Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Columbus

I don’t usually write long reviews, but I feel like this experience deserves some attention—especially for the sake of the amazing service we received from our server, Alex.

We came in on a Saturday evening expecting a casual, enjoyable dinner. Things started off on the right foot—Alex greeted us warmly, was incredibly polite, attentive, and clearly doing their best to make sure we had a good experience. If this review were based solely on service, it would be five stars, no question. Alex anticipated our needs, kept our drinks filled, and checked in frequently without hovering. You could tell they cared about their job and about their guests having a positive experience.

Unfortunately, everything else fell short.

The food took well over 45 minutes to arrive, and the restaurant was not particularly busy. We watched multiple tables who were seated after us get served before we even got our appetizers. We remained patient, but by the time our entrees arrived, they were lukewarm and tasted as if they’d been sitting under a heat lamp far too long. One of my guests received the wrong side entirely. Another’s steak was severely undercooked. At that point, we asked to speak with a manager—not to cause a scene, but just to express our concerns and hopefully get the situation resolved.

That’s when things truly went downhill.

Manager Matthew came over and gave off an attitude from the start. There was no apology, no attempt to understand the issue or empathize with us as customers. In fact, his exact words were, “If you’re not happy, maybe you should go eat somewhere else next time.” Excuse me? That’s not how you handle guest concerns in hospitality—especially when the issues are clearly not about being difficult customers, but about basic expectations: timely food, prepared correctly, and a respectful response when something goes wrong.

We were shocked. Several of us work in customer service or hospitality and were stunned by how dismissive and rude he was. Instead of resolving anything, Matthew made it clear that our feedback was not welcome and that he was unwilling to make things right. Frankly, it felt like he just wanted us to leave and not come back. So sadly, we probably won’t.

To be clear: this review is not about “complaining to get free food.” We paid our bill, tipped Alex very generously (because again, they were the one bright spot in this whole experience), and left disappointed—not by the food delay as much as by the manager’s attitude and lack of professionalism.

If corporate or upper management reads this, please know: Alex deserves recognition for holding things together and doing a fantastic job under pressure. But Matthew should not be in a customer-facing management position if that’s how he chooses to represent the brand.

Three stars overall—only because of Alex. Otherwise, it...

I have visited this Applebee's several times over a duration of several months and things can be hit or miss here. The last time that I visited them was on 9/18/2020 and it was about the worse experience that I have had in any restaurant visit in my whole life and that is saying something. The person that showed us where to sit was nice and the wait staff was great but their servers definitely need to be retrained. I mean I used to work in the restaurant business and this particular server needs to be retrain on how to approach a table and how to serve that table. This person was only concern going to the back of the house to talk to the other servers that were also ignoring their tables too. It took ten minutes for at least one server to asked us if we have been helped and I said no which unfortunately for my husband and I this person became our server. We put in our order right away because we didn't know if someone would come back. This server didn't asked us how we wanted our food cook, are you allergic to anything so I can tell the cooks that, do you need anything extra with your food that you normally get with the type of food you are ordering. You know things like that.......right??? This individual didn't ask any of these questions and when this person did bring out our food, I was asking for a knife so I could cut up my chicken and y'all this person left while I was in mid sentence.......like who does that???? So my husband's food came out hot and he ate all of his food and I had to take my food home because by the time that I finally got a knife for my food it was cold and I just can not eat cold food. I drank the rest of my drink, try to pay for our food by using the kiosk that was on the table that completely froze on us and then we were ready to get the heck outta there. I had to get up and go to the bar to try to pay for our food because our server never came back and that's when the manager walked over to me because I guess someone told him that I wasn't too happy about the service we just receive in his establement. I told him what happen and that this wasn't the first time that we have been treated this way. That this has happened before with a different server of his and he was saddened to hear this. I told him that I would pay for my food because I don't believe in handouts and that I would not be returning to his Applebee's. He told me that he would give us a credit to come back and I said that I would have discuss it with my husband and will go from there. He said ok and shook my hand and I said thank you for listening and for being polite about the situation. We left after that and I don't know if we will go back but if we do, I'll updated my post. Thank you for reading this,...

Absolutely the WORST Applebee’s that I have ever been to! This is the second time trying the Easton location and I will never try it again! The restaurant was absolutely filthy as well as the staff. My server was Jordan R, she was nice at first but when I told her there was a problem, her attitude went south. She did not come back and do a check back at my table to ensure food quality. So when she finally came back to her section to clean her tables, because they were all dirty, I had to call her over to my table and let her know that my food was cold. Her response was, I will go get my manager. There was no attempt to try and fix the problem, she did not offer to make me a fresh plate or to heat up my food . She went to go get a manager at 12:32 and didn’t return back to the table until 1239. I try to eat one chicken tender out of the combo that I ordered and when I noticed it was cold I refused to pay for the meal because I had already waited nearly 45 minutes during this whole situation . She started to argue with me and told me that she would get my license plate number since I’m refusing to pay for the food that I didn’t even get to eat . Finally a manager came to the table after 10 minutes . Ashley was her name. The only reason I know what her name was is because she had to tell me I couldn’t do it by reading her name tag because her uniform was not complete. The management did not fix the problem did not offer to do anything for the inconvenience especially since this was the second problem that we have had at this restaurant and she was the same management that was there before . All-around it was a horrible experience. I didn’t want free food or anything like that just like the first time I paid for my complete meal and still left without being able to eat but the second time I absolutely refuse to pay for it because it was ridiculous what I had gone through .. I have been a shift lead , certified trainer and server for my current restaurant now for over four years and I would never treat a customer the way that they treated us . I will be sure to call corporate in the morning and I will make sure that nobody that I care about go to this restaurant...