Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Milwaukie

The only reason I don't give this place a 1 star is because the Bartender was doing his absolute best to acommodate the 20-something customers he had by himself.

I have never seen anything like this at a restaurant in my life. My partner and I came in around 7pm to have dinner. As soon as we walked through the door the hostess made eye contact....then walked away. Uhm, okay.. We knew the bar was open seating so we sat down and our bartender Christian quickly came and got our drink and food order. We could tell he was busy.The only bartender for the entire establishment.

For an HOUR we watched him bring orders to tables, take empty plates to the back, make cocktails for EVERYBODY, and remake drinks to demanding waitresses who were just standing around on the phones and complaining about the drinks "taking too long". When I chimed in and said, "Well he is all up here by himself..."- she rolled her eyes.

We had been watching 2 managers since we got there literally walk rounds through the store doing absolutely nothing. Oh wait, that's a lie. When the bartender needed a new bottle of alcohol one of the managers went to the back to grab it, sit it in the counter, and walk away. He didn't even open it for him-which almost sent me over the edge.

The managers were doing NOTHING! The waitresses were DOING NOTHING! I was at the point to where I was going to go back there to help him myself. He probably had fifteen orders at one time and I knew he most likely not had a break yet. I asked him where his managers were and that they needed to help him. He agreed and went back making drinks he had fallen behind on.

Where were the managers? Disappeared again, not surprisingly. I usually will bite my tongue because I don't like confrontation, but this was enough.

I asked if I could speak with one of the managers. Another coworker went and got them from the back. 2 of them went separate ways and 1 talked with me. The conversation went like this-

ME: Hi, so we have been her over an hour watching this man take orders, run orders, make cocktails, get dishes, make milkshakes, and cut up fruit for the cocktails all by himself, and I'm wondering what that is about?

MANAGER: I don't think I understand what you mean.

ME: What I mean is that this whole time he's been running around like a crazy person doing everything while everyone is just standing around do nothing. Even the managers haven't offered him help-or even ask if he needed it (although they clearly saw the chaos behind the counter.

MANAGER: Well, the servers can't be behind the counter.

ME: Okay, but they could be helping him cut fruit, cleaning the counters, and taking the dishes to the back.

MANAGER: I didn't know he needed help. //looks at the bartender// You know, if you need help you can call for me... (he obviously knew help was needed)

BARTENDER: I always need help.

ME: I just don't think it's right having him do all this work by himself and then split it with everyone else who is doing absolutley-f*ing-nothing. I manage employees as well, and it isn't fair.

MANAGER: //nods head and walks away//

I am gagged. Like , literally didn't hear anything I said, didnn't apologize, and left the guy alone again with no help. I'm appalled that the managers here would leave a employee by themselves with no help from employees or the leads. I'm appalled that any manger would treat their employee this way. The managers could have obviously gone back there to help, but they choose not to.

They don't care about their employees. Christian should get a raise-or at least he needs to find a job where he is respected and valued more.

I will be getting in touch with corporate soon to discuss...

This is for the clackamas location carside to go.

I'm giving 2 stars because their food is good. They get zero for customer service. My fiancee and I have been coming here for 5 years and it's been awful the past 6+ months or so. We've had the following happen: we had to wait another 20 mins past the 40 min pickup time because our food wasn't ready. A server come out after we had let them know we were there and ask for our name only to go back inside and not come back out for at least 10 mins before we went in and got our already ready food sitting getting cold. Another time we sent the message that we were there and got the acknowledged response only to go in and get our already ready food 10 mins later ourselves. Another time we didn't even send the message, my fiancee just went inside where the server at the front asked for the name, looked at all the bags waiting, then walked into the back and not return- 5ish mins later a young woman came out front and asked him how she could help him then proceeded to hand him the first bag that the gentleman had looked at. Last night was the worst yet.

I placed my order online at 10:19pm with a pickup time of 11:01. We were in the pickup spots at 10:58 which was when I sent the message and got the response text back. 5 mins later a young woman came out for another order and asked us our name. She then went back inside and we never saw her again. Shortly after she left a woman pulled up and jumped out of her car, went inside, and came back out with food- we assumed door dash or Uber eats and it was probably already ready for her. At 11:15ish another young woman comes out and informs us that they don't have my order and I must not have placed it. I showed her the confirmation which she quickly says "oh, ok I'll be right back". 10 mins later she comes back out and laughingly tells us that there is someone new working the carside to go and our order was handed out for a door dash customer with my same name (she had called and let them know that she recieved the wrong food) and that they were remaking it and it would be 10 mins. 10 mins goes by and door dash lady shows back up, goes inside, and immediately returns to her car with food and leaves. We wait another 5 mins before a young man who looked to be dressed like a manager came to our window with a bag and proceeded to inform me that they had deleted my order from the system and had to recreate it so my card had been refunded and I NEEDED TO RESUBMIT PAYMENT! At this point it was 11:45 which is more than an hour and a half since I had placed the order to begin with and now he's holding my bag up and demanding I pay for it? I told him "I had already planned on requesting my money back tomorrow anyway so...." He then looked me square in the face and told me he understood and that he would be right back, he needed to see what he could do for us.... I was in shock as I watched him walk away with our food, go inside, and proceed to "discuss" with the SERVERS what he should do. We decided at that point that since we had already recieved the refund that we were just done and left the joke of a situation. Unfortunately I don't recommend going to this location at the very least, not until they can get their staff properly trained (I imagine the pandemic issues have caused this increase in inexperienced wait staff). We definitely won't be giving them anymore opportunities to waste our...

We love the menu options. They have several cuts of steak to choose from and always cooked to perfection. They also offer Ribs, Salmon, and a variety of Chicken and Pasta entrees to choose from. The entrees are served with your choice of sides, I recommend the mashed potatoes and grilled veggies. If you prefer, you'll also find the "basic, go-to's" like soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches and chicken strips. Applebee's menu also includes a section of 2 for... deals. Don't quote me, but I believe there are 3 price points, which range from 2 for $22-$35. Like I said, don't quote me on that. Each of the 3 prices have about 3-5 of their dishes to choose from. You'll also find your typical list of appetizers, and don't forget about desert! There are a few yummy looking options, but we've always been too full to try any of them.

The service has always been great and the atmosphere is nice, no complaints. They have a bar that is situated in the middle of the restaurant and surrounded by booths, tables and a slightly elevated section of booths that are further away from the bar and TV area. The bar serves both beer and spirits, not sure about wine. They boast a few signature cocktails that I have enjoyed, as well.

This location is the perfect stop for a great meal while shopping at the nearby mall or the Walmart and other shops in the strip mall who they share the parking lot with. It's never been to crowded for us either. It's also a great place to have a couple beers and watch the game or you can have fun playing games on the device at your table. For $2.99, added to your bill, you can choose from several entertaining things to do while waiting for your meal. We love to play against random people or challenge each other at Trivia (I'm pretty competitive and usually win). Joking aside, I highly recommend...