Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Logan Township

When I walked in, there was a lady and her daughter in front of me and my 3 grandkids. There were 4-5 Applebee's workers at the hostess stand, having conversations with one another, it was a couple minutes later that they acknowledged this woman and asked how many in her party, she replied 2 they turned back around and picked up with their conversation, rather than stating please have a seat it will be a 5 min wait, she just stood there and after a few minutes she said how long before I am seated at which time they than said you can have a seat. These 4 or 5 associates preferred to have conversation with each other than taking notice to us patrons. When we were seated I had inquired about gluten free options as my granddaughter has celiacs disease. A waiter came over and said he too had celiac but he couldn't answer some of the questions I had so he called over the manager who directed me to the small kiosk that is at each table, there is a selection on there that is nutrition which led me to a button called gluten. I was given a selection of items that we thought were gluten free, they all knew I was looking for gluten free, during the few conversations I had with 2 waiters and 1 manager none of them mentioned that you don't use a separate fryer and we trusted that what we were getting was gluten free, only to find out it wasn't as my granddaughter was sick the entire next day. I called the next day and spoke to another manager who said he would have the manager call me as I was very upset that my granddaughter was sick all day. Well, I never did get a return phone call. I suggest you educate your staff on celiac as so many folks have gluten allergies, sensitivity, or celiacs. You are in the food industry and your staff should know how to address these types of situations. Our waitress was awesome and patient as we went through the menu trying to find something suitable for my granddaughter to eat. Your hostess shouldnt have 4-5 associates going and kissing around with each other ignoring customers.

UPDATE: I chatted with someone at Applebee's think it was an assistant manager or something and this person told that a manager or someone with more authority would call me back, but needless to say, they didn't. Very poor customer service.

UPDATE, I did receive a call back, and the gentleman I spoke to was extremely attentive and concerned about my granddaughters health. My concern was to share with him the need to educate staff about Celics disease and how certain foods can be harmful to one who suffers with Celiacs. I appreciated him taking the time to contact me. If this incident triggers more staff training and awareness, then that will...

My daughter asked if we could go to Applebee's for dinner the other day but they have not been one of my preferred eateries in recent years as their menu options just did not seem to be all that appetizing. I had also lost interest in them when they stopped offering the half priced appetizers that were a good option for a meal for my daughters. Since I have a hard time saying no to a request from my kids as to a place to eat I of course said yes. We arrived a little after 5:00 with plans to meet some friends we had not seen in a long time and were offered a few options for seating immediately as well as a table that would be empty in a few minutes. Since our friends were not yet there we decided to wait for the better option of seating. As we headed to the table our friends arrived so timing was perfect as we were all seated at the same time. A brief time later Sarah came over and took our drink order and then brought them out quickly when she also took our meal request. This is now where one of the only two not good experiences occurred with the first being that although Sarah had done very well there was another young lady who brought our dinners out to us. I'm not sure if she was having a bad day or something but she just didn't seem to be quite as happy as Sarah was. It's not a big deal or something that would keep us away but I hope everything is okay with her. The other not so good experience was with the meal I had ordered and it's not that it was bad, it just wasn't as good as I had had back in February at the Vineland store. All in all it was a good night one I will remember for the good experiences not my...

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One Star – Absolutely Disrespectful to Customers

Applebee’s is pretty standard wherever you go. The food is nothing to write home about, but you know what you’re getting—basic eats, decent prices, and a place to catch a game. But what happened at the Swedesboro Applebee’s was so off-the-rails disrespectful that I’ll never set foot in there again.

Let me set the scene: The Phillies are up by four runs in the seventh inning against Colorado. A solid game, good crowd, everyone in the entire restaurant—not just the bar—was watching and enjoying it. Without warning, the bartender walks over, grabs the remote, and changes the channel on the biggest TV in the place. But he doesn’t stop there—he also cuts off the surround sound, switching the audio over to some random basketball game.

Why? Not because anyone asked. Not because it was a major event. He just likes basketball more than baseball. And when multiple customers clearly showed they were upset, he stared everyone down like we were the ones out of line.

Within ten minutes, every single customer in that building got up and left. All of us. And the bartender didn’t seem to care one bit.

This wasn’t a mistake. This was someone deciding their personal preferences mattered more than every paying customer in the building. And in South Jersey, you don’t cut off the Phillies mid-game and expect people to stay. I don’t go to restaurants that show basketball games over baseball. I definitely don’t go to ones that force it on you.

Swedesboro Applebee’s—do better. Or don’t. I’m never going...