Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Salinas

Applebee's is losing its touch... Or maybe I just ordered the wrong thing. I ordered the promo special... All you can eat shrimp, ribs, and/or boneless chicken, all with bottomless fries. If you want to save money or have a big appetite, go for this, but remember, you get what you paid for. All three proteins tasted like precooked bagged frozen food you buy at Walmart or Safeway. Not knocking that food because I've bought it before and it's great for gatherings or an I-don't-feel-like-cooking choice for dinner... But for a restaurant? At least serve the Foster Farms or the Farm Rich brands precooked boneless chicken and the Sea Pac or Gordon's brand popcorn shrimp. And don't even get me started with the ribs... hard, burnt and it had way too much BBQ sauce (probably trying to hide the burnt flavor). I should have taken pictures of my food. Fries were good, coleslaw was surprisingly delicious, and the mixed drinks were not strong, but well mixed. But honestly, I should have gotten something else. Maybe my rating would be a star better... MAYBE. Service was OK, however, the place looked like it was short staffed and the server was a nice guy (though he acted like a typical 19 year old Gen Z'er whom you have to be very specific in your order/request or they will mess up, which he did twice. His response, in a nice way... I wasn't specific), so I'm rating it average. The guy only checked on us for refills like every 20-30 min, but again, they looked short-staffed, so I understood. The wait time wasn't awful (40 minutes on a Friday), but two families before me complained because they had been waiting almost an hour and still had not been seated... Which I understood their frustration when you see a handful of available tables; but me seeing the greeter also delivering food to the tables made it clear from the beginning that, well, you know. And the parking was not fun with Wingstop next to Applebee's. That place was packed, too (and way better boneless chicken than Applebee's, that's for sure). In the end it wasn't that bad. Staff was friendly, drinks were good, and spending time with my siblings was priceless. Even with our busy lives we made time for one another (except for one, but he's living with a controlling woman who uses his son against him, but that's another story); quality time that overshadowed everything else. Love my siblings, but next time I'll pick...

Came in on 12/8/19 for a birthday dinner for my daughter. Our waitress Claudia C was not a very pleasant experience. She was irritated from the moment we sat down. She didn’t greet us and when we asked her a question she was frustrated answering and very impatient while my kids were deciding on their dishes. After a while she came back to take our order, we ordered 2 meals of the 2 for $27 and 1 order of the 2 for $22, another order of a $9.99 plate. We had a toddler with us which she didn’t even bother to ask if we would like anything to order for him from the kids menu so we just let it be and decided when she comes back we will add his order... well she never came back! She didn’t deliver us the food NOR did she even come back to refill our drinks at all!! Not even once! The pasta was a cold/warm and barely any sauce so it was a dry pasta. Had to send those back for more sauce and definitely HOT. The waitress NEVER put in my other child’s $9.99 meal. So while everyone was already eating I asked 3 different people where my daughters food is at because everyone else was eating except for her! Well FINALLY Claudia came back and ask about the situation and I told her she never put in my daughters food. She went over the check with us MISSING my daughters food and which I told her specifically I ordered her food before mine so it should have definitely been noted. I also told her she never even bothered to come and see if we needed anything or even a simple refill... her answer was “I HAVE OTHER TABLES”!! Yeah no kidding BUT that’s your job! You go around making sure ALL YOUR TABLES ARE SATISFIED!! I was beyond upset from her response so I spoke to the manager I forgot her name by the way but this woman was AMAZING!!!!! She on the other hand was completely awesome!! No doubt she loves her job and definitely wants to make her customers happy! She was so pleasant to speak with! She handled the situation and apologized for my daughter NOT EATING nor the baby.. however we all did share our food with both of them because I’m not going to let my kids sit here watching everyone else eat. Anyhow I definitely give 5 stars for the manager she was AMAZING!!! 0 stars for...

Really bad service here!! This is the second time that i order curbside pick up and i have to go inside to pick up my order! Plus they make me wait another 30min because the order is not ready, All the employees look so unhappy so upset so mad working! I was ignored by 2 employees they just kept saying i will check but never came back to let me know anything until i had to ask again after 30min they the guy that was there gave me this attitude and went back and grabbed my order like dam really??! Why they have curbside pick up if they have you go inside plus they ignore you give you attitude and have you wait 30-45min more! So ridiculous! And to top it off they didn't give me any utensils no napkins no anything like i guess they said use your fingers as fork & spoon! Sheeesh! Management seriously needs too get on their feet about the service its so pathetic.. do not waste your money...