Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Knightdale

If I could give this place 0 stars I would! As a very tenured hospitality professional myself, appalled is an understatement As a hospitality professional myself, appalled is an understatement! To start things off, the communication between kitchen and FOH was off because we ordered apps and entrees only to be told 15 minutes later that what we asked for was either 86'd or not being offered at all. Then my app and entree were ran to my table at the same time after everyone else had there apps. No worries I get it it happens, then the drinks we ordered (5in total) couldn't be made in full so the Gentleman brought 2 and said they were on the house because the other 3 couldn't be made. Ok whatevs totally get that bar issues happen. Then there was the very good spirited nice server! She was great and did her best, but was very uneducated on the menu and the greet was off and lackluster. None of us got to eat together food came to the table 1 at a time 3 came out cold... I can go on forever about the experience being terrible! I asked to speak to a manager 10 times. She would not visit my table, she couldn’t have been the GM maybe FOH manager either way she did one table touch and with that one visit she didn’t even ask what she could do. I was VERY polite as I’m a General Manager at a restaurant myself, we were very nice! 3 people from my party didn’t even get to eat with the rest of the table. 1 sizzler plate actually came out sizzling the other 2 were cold, the plates were hotter than the food. I gazed the restaurant and from 8:30-10:30 there were maybe 4-6 walk-in parties 15 open menus tops. very SLOW evening I’m not sure what made this experience terrible but the manager did not make it better. She left the server who has no power in this to deal with us alone. You can tell she was nervous and embarrassed. This experience would be bad to the average guest. But for me a restaurant professional it was completely unacceptable and after the checks were dropped we stood up for about 5 minutes to wait and see if the manager would come speak to us she totally ignored our party. Like I said we were very nice & polite my guests were very upset but I did not let them talk at all because I wanted this handled how I would handle it if it were my restaurant. She did not touch the table at all. We did not ask for anything we just wanted to eat hot food together as a family and we were completely ignored. Yesterday evening was by far my worst restaurant experience ever in my life. I’d terminate the manager and write up the server if this were my restaurant. They both should be re-oriented, if the GM were present this would never have happened. Note: another table in our section had similar issues and the server appeared to be very frazzled and nobody had her back she clearly new and was weeded with a 3 table section. She needs a few more shadow shifts maybe. Either way thanks for reading hope the information I provided helps in bettering guest hospitality at this...

I should have known it was going to be a bad night when the waitress took our drink order, repeated the drinks back and came back with ice in both drinks. I pointed out that both of them should be without ice and she took my wife's back and brought it out without ice. Then she went around the floor and came back later. At which point I pointed out the lack of a drink without ice for me. And was ignored. Then our food came out and my wife's meal was over-flavored with the herb sauce. I could taste it just from smelling it sitting across the table. She tried eating it, but was completely overwhelmed. This while my chicken fajita roll-up had come out as a shrimp roll-up. Bear in mind that the waitress and I discussed other dipping sauces for it when I placed my order. And yet it still came out wrong.

On her next pass, which was when my properly prepared meal came out, I advised her that I needed a refill, without ice and actually got it this time. She took my wife's back to the kitchen to get it out of her face and offered to let my wife get something different. However after that taste, she had lost her appetite.

We were checked on a couple more times while I ate my chicken fajita roll-up and when she brought the bill my server informed us that they had taken off my wife's meal. I looked over the ticket and handed her my bank card. And when she came back from running the card, the amount ran was for $10+ more then the one I approved.

When I pointed it out, she went back and talked to the manager. And the manager came out 10 minutes later and said that they had already cashed out and gave me a little business card that is supposed to be some kind of $10 voucher good at any Applebee's.

Applebee's still has gift cards, right?

Applebee's can reverse the charges on the credit cards, right?

Why is it that Applebee's shows you one ticket, runs your card through and then brings and entirely different ticket out to your table? The check I approved was duplicate #2, why would duplicate #3 (brought to my table after running my card) be showing the added back items? Does Applebee's have an issue with their...

My review is from a few days ago, I meant to do this earlier but got busy and forgot. I stopped in for their chicken strip lunch with fries. The young woman greeted me as I walked in, simply welcoming me to Applebee's(why greet a customer that REQUIRES a response like, Hi, how are you????). She gave me a few options for seating and I asked for a high top table in the bar, she offered a table with the most views of the tv's, which I appreciated as I like to eat, read from my kindle or watch some sports. My order was taken and my drink brought to me in a clean glass(meaning no water spots, etc.). While I was reading and waiting for my food, I looked around and noticed the restaurant seemed very clean from the flooring to the table tops to the seats. Employee's were walking around, talking and busy making sure everything looked squared away(sorry, retired military). My food arrived and it looked BEYOND delicious, seriously, I was blown away. Yes, I know it was just chicken strips with fries but the chicken strips looked fresh and were piping hot. I always order my fries no salt, extra crispy and they were EXACTLY as I had ordered them, and equally piping hot. The plate my food was on was clean and even though I had ordered extra bbq sauce, my server said their sauce containers are quite large and if I needed extra sauce to let her know, which I did not need. The food was spectacular, chicken strips were fresh, hot and crunchy and my fries were also delicious. As I finished my meal, I asked my server if she was the manager and she said no, but if I wanted the manager she would get her. Manager came out, introduced herself and asked how she could help, very professional. I explained from the moment I walked in, I felt welcomed, the restaurant was clean, my food was fantastic and overall I was happy to eat lunch there. She was thankful, explained that they had an employee meeting just before opening to make sure everything was ready for customers and complimented her employee's, a good leader gives credit where...