Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Oh boy… Where to start. Last night me and a friend met up here for some food and drinks. I used to work at a hotel nearby, so I am used to food from here being very average, not bad. I don’t know if new management took over, but our experience left a lot to be desired. I do want to say it has nothing to do with our server, I forgot his name, but he was great. Professional, quick service, friendly, no issues there.

The DRINKS: my friend doesn’t drink much and she ordered the Hennessy Pina Colada that replaced the normal one and ended up sending it back. It’s was weirdly ice-y (visually) like not blended, kinda ruff snowcone grind of ice shards and she kept trying to mix it up before giving up on it. She also said the coconut/ pineapple flavor wasn’t there. I had just gotten off work and ordered a margarita. After drinking half, I decided I wasn’t gonna drink empty calories for the small amount of tequila I detected, because it was just gross. Not subpar, gross. I ordered two shots of tequila with salt/ lime and sent the paid drink back because it was that bad (I said I would pay for it since I drank half out of 5 o clock glad to have alcohol desperation .) Not only did it taste like it had very little tequila (my friend said she didn’t taste alcohol,) the mixer honest to god tasted like it was made with tap water or boat water. That bad. I don’t turn my nose up at alcohol often, but when I’m paying for it I expect it to be drinkable.

The food was subpar as expected. Not bad, completely edible, but not great. Tasted like frozen boneless wings from the store if they were refried, the breading/ sauce part was kind of a shell with meat inside of it. My friends salad actually looked really good and she really enjoyed it! I know the food can be pretty decent and if I had more of appetite I would have ordered a burger, and assume it would have been decent for the price.

I have nothing against Applebees or anything to gain, I just want management to know they might need to start having the bartenders, or someone, taste a strawful of what’s going out. Diluted, gross mixer drinks even at $6 for a decent sized glass is hard to swallow. I honestly feel like the whole shtick to happy hour is watered down alcohol and half off apps, that was my experience and I won’t be coming back. It was almost $50 before tip and the quality was just not close to that, inflation considered. I hope changes get made in the future as I’ve had better experiences at Applebees, and that area/ the hotels need solid food and drinks for people who are out of town and don’t want to go much farther than the parking lot once it gets...

Horrible experience with curb side pick up... I placed an online order for the curb side pick up to be ready at 4:00 pm. I placed this order online because I was on my 30 minute lunch break and needed the food to be ready when I got there. When I arrived at 4:00, I tried calling the store phone to let them know I was outside, waiting. The phone line was busy. I called about 4 times and it was busy each time. Now, it was 4:08 and I had only 22 minutes left on break. I go inside, already annoyed and get to the to-go counter and nobody was there, yet employees are steady walking past, nobody asking if I had been helped. I call the store phone and the line was still busy. I call the second time, I hear and see the phone ringing since I am at the to- go counter and someone comes to the to-go counter and answer the phone.. I guess calling the phone while I'm in the building was the only was I was going to be acknowledged. I ask to speak to a supervisor to voice my concerns about my ecperience this far.. Now, it is 4:16 and I still have yet to get my food. The manager, Morris doesn't come from the back until 4:21 asking what I had ordered.. I tell him and he turns around to go get it from the kitchen.. When he comes back he asks me to check and make sure everything is okay.. I say no.. I ordered the 3 cheese chicken penne and they gave it to me in a side cup, as if it was a side item, but it was not.. this was my entree.. I explained the portion was way too small then what I usually get.. He goes on and tries to tell me that this was the size container it always comes in. Out of all of the times I have ordered this item, it has never once came in a side cup, but instead the full container. We start going back and forth and then he tells me "I'm not going to argue with you." I said "It's fine, at this point I just need my food to be free." Morris told me he cannot give me my food for free, instead he tells me he is "sorry" and can give me 30% off.. My food was $8.55.. 30% off is $2.56...... I am beyond mad at this point because not only am I going to be late back to work, I also am now paying for a smaller portion and won't even have time to eat it!! The manager did nothing to help at all.. I order curb side pick up from this applebees all the time because of it's convenient location to my job, but after this experience, I will NEVER be back! Morris needs a new training on what being a manager is.. Red Lobster...

Applebees used to be good but those days seem to be over. I bought carryout for my family for my son's birthday and food was all closed in bags with knots. I did notice I was missing soup so went back in to get that. It was a rainy night too. Drove home ten minutes to find very cold food and one riblet basket looked ok while the other one had the smallest riblet I ever seen. The sauces were wrong or non-existent. I called and spoke to the manager who basically called me a liar and said I had to bring the food back to be weighed. My son bit into his burger and something hard was in it and he spit it out. Drove back and was treated like we were lying, the the server said we saw the food before we left which was a lie as it was tied with delivery stickers all over it. He told me they do not give cash refunds at all, only gift certificates. I had paid some in cash and most of it on my debit card. The manager offered to remake the food or get a gift card, but no refunds. The receipt, nothing, says they do not give refunds!!!! We didn't want that food. But he said I had to wait until the next day and he would send me a gift card. I left there with no food, no money, no refund, and I felt robbed!!!! I called the Regional Manager number on the receipt and she answered and was nice. She said corporate does not allow any cash refunds so she would send me a $10 gift card and the rest would be put back on my card. I got the gift cert for $10 but after 2 weeks I still have not received my refund. The Regional Manager kept responding to me saying she is waiting for corporate to respond to her email regarding my refund. However, she has not responded at all today. They didn't even offer me anything for the aggravation, the time energy or gas I spent dealing with this issue, not to mention the inconvenience it caused me and my family on my son's birthday! I do NOT plan to return to or spend any of my hard earned money at any Applebee's again!!!! They are thieves and this has been my worst experience at any restaurant in my entire life!!!! Applebees has definitely left a bad taste in me and my family's mouths!!!!!!

June 11, 2025- I received my refunds on my debit cards and got a gift card for the inconvenience. The Regional Manager kept in contact and helped remedy the...