Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Casselberry

4 out of 5, because of ... The Power of Customer Service (Read All for accurate review)

We arrived at Applebee's and waited to be seated, it took a bit of time, but we waited and the hostess saw us and seated us. It wasn't that busy, but for the late evening hours it was probably a lot for the number of staff on. We came in and were followed by about 4 other tables as we waited 20 minutes to be greeted and  served. Now I always try to be patient and put myself in their shoes; but as we saw not 1, not 2, but all 4 tables that came in after us be greeted and served before us. Patience was beginning to wear thin. I can understand you being busy, I can even understand not knowing who came in first when it was similar times (as the first table came in at almost the exact time), but that 4th table was in the last minute of the 20 minute wait and was greeted within 60 seconds of sitting down. So I told my husband, I need to get something out of the car and we would allow them about 2 more minutes, and to order everything if they came by. As I re-entered the restaurant, a man who I assume was the manager greeted me. I explained, I didn't need to be seated, as I was seated 20 minutes ago and waiting on a server. He promptly asked if he could be our server and did so in an ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL manner. He immediately took our entire order, got us drinks, and offered to comp the check, BUT here is the point I want to make. He did such a fantastic job, I felt no NEED for the check to be comped. So we happily paid the bill AND tipped this man. He truly deserved it. I hope Applebee's appreciates THIS man. If I owned a large company, I would want a man like this running things. I only regret not getting his name. As I am not sure if the name on my receipt is his. Poor oversight on my part. I was tired, but thanks to this man, not hungry and hunting for another...

We came here because we were given a gift card as a gift. Honestly, I wish that I could trade the gift card in to someone else for a different restaurant! We waited about 20 minutes to be sat in a nearly empty restaurant. There were two tables in the dining room with patrons in them, and the rest were empty. Three of us ordered the all you can eat wings, ribs, and shrimp, and one person ordered the whiskey barbecue burger. The wings were actually decent although it took an excessively long time to get the order out. The server was really nice and brought us fresh fries Separately from the wings. The burger looked somewhat decent, but my friend did not finish it because it was entirely too sweet. I tasted it and it was pretty dry and bland. The refill of the wings took a really long time! We ordered the shrimp for one of The refills, and although the menu calls it double crispy shrimp, they were soggy and lukewarm, and tasted as if they were on. The third refill of wings took about 15 minutes, which seems really long when you are well into a meal. Getting the check, took forever too! This entire meal took over two hours for something that likely should have been wrapped up in under one hour. The server was fantastic although he was clearly handling most of the tables in the restaurant by himself. I saw somebody waiting for takeout for probably 45 minutes and ended up leaving empty-handed! I honestly do not know why this location is open if they are so severely understaffed in service and in the kitchen. I will likely be re-gifting these gift cards because I have no reason to return back to this restaurant chain. We ordered takeout a little before we were finished eating, and it took at least 30 minutes to bring out a single burger to go. Definitely do not go to this location unless you have...

Hey, it's Applebee's -- decent food at reasonable prices, but also open, with full menu service, well after most other restaurants have closed ('till midnight Sunday-Thursday and 1:00 AM the next morning on Friday & Saturday closing shifts) -- and the kitchen will make or customize pretty much anything, so long as they have the ingredients. I was looking for a late night snack, so I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with a side of tomato basil soup. Apparently that franchise who operates that location has not provided an "adult grilled cheese" button on the computer screen (the Applebee's at home in Massachusetts has it) because the bill showed charges for two slices of bread and three slices of cheese, but they made it -- and it came out of the kitchen cooked to perfection. The tomato basil soup also was absolutely delicious!

Now, there were two significant problems during my visit. The first is that the bartender who served me, whose name shows as "Sarah G" on the bill but who prefers to be called "Abby," was totally stellar -- so much so that she totally upstaged the food, which should be the star of the show in any restaurant -- and this, in spite of the fact that I ordered food that Applebee's consistently gets right! The experience is like going to a movie in which the supporting cast completely upstages your favorite star or to a comedy show in which the "straight man" completely upstages your favorite comedian. Argh! And the second problem is that I have investments in the restaurant industry, and this superstar is working for another company rather than for one of our brands, where higher check prices would bring her much higher gratuities. Ouch!

But yes, I look forward to returning to this location whenever live brings me back to the greater...