Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Olympia

The food was pretty good, the service was great, but the manager...

There was about 20 of us, we were all competing at a local sports event. We aren't found around that area so we kind of just accidentally ended up at applebees. It was difficult but they made it work, it was a mostly painless night, and when we went to tell the manager and thank him for his and the server's work, he jumped into this...business pitch/rant/insane babbling.

It started off pretty normal, he told us that if we liked the service, go online and let others know, which is reasonable. He told us to let others know about how he catered to our special needs, which is how he launched into this business pitch about he's going to open a bakery called (I cannot make this up) "Tard Cakes." He told us he would have special needs people work for him and donate half the money to people with disabilities. I thought it was WILDLY inappropriate, but I wasn't going to hang him for it, I guess. But he continued talking, trying to get us to invest in "Tard Cakes", telling us he has two masters and that his aunt makes 2.3 million dollars a year, then that number changed to 8 million dollars a year, by making 100,000 dollars a month. That math doesn't work but whatever. He continued to rant for probably two minutes before I got up and went to the bathroom to hide. One of my team mates followed me in there like a minute later. We were both really uncomfortable. I peaked out of the door to see that he was still ranting, even though i had been in that washroom for like three minutes. I saw a bunch of waitresses and talked to them about it. Apparently it was his first day, and he had done this a couple times. Oh my God.

He only left when we all got up to leave. I can't even believe this actually happened. I'm still shocked as I write this. Who does that?

I called the store, let them know, I really hope less people have to hear this...

Applebee's hosted our family gift exchange this year. We had five adults and two toddlers who were all pleased with our meals. We liked the variety of options, and the knowledgeable wait staff. Our server was able to answer several questions we had regarding the menu, ranging from how spicy is a dish, to the quantity of lettuce in a salad. She was also very kind in accommodating my mother's request for chocolate milk, which isn’t usually on the adult menu. She even did the “say when” thing so that my mother got the preferred ratio of chocolate to milk.

There was an issue with my order. I had chosen a sirloin steak with steamed broccoli and cheddar bacon potatoes. My plate arrived with the wrong sides. They had absolutely no problem fixing this. My plate had gotten mixed up with another table’s order due to a very busy kitchen. Making a side dish mistake is not the end of the world, and I wasn’t even upset because they were going to fix it. But I was shocked when the person who had actually made the mistake came out and apologized personally. She was a bartender who had stepped into the kitchen to help because it was busy and she just got two steak orders confused. They offered to give me soup, salad or anything else I wanted while I waited for my order to be remade. Ultimately they ended up comping my meal.

This is the only time in my life that I have had a restaurant employee not only explain why the mistake happened, but actually own it. She accepted responsibility for it. That is a huge deal to me. So few people are willing to take responsibility for their actions.

My steak was really good, cooked exactly to the doneness that I ordered and could be cut with a dinner knife, I didn’t need the steak knife.

The next time I am in Olympia I will be choosing...

We had a very disappointing experience during our recent visit to the Olympia location. It started with our order of a Long Island iced tea, which somehow led to a confusing argument from the server about the choice of drink. Then she asked if we wanted Coke to be added, it felt unnecessary and frustrating. Cole is not in a long island tea.

Then, my husband specifically requested his meal without onions due to an allergy, yet his plate arrived with onions nonetheless. This disregard for our dietary needs is unacceptable and could have serious consequences.

My son’s order was equally disappointing; he was looking forward to a sweet tea, only to be told that it was unavailable but got a unsweetened tea. It felt like every request we made was met with a lack of attention.

To top it all off, the "mac and cheese" my son received was far from what was expected. Instead of creamy mac and cheese, we were served a strange pasta dish with a greasy sauce, just two pieces of chicken, and a breadstick. This is not what we were led to believe we would be getting. It was to be four cheese mac and cheese.

Additionally, we were shocked when a beer was delivered to our table that we never ordered. The server mistakenly placed it down, then awkwardly took it back to deliver it to another table, raising concerns about safety—what if someone had tampered with it in the process?

Lastly, the kids' meals were notably smaller, and while we understand portion sizes for children, it's frustrating that they can't at least serve a full bowl of Kraft mac and cheese.

This isn’t our first poor experience at this location, and it's disappointing to see such consistent issues. We expect better service and attention to...