Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Marshfield

In Marshfield on business and am currently at this Applebee's for my second and final time. This is not because I am finished here - I am actually here for another two weeks - instead, the service has been lackluster, at best. The food is okay, with mediocre to poor presentation. The hostesses were pleasant each time I came in (thanks for the warm greetings each cold night).

That said, I have had the same bartender each time. A younger fellow who seems to be running in ten different directions at once. I have worked many service jobs, including bartender, short order cook, waiter, dishwasher, and even bar back. I am not foreign to the job he has.

My recommendation to him is: take a breath, re-sort, reorganize, and have a game plan as things fall into place. Allowing oneself to get out of hand is only to your detriment. I am writing this lengthy piece not as a direct criticism, rather as an aside and assist. Clearly, what you try to do is not working well, so maybe further training or a new tactic will make your service soar! I have noticed that you also handle take out orders, but maybe, if it is something that is too much of a burden, request that the hosts/hostesses help out, or even handle them.

The assists you receive don't really seem to get you any further. You stumble from one task to the next, hoping to catch up, but you never do. Even when you did check on me, instead of identifying the obvious (my drink was completely empty), you only asked, "How is everything?"... followed by a blank stare. The first two times on my previous visit, I took that as you just being busy at that moment. Sadly, this was the same thing every single time you approached me. When getting up to your customer, scan for the obvious. That will help with tips ( I promise). Also... Pre-Bus! Until someone else came up and took my finished soup bowl away (10 minutes after I was done, followed by you passing by me numerous times), it just sat there. One quick grab... and, it's gone! Also helping towards tips.

As for my taco plates, which have been sitting here 5 minutes prior to me even beginning this long tirade, they could have been grabbed at least 7 times I have counted as you kept going by.

Anyways, good luck! I hope that either a bit of my advice helps you make great strides with what you do here, or someone else can offer tips and suggestions to step up your game and your tips, too! Again, look at what needs to be done, re-sort, reorganize, and have a solid gameplan. With bartending ANYWHERE, things changed within seconds. Knowing how to shift the priorities of things just as quickly will make you a superstar. And the little things DO matter.

I just went through to make edits... for the first time, you asked me if I wanted more for my drink. At least you did it at the end... but my plates are still in front of me. Again, I hope the best for you and others, here. I will not be...

What an absolutely HORRIBLE experience!! Coming into the restaurant, we were told there would be a wait, which everyone was fine with. We asked if we could sit at the bar, so we could get some cocktails and milkshakes before dinner, we were told that was totally fine. As we sat and waited, we started to notice others coming in well AFTER us, were getting not only seated, but also served. That is when we heard the bartender, Aunika, tell one of the servers NOT to serve us, or take our order, as we were told there was a wait, and we came to the bar thinking we would get faster service. Needless to say, the service at the bar was unbelievably bad. Waiting 10 minutes before even being acknowledged is bad enough, but then to wait an additional 15 minutes to receive a couple of beers is unbelievably bad! This is why we had the time to look around and realize that others, coming in after us, were getting seated and served, while we still waited. One of the people in our party actually asked some guests on that side of the bar, if we really heard this Aunika correctly, they whole-heartedly confirmed this, and they thought it was absolutely disgusting that we had to put up with this treatment. Now, we all understand that sometimes people need to wait to be seated, but for an employee to tell other employees this, and with animosity in her voice, that is completely unacceptable! I BEGGED everyone in my party to NOT tip this person...she did not deserve anything, and should not be allowed to work in customer service! Once we FINALLY got a table, we asked for a manager to serve us, as we definitely would not be leaving a tip, and we did not feel the person serving us, should have to put up with the MAJOR dereliction their coworkers showed of their job duties! This lasted for 10 minutes. The manager proceeded to leave, with zero notification to us, and pawned our table off on someone else, who was a normal server. Even though we DID NOT want to leave a tip, as our service was absolutely horrendous, and we felt extremely disrespected, we all ended up leaving the girl a tip, as she was very good. One of our party did go to some other manager, and explained we did NOT want the tips we left to go to ANYONE except our actual server, as everyone else we dealt with was an absolute pathetic excuse for a server, and they are ones that should NOT be in customer service! This Marshfield location has been one of the WORST experiences that any of us have been put through at a chain restaurant! To think that you are actually charging people money to patronize your location, with the service you are providing, is absolutely appalling! Do better,...

I will start by saying that my Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp was good. Food was hot, chicken was cooked perfect. HOWEVER, the service was really poor. My first impression of the restaurant was that it could use a wipe down. There is a layer of scuzzy grease on everything. Booths, walls, you name it. Then, my daughter and I were sat and it took a bit for our server to make it over. I later learned that all servers were given only 3 tables a piece because it's slow. I overheard this as our server JJ (name on nametag), was arguing with the host over where she was seating guests. That resulted in a couple turning around and walking out. I'm assuming because of the drama. Then I watched my server get consistently distracted, talking to her "brother in law" and forgetting simple things to bring to tables. Then, our food was put in. Mind you, there are 6 tables sat at this time. It became clear very quickly that she forgot to put our order in, as we saw food go out to tables and tables cash out, in the time we waited for our food to come. She let us know it would be a while because our food was "given to another table with the same order". So our food arrives, probably 45 minutes from order time, and it's incorrect. The sandwich was made beautifully, but it had cole slaw and Smothered in a sauce. My daughter wanted the new honey mustard chicken and this one was not sufficient. She ate her fries and I told JJ. She spun a tale of how it was the cooks and I stopped her. I said "please dont blame them. It's obvious you have been distracted with giving your boyfriend money and him being here 2x since we sat and being very absent when there are such few guests" (and she told me it was her brother in law). I said either way, perception is everything. She gave him money, she disappeared so many times, and she forgot a lot of things when she made trips back and forth. This was a rough experience. And I dont appreciate her not taking responsibility for her poor service and forgetfulness. Don't blame cooks. Those dishes came out stunning. Even if we didnt get the right sammich. Visit this location with caution. The manager didnt come to apologize either. But I saw her yapping in the office when I went to use the restroom. So I know she was on shift. Those cooks should move on. They would be so much better off somewhere else in town. I'm afraid this place is a...