Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Portage

Listen...this Jackson, MI store has the best Perfect Margaritas I have ever had. It's great in store, but now you can legally take them out in a plastic cup and take them home, which is brilliant, because you are not taking a chance of being intoxicated behind the wheel of a 5,000 pound killing machine. The people are wonderful, and they go out of their way to make you more than happy. I have yet to experience any errors and have been going there for 20 years. It's a pleasure to walk in, make chat and take off, and enjoy your Perfect Margarita at home. Side note: At a party store on Prospect Street they sell a "special" kind of Margarita salt that's called Twisted Salt (or something similar) and let me assure you, it is the best salt to use around your glass. It comes in lemon AND lime. The name of the Party Store is slipping my mind, but the prices on EVERYTHING are less expensive than anywhere else I have found in Jackson. It's near the McDonald's on Prospect, but on the North side of the street. Add that salt to your Margarita, and you will find it hard to use any other type of salt. In addition to that, it's fabulous on Mac n Cheese, chicken, steak, and I could go on forever here. Try it! You will see what I am talking about here! Enjoy, and stay safe out there in this sometimes crappy ass world we exist in. Mostly because most people get hammered and drive, no matter what they are hammered by, be it dope, drink, or whatever else is available. Defensive driving doesn't always work when an individual doesn't give a shit if they kill themselves or innocent people who never saw it coming. There's simply no excuse for that. And, I am not judging you, because I too have driven under the influence. I am an idiot to have ever been so incredibly dense as to have done that. Grace was placed upon me, because if I had hurt someone or worse killed them, I would not have been able to live with myself and would have most likely taken my own life as payment for my imbecile transgressions. ...

Went to Applebee's for a quick bite with my daughter or at least what I thought would be a quick bite, no special occasion or anything just the weekend. When we arrived the place was so crowded we had to park at dang near Home Depot but I didn't mind walking the distance since it wasn't bitterly cold for a change. Anyway we found the wait would be about a half an hour to forty minutes. I asked my daughter if she wanted to wait when the hostess generously offered us a couple of seats at the bar if we didn't mind going without a table. That was fine by us, so we "bellied up" to the bar where we were kindly greeted by the bartender and handed a couple of menus because it was obvious we weren't ordering drinks, we just wanted dessert. He made a couple of recommendations and then left us to it. The place was loud and lively and had a nice energy to it. And boy was the bar busy, the bartender kept apologizing to us about the blender we happened to be sitting in front of but I made sure he knew it was no problem. I normally come with my husband and we'll order the usual menu items. Steak or burgers for him and I'll get pasta or chicken or a big salad or something. The apps don't usually get boring they're always adding new and interesting options and the regulars are always a good choice. They make great Margarita's here and have a good and varied drink menu. My daughter and I had a good time, we stayed and talked for a while and never felt rushed or pressured to order anything else, really carrying off that neighborhood hang out spot well. The Olympics had started and was on every other screen seemed like, so we stuck around a little longer because of that. Overall a good time at a trusted spot for good food, good drinks, good service and...

I believe the reason for reviews is letting the company know where they need to make improvements. I am a huge fan of Applebee's and have visited many times and I wish I could give 5 stars. It was a Sunday evening 07/17/2022 just before 6:30 p.m. We were seated quite awkwardly. The host asked if we wanted a table or booth. I said "booth." The host replied it would be a minute. There were empty booths and that was quickly pointed out. The host said "whoa! You want a booth? I just set someone over there." There was more muttering under the hosts breath and I couldn't understand it all. He dropped the silverware on the floor and grabbed a clean set. Him being uncomfortable made me feel uncomfortable. Not to mention a cop was standing there in the lobby waiting to talk to a manager about some incident. We were seated at a booth the table hadn't been wiped off. The floor had crumbs all over. The host left us with menus and in the meantime, we didn't see our waitress. We never saw her. We were told by some nice employee that our waitress was helping the manager with something. A few minutes later that same employee came by our table and apologized for our wait and took our drink order. We were told that our waitress was talking to the cop. Such an odd experience at Applebee's. We could see carryout orders being picked up other tables being waited on. I was hungry and at that point Applebee's didn't seem the least bit interested in providing a dining experience. Maybe it was the worst day for Applebee's, the consumers don't need to know this. The employees need to know how to work in a place of business. There's always room for improvement and that only happens if you want it...