Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Ottumwa

Updated Review: Short version - The rumors are true; it appears things have improved here. I am happy to upgrade my rating from 1 to 3 stars.

Long version - Word spread through the community that Applebee's had undergone significant changes. My family was curious to give it another chance, and I can confirm that things have indeed changed.

The food was standard Applebee's food. It'll never be a 5 star meal, but it was overall as it should be. All plates came out all at a suitable temperature, at the same time, and without any errors. That alone, hitting the average, is a MASSIVE improvement from my last experience. Food quality for value still isn't there, but it's at least competitive pricing for the quantity of food as of the time of this review update.

The service was actually pretty good. I believe some of the staff is newer and made the occasional error on taking the order at our and other tables, but that error never reached the kitchen. The waitress read orders back to confirm things, at which point she caught and corrected the mistake. I can't ask for more than that out of a new employee. The rest of the staff didn't look miserable this time! They were busy, as is to be expected on a Friday dinner rush, but they all kept communicating with each other, laughing, and they were all prompt on checking in with us as well as other customers near us.

Misc: Those table tablet devices are gone. You can enjoy your food without having to find a place for a device that isn't a part of your meal experience. I appreciate that change very much.

My compliments to the chain and the franchise owner for making adjustments that were desperately needed. I hope they can continue this trajectory.

Old Review: What a disappointment. This location is suffering from being unwilling to pay competitive wages to appropriately staff waiters and kitchen crew. Details are as follows:

We began by waiting 15 minutes for a table while half the restaurant was empty tables during dinner rush hour. I should've taken the clue and left at that point.

We had our orders taken shortly after being seated, which was the high point of the experience. After that, it took 20 minutes for a single mozzarella sticks appetizer to arrive. It took another 40 minutes for any of the entrées to arrive at the table.

Of the 4 entrées ordered, only 3 of them were prepared, and one arrived COLD on the plate. I couldn't say if the kitchen missed the 4th order or if the waitress didn't get it entered. Either way, my order failed to arrive.

While we were waiting, there was abundant time to observe. Three of four adjacent tables had their food delivered incorrectly multiple times. The hostess was also bussing tables, taking drink orders, and expediting. Our actual waitress was handling many tables and didn't ever check back in with us during the wait as she was going back to the kitchen with such frequency to try and correct things.

After everyone else had finished eating, I still had not received my food. Eventually, I requested it simply be put in a to-go box when it was prepared.

There was no goodwill gesture, no manager visit, and a single apology from a waitress who was obviously miserable in the circumstances of the evening.

I got my bill, paid, and it was then I received my food.

The franchise owner of this location should be embarrassed on a personal level. This is not an issue of individual staff problems, but the entire restaurant being positioned to provide a disappointing experience to customers. If you can't find employees in either quantity or experience sufficient to run your location, then either pay a wage to attract those employees or find someone else to run things.

This is not the first time I've had this experience at this location. I hadn't eaten here in over a year for this reason and don't see myself ever...

Edited to add that the GM reached out, apologized for our experience and will be making changes based upon feedback.

We stopped at the Ottumwa Iowa Applebees just before 6:20ish on March 28th. We were seated at a booth in the bar area. Our waitress took our order after a few minutes and brought us coffee. She evidently was also the bartender because she was behind the bar fixing drinks and not really tending tables. We waited about 30 minutes before we finally flagged down a totally different waitress to get more coffee. She brought us new coffees but no cream and disappeared before we could ask for any. Quite a few other patrons came in after us and were seated. They ALL got their food and we still had nothing. My husband finally got his salad after 45 minutes. After an hour we had had it. I spoke with the manager and told him we were leaving and I wanted the bill for the coffees and salad. At this time our meals suddenly appeared. Too little too late, we are leaving. The bill took several more minutes and quite frankly should have been waived entirely. The bill said comped on our entrees; how do you comp something you never got?!? We paid for the coffees and left having wasted well over an hour and without dinner. We have never had an experience like this with Applebees and I am still quite upset about it. I wish we had looked up their reviews before...

I will start with the positive aspects of our dining experience. Three out of four meals were wonderful. The other one was cold and undercooked. I have never written a bad review for a restaurant until now. The waitress was inattentive until we were halfway done with our meal; then she gave us our bill. She did not ask if we needed a box nor dessert. She did not keep our drinks filled. People kept bringing us other people's food. Other people received our food. Appetizers were not brought out before the meal and neither were the salads. Our mozzarella sticks were accidentally spilled, which was no big deal until the girl picked them out of my salad with her fingers. I ate the salad anyway, because it took 45 minutes to get it in the first place. I am not upset with the girl who spilled the mozzarella sticks. Accidents happen, and people do weird things when they are flustered. The main culprits in our bad dining experience was the waitress and the cold and undercooked meal. The waitress never apologized for any of it, and she didn't act like she cared at all. I have had good experiences at every other Applebees I have ever eaten. This applebees was not good. I am glad this was not my first Applebees experience, because I would never visit another after this experience. Now, I will just never visit the...