Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Montclair

Male server was fantastic and attentive, very sorry I didn't get his name, because he was the best part of my personal experience here. My daughter and husband fared much better than I did. My husband ordered the wonton tacos appetizer as his meal. Happy hour, so they were half price, and he really enjoyed them, as he has on a number of previous occasions. My daughter ordered the chicken tenders with mozzarella sticks and enjoyed them also. I had a hard time ordering, and finally settled on the SW steak salad mid-rare, no tortilla strips, chimichurri and dressing on the side. Food came out very quickly. Literally, like in under 5 minutes, which surprised me. Husband and kiddo dig in and enjoy their food. I started to dig in to my salad. Chimichurri and dressing was served on the side. No tortilla strips. Looks good so far. I start to cut a strip of steak into a bite size piece, and found that my sliced steak on my salad was blue rare, essentially raw with a sear on the outside, and not mid-rare. Can't eat that. Just to check and make sure I'm not being unreasonable, I consult my husband to get his opinion. He agrees it's raw. Touch the inside to check the temp. It's cold. Flag down our server, and point out the problem. He asks how he can fix, and I choose not to eat at that point, because... It took me for freakin' ever to decide in the first place. I do not trust food served to me after I've sent food back. And most importantly... They sliced the steak for my salad and had to have seen that it was raw, yet they chose to serve it to me anyway. Likely hoping I wouldn't complain and send it back. Shows the kitchen staff do not care at all about what they're serving. Manager came out to check on me and make sure I really, really didn't want anything else. She was also very nice and seemed genuinely concerned about the situation. I assured her that I didn't want another meal, and I sat there while my family ate. Went home and heated up some leftovers to eat that I didn't want and was unsatisfying. Service was very good, even the hostess was very nice and helpful as we entered and left, but the grill cook tonight couldn't care less about what he put on my plate. Will not be back. Great service cannot make up...

Date: 1/9/25 Time: 5–7 PM

This was my second visit to this Applebee’s, thanks to “The Really Big Meal Deal.”

When I arrived, no host greeted me, but once she arrived, she was kind enough to add my name to the bar waitlist, as it was full. Shortly after, a server offered me a table, but a seat opened at the bar just in time, and I opted for that instead, freeing up the table for a larger party.

The restaurant was busy due to the championship game, which understandably slowed things down. The Burger was great, the patty was moist, the fries were well made but too seasoned. My server, Patrick, started off well but quickly fell short in many areas.

Here’s what he did right: • He took my order and dropped my food and drinks off.

Heres what he did wrong: • He ignored the trash that had accumulated at my spot, though he cleaned up for others. • He didn’t offer to refill my drinks, and the soda he initially served was room temperature with only a sliver of ice. By comparison, the man seated next to me was served a properly chilled drink with plenty of ice. • Patrick didn’t provide or offer condiments, though he asked the man next to me if he needed any. • Most shockingly, I witnessed Patrick stick his finger inside a beer glass before serving it to a woman. When I suggested he replace it, he refused, saying, “No, I won’t.” It wasn’t until I informed the woman what had happened that he begrudgingly replaced it. • He tried to take my check prematurely, but didn’t process it. Another bartender ended up running my bill after Patrick left the bar for the second of three times.

Patrick’s behavior gave the impression that he was unhappy in his role, and his lack of professionalism stood out. The bar could also benefit from more diversity in staff, which might improve both the atmosphere and service.

While the meal deal remains a great value, the service at this location left much to be desired, largely...

We ate here tonight on a drive home from Palm Springs. We've eaten here a few times, so it's familiar and we know what to expect.

So, what happened tonight to drop it to a bad rating?

I'll start with the easy stuff. Please note that I'm reviewing this restaurant as an Applebee's or Chili's level place. The atmosphere is good. Definitely above average for this type of restaurant - maybe even 4 1/2 stars.

Next is service. A little worse than normal. The waiter forgot about us one too many times. I didn't like that. Also, our food was brought out at different times - one meal well before the other. That's not good! So, average for this type of restaurant.

Last is food. I wanted to have some pasta - particularly their new blackened chicken penne, but I can't have cream sauce and they don't have a tomato sauce they could use instead. So I ordered a bacon double cheeseburger and she had the four chicken tacos - she loves these. Her tacos were spicy - too spicy for her. My burger was good, better than I expected. So that looks like a three star - maybe even four. She had some sort of shaken drink, which she liked and I had a Coke - I'm driving. We also ordered a dessert, some sort of white sauce and caramel nut over ice cream and a brownie or bread. We enjoyed the dessert. All was okay.

On the way home, I started feeling bloated. When we got home, I rushed to the bathroom. About a half hour later, she started feeling the same way. I don't think it's anything terrible like salmonella or e-coli, but we did get sick from it. If I could give the food a 0, I would. I believe it happened during the preparation or storage.

Will we go back again. I don't think so. I don't like it when I get sick after a meal - and both of us got sick, so it was...