Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Delafield

Not good! Stopped with 13 others on our way back from Milwaukee. Actually called 40 minutes before to make sure they could accommodate. Individual that answered the phone said “no problem”. Let’s share the experience..... Split the kids and parents up into two tables next to each other, which is fine. The kids waitress took their drink and “order”, our waiter took our drink order, and then came back about 20 minutes to take our order. Before he arrived to take our order our kids got the appetizers they ordered. About 15 minutes after he takes our order he brings the rest of the drinks that we had ordered. We ask the kids what they ordered because it seemed to be taking a long time and they inform us that the waitress never came back to take their order. My wife goes and takes our kids order on a napkin and gives it to our waiter because the kids waitress was nowhere to be found, only to have him inform us that he is not waiting on the kids table. After telling him that the waitress never came back he agrees to give the order to the waitress to process. The food didn’t take terribly long to get and mine was good, but my wife’s sandwich had a huge glob of gray hair pieces in it. Like someone was shaving over it. She tells and shows the waiter and he even says “wow, that’s a lot”. He offers to replace it and does which is appreciated. It come time for the bill and we had six separate checks. He goes from person to person and asks what they had. Each check recipient tells him what they had and he brings out their checks one by one (not all at once). Two families paid and left and the waiter came up and gave us a separate bill for all the appetizers and drinks....after the two families had already paid for their bills, including drinks and appetizers. We still had the rest of the families in the building that could show their drinks and appetizers were on both bills. I spoke to a person that claimed to be the manager about the fact that we were trying to be double charged and she said the problem was that the waiter added to the waitresses order and the computer didn’t recognize it....ok I get that could happen. But, she didn’t offer to take the duplicates off the other bill!! And apparently she wasn’t the manager because she went and talked to a different lady about what to do, which at first she was apparently told to do nothing. Angrily, we explained to the “non manager” that we had been there for close to 2.5 hours, there was a wad of hair in my wife’s food, and the waiter royally screwed up the bill. At that point she offered to take our appetizers specifically off the bill due to the hair in the food, but didn’t offer to take the other parties appetizers off until they explained that they have already paid for them once and that two families had already left! It was slooooowwwww when we were there too! Like 4 other tables. My wife and I, and others in the party, have all worked in the restaurant business or service industry for years so we typically have far more patience than the average customer. This however was the proverbial dumpster fire of an experience! We, nor probably others, will hold it against Applebee’s as a whole, but this specific location has some work to do. Maybe if it is just you and your spouse it would be fine, but they were not experienced enough to handle a group of 14 or separate checks. It’s not uncommon for separate checks on bigger parties and is not very difficult when the business is darn near empty. I would suggest this....if you are unable to maintain focus for short periods of time or unable to multitask, do not become a waiter or waitress. If you do, these are the types of experiences you will cause for customers, and these are the types of reviews your employer...

You definitely didn't come to Applebee's to be "family", or for "gourmet" food, and no it's not for the cheapest food in town...

The menu is just adventurous enough to have something for everybody, and here's the good news, it's actually above average for most chain restaurants. No, you won't find anything super uniquely exciting on their menu but you can tell the designing chefs made efforts to ensure the food would always be just a step above average, giving each dish a little something extra to make you want to keep coming back.

With that being said, they have unfortunately taken a disappointingly die hard position to push their extremely dry, chewy, mediocre boneless wings in place of their actually very good traditional wings, which are tender, juicy, fall off the bone, good with a delicious buffalo sauce that trumps most. You used to be able to get them with their appetizer sampler(now, combo platter), but strangely they now push the boneless and refuse to even make the substitution anymore. Granted, it's a minor detail having to order the wings separately from the combo in addition so I'll move on.

The staff seems to be composed of former and aspiring highschool flunkies (particularly the hosts). The managers never seem to have a handle on things, as tho every night is a mess to rival the previous. No one ever seems to know what's going on around them and they don't give off a sense they care to. Occasionally you will get a good waiter or bartender who is friendly, attentive, and competent. They never seem to last more than a couple years at a time tho before they've either left for better jobs or just got tired of poor management. This is just what I've gathered from my 19 years of experience dining here and getting to know several of the former staff.

The atmosphere is the very definition of cliche. There's no reason to discuss it. It's just fine, it's what most people seem to be just fine with.

In conclusion, good food but poorly run. Assuming they get your order correct, "Carside to Go" is going to be your best experience here unless they have a good bartender or waiter you enjoy seeing.

Side note: during my last dine-in experience, our waitress seemed to be newer but was very nice and wanted to be helpful. Some things were forgotten and some things took a bit longer than they should but I don't believe any of that to be her fault aside from not noticing what was or wasn't going on with her own section, which was not busy at the time. Not going to penalize her too much for that tho seeing as how she seemed to still...

Applebee's... what happened to you. Sometimes, going to a "national chain" restaurant is a "safe bet", because they're supposed to be standardized, and "follow the formula" for portion control, quality, temp, etc...

SO... I place a to-go order at the bar. I get the Prime Rib Dip sandwich, and Spinach Artichoke dip. I order a Pepsi with a slice of lemon, while I wait. Bartender rings me up... $25.17.

Not many people in the restaurant, but the night is early. Drink is finished, but no refills... she disappeared. Food finally comes out. At that time, I noticed dirt inside my drink glass. Took my finger, wiped, and showed the bartender. Still got charged for it. Paid for my order, picked up the bag, and left. Bag felt kinda "light" for $25 worth of food. I get to my destination, sat down to eat... and no fries. They're supposed to come with the sandwich.

SO... I walk back down to the restaurant, and my signed check is still sitting right where I left it... Told the bartender the fries were missing, and I could tell she was embarrassed. But then, she was supposed to check the order, to make sure it was correct prior to delivery.

She comes out with this red cup, with about 10 fries in there. Jokingly, I said "I just walked back because they were missing... pack them in"... so, she goes back in the kitchen, and comes out with 5 more fries.

sigh

OK... I'm done... just wanted to go back, and eat. Now, for the food...

I can taste the dirty oil on the tortilla chips. That kinda "acrid" taste. Clean your fryers. The Spinach Artichoke dip was barely warm. The Prime Rib was rubbery and chewy. And the French Onion "au jus" for the sandwich was so salty, made my ankles swell.

Applebee's used to be a top choice back in the 90's... but now, it's the choice when there is no other choice.

I still left a $5 tip... because that's what good working...