd taste and smell to it. I told my server who handled it beautifully and offered me a different meal.

She then sent over her manager who approached our table and asked what was wrong. His facial expression and body language clearly showed dissatisfaction with our presence there. I looked past his demeanor and I calmly explained to him the steaks had a strange taste to them, to which he in other words called us liars by saying “ well, the steaks are fresh daily so?….” Before I could respond He said my waitress was bringing out our other meals shortly and took the plates and walked off. We all just looked at each other because Instead of saying something a decent Food and beverage manager would say along the line of “I appreciate you bringing this to my attention we’ll get you taken care of right away” he simply acted like we were bothering him with our presence. We had just gotten our meals and the steaks both had one single bite taken from them so it’s not like we tried to pull a fast one either. Nor did we ask for a price removal or discount. Our waitress was professional enough to work with us in making the situation better. Which we truly appreciated

The problem lies in poor customer service, if I’m refusing to eat a meal I’m paying $20+ for each it’s because for one it taste bad and two I’d like to enjoy the meal I’m paying for, more so since it was a celebratory meal for Father’s Day.

As the manager he could’ve at least comprehended our reasoning as to why my father and my meal were a problem instead out indirectly calling us liars. My waitress handled it better than your manager did, she understood our complaint, offered a solution and brought us a different meal which we accepted. It annoyed me because I went there with my parents, Wife and my kids to celebrate and enjoy Father’s Day, only for me to be dismissed and accused of being a liar Infront of my family. Your manager showed less than basic leadership skills and absolutely no de escalation or customer service skills. After your managers insulting response I decided not to get into it with him or stoop to his level in front of my family further ruining my mood and celebration. We finished our meals declined deserts and paid our bill which totaled around $280+/- with tip.

With a city growing as rapidly as Cape Coral and new dinning experiences opening all the time I can see why this place was empty compared to other restaurants on this side of cape. I should have known something was off when Mel’s Dinner had a full parking lot with a wait time and Applebees was less than half full.

Needless to say we will not be returning anytime soon, I’d rather go elsewhere for better service than pay to be insulted without...

My family and i arrived yesterday (saturday) night at about 8 each server has at least 2-3 tables so there not terribly busy so this should be smooth, quick, easy in-n-out. when we arrived we stood there for at least a solid 5 minutes before being greeted, not a huge deal but annoying and mind u while we are waiting there is a woman at the host stand this entire time and she just ignores us completley and just looks miserable. (Huge rule in our industry) whether your the host, the dish guy or the GM you should always greet the guest and comminucate that someone would be right with us and you smile!!!! RBF is for the kitchen out of guest view. anyways, so the hostess seats the couple who was in front of us and while we r waiting on her the manager approches us to try and give her a hand with seating. We were greeted almost promptly and she was very friendly. she takes our drink order and goes, we have our drinks. except for my father.......as soon as i tell you this drink your going to know whos table and what table we were but he ordered a double jack and coke no fruit per your recommendation. That drink sat on the bar for quite sometime. maybe 1-2 tables had come in after us and both of the big parties had finished eatting and cashed out, teamwork works wonders guys.......continued on, our food order is taken she informed us of any upcharges and choices we had for each entrees. Food did take some time but came out hot, correct and tasted delicious! Now up until this time our server was doing good but you only stopped by the table once? When our food had been dropped off and we had tasted or meals. during our meal the bite squad tablet starts to go off. Not even on my days off can I escape that sound.........anyways i have 1 thing to say about that, ANSWER THE MF TABLET!!!!! An order comes in, you select the flashing order, you write and or enter in the order, you hit accept order button, you select wait time and you send oder to kitchen. Pretty easy. No one in their right mind wants to hear that god awful noise through the majority of their meal especially with 3! People standing at the curbside/pick up station!!! Dinners done, plates are cleared and we ask for a box, another server comes to our table practically throws the box on the table and takes off like "heres your box guys, is there anything else i can get for you tonight?" How hard is that? Every server in that building should treat each table like its their own. period. no excuses. Our server then comes with our check, puts in on the table and goes. not 1 word. we also dont have a kiosk, understandable things break or whatever so we wait. And wait. And wait some more, she comes back out to check on her other tables, my father flags her down to pay And we go. I hate going out to eat but i dont get to see my parents often so i agreed, Now Ive been serving for almost 13yrs......im not very critical but i am critical towards the things that i know would piss off your everyday customer and things that affect your tips. Im sorry but this was a bad experience from the company as a whole not just because of our servers...

DONT GO HERE!

So my GF and I unfortunately missed dinner and was out and about looking for something eat that wasn’t gas station or fast food.

She pointed out Applebee’s and I mentioned they had 1/2 price appetizers after 10p, it was now 11:10p and they close at 12p

Wet we’re sat pretty much immediately and given our menus. We decided we wanted some appetizers only that we would share. This included 2 orders of the boneless wings and 1 order of Wonton Chicken Tacos which are usually my go to in my home location. When we sat down she made mention that the kitchen would be closing at 11:45p and that we needed to hurry

Unfortunately when the food arrived, they were not sauces almost at all and they were very hard as if they had been sitting. I asked the waitress for some Parmesan cheese only to find out that they “were out”. I then asked our “frustrated”server for the garlic sauce because I noticed that only 2 pieces were sauced and the others were not, same for my gf plate as she needed buffalo sauce.

I ate mine because I was hungry, my GF only ate 2 because they were hard and dry, so she moved on to the tacos which were also terrible. The meat was dry and chewy, had barely any sauce and the wontons were overcooked.

To make this worse, when she came to refill our drinks, she gave us our check, and said “I put them in to go cups because “it IS getting late” and made sure to notify me that the k kitchen was closed and I am un able to put ANY more requests in. I found that shocking!

I forced my food down and GF barely ate. At exactly 11:55 out servers TELLS US that we neee to pay because “unfortunately we are officially closed”

I asked her if they took Apple Pay and she said yea, get your things and “follow me to the counter to so you can pay and go” then showed us the door!

Never in my life have I been kicked out of a place like that! I have been in the food service industry for many years in the back of the house and if a table sat down 5min before closing we would have to serve that table. The waitress was rude, the food was terrible and I will never go back to this location.

I’ve had nothing but good experience at Applebees over the last 20yrs but this one has provided me with some of the worst service I’ve ever received and any sit down restaurant, I’m totally disappointed and that server, who never gave me her name should be reprimanded and I want a refund...