Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

My wife has always liked Applebee's. I could take it or leave it and would only go when she really wanted to. But, recently, I became a fan when Liz, a contestant I couldn't stand on Survivor 46 began to bawl and scream because another contestant won an Applebee's meal and chose not to invite her to eat with him. Liz explained that she had this goofy ritual of eating Applebee's with her daughter every Wednesday night, then going home to watch Survivor. She said her meal of choice was the bourbon mushroom and Swiss burger. I think that's what it's called. So, one night when my wife wanted to go to Applebee's, I decided to try this sandwich that pathetic Liz bawled over on Survivor.

I have to say, Liz is right. It's a great burger. My only complaint is they always ask if I want it pink inside or not and I always say "pink" and I always get gray. Why ask if Pink is not really an option?

We love the blondie with ice cream, too, though I don't have an anecdote to explain why.

The atmosphere there is okay. I suppose it's great if you love having a dozen TVs around you, all on different channels. I am not a fan of TVs hanging in restaurants or bars, so I do my best to ignore them. Aside from that, the decor is all right. At one point, though, I dropped a motel key card on the floor and reached down to retrieve it. I nearly lost my appetite. Do not look at the floors in this Applebee's. They're disgusting. At least they were last night.

I mainly wanted to do this review for my wife's sake. She was very taken by our wait staff. Her name is Sapphire. She was professional and friendly, speedy and accommodating. My wife left a nice note for the manager. I hope Sapphire knows about it and I hope she gets some kind of praise from the manager. My wife is picky about waitstaff so for her to be this impressed is...

Menu lists soups & salads. It’s $2 more per item if you’re ordering it a la cart. My friend got full sized entree and we were on the same bill. Still upcharged for adding soup & salad. I asked if she would allow me to order kids menu. She brought me one and said actually it’s .99 bc my friend ordered a meal. Amazing! Until 3 mins later she came back and took back that good news after conferring w her manager. I didn’t even ask for that. She just offered it and then came back and said just kidding. My friend got the only entree salad where breadstick not included even though the header of the salad entrees says breadstick included. Why are you trying to nickel and dime everyone for two people who’re trying to eat for $30 and still have to tip????? My French onion soup had zero croutons and my Caesar salad had 4 croutons and the server avoided us for the next hour like we were the issue. Neighboring table had verbal complaints their whole meal about ribs not being good and pasta not having sauce and struck up a convo w us on the way out about the poor way the restaurant chooses to run their business. Too bad. Your customers are not happy. I wish I had taken a pic of the soup because the cheese was solid on top and could not be eaten w the soup and I pulled out the cheese top and cut it up and put it on my salad bc that was the only way you could eat it. It would not melt into the soup at all bc the soup was warm...

I arrived with several friends within the last hour of the day Friday, the parking lot was filled! They were very kind to seat us immediately! The host took our initial drink order for water. He was very nice and gave outstanding service! He also explained our service gal would be a few moments before she could attend to us! That was the MOST outstanding service that I ever received ever here at this location! However, I really wish within the last hour, say at 11:15, the staff would advertise NO MORE ORDERS! BECAUSE I ORDERED, BUT NEVER RECEIVED MAIN MEAL OR ALCOHOL! IT LOOKED LIKE THE BAR WAS CLOSED! AND THOU THE SERVER WROTE DOWN MY ORDER, SHE NEVER TALKED TO OTHER SERVICE PEOPLE TO GET MY FOOD OR DRINK! I ONLY RECEIVED THE APPETIZER! AND SHE ACKNOWLEDGED HEARING ME ASK FOR SOUR CREAM BUT NEVER BROUGHT IT! SHE ALSO WAS RUDE IN TONE ALL THE TIME! VERY CURT! THEN SHE DIDN'T CHANGE MY BILL, TO REFLECT I NEVER GOT 2 ITEMS! AND CONFRONTED ME FOR NOT PAYING THE TOTAL! I PAID FOR APPETIZER AND ONLY 1 LEMONADE [SINCE NEVER GOT ORIGINAL DRINK, I CHANGED IT TO A LEMONADE. AND THEN, THE FAVOR WAS NOT MIXED RIGHT!!!] I SHOULD HAVE RETRACTED THE AMOUNT OF THE LEMONADE AFTER SHE SAID THAT SHE DIDN'T CHARGE FOR IT! I WILL NEVER RETURN TO THIS LOCATION!!!!!!! THE MANAGER NEEDS TO HELP GET THE ORDERS OUT AT THE END OF THE NIGHT--- OR JUST CLOSE EARLY---IF STAFF IN BAR IS NOT SERVING, AND IF KITCHEN ISN'T MAKING ANY MORE THAN...