Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in San Francisco

visited the location for dinner with my family of 8. As soon as we came in, we were greeted by a staff member who informed my husband that the tip for a party our size would have to be 20% of our bill. We agreed because we were regulars at Applebee’s in our city, and the food and service had always been great until the place closed.

The disappointment started the moment our waitress, Nohemi D, came to our table. She seemed annoyed since the moment she got to us to take our order, but we decided to ignore it, thinking she probably had a hard, busy day (our mistake). When other servers brought our food, none of them stopped long enough to make sure we had everything or needed anything else. After a while of waiting for my son’s food after we had gotten everything else, I called her over to let her know we were missing his dinner, and again she seemed annoyed by that too, and once she brought out his food, not only were we all almost done with dinner, but my son’s food was cold! Again we chose to let that go and not complain. Towards the end of our night, I called her over to ask for some to-go boxes, and then once again we felt like we were just an inconvenience to her.

After that last call, I realized a 20% tip is not something that is deserved in this situation! I would like to add that tipping is not an issue for our family; we understand that as a big group we are more work; therefore we should tip higher, and it’s never been a problem before, but I will also add that we’ve never had bad service, and this is a first for us!

When it came time to pay our bill, I added a $5 tip to our $223 check. That was the first and only time Nohemi came to our table quick! She walked up to me and asked me if the staff at the front desk had told me about how the tips work, and I answered yes, they did, and I asked her if it was mandatory, and she replied, No, it isn’t, but usually it’s how it works, to which I replied, Ok, but the tip works based on the quality of the service given. She then told me that the bad service wasn’t her fault, and once I asked whose fault it was, she replied saying it was the people in the back’s fault! I said ok, but the food came late and cold, and the whole service was bad, so that’s what we are choosing to tip, and I thanked her while I started to walk out. She then followed us while shouting and causing a scene, telling us if we weren’t going to pay the tip, then not to go back there to eat again.

Now while I agree on a good gratuity, I also believe that it is something that is earned with good customer service, which is something Nohemi lacked our whole dinner. I am really disappointed with our dinner at Applebee’s and how my kids were embarrassed based on the scene she chose to create by getting loud over something she felt...

Extremely Disappointing Experience - Misleading Pricing and Uncooperative Service

I recently had an extremely disappointing experience at Applebee's in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, and I feel compelled to share it to caution future diners.

I visited the restaurant with a friend, intending to take advantage of the "All You Can Eat Boneless Wings" promotion that is prominently advertised at $16. My friend wasn’t particularly hungry, so I ordered the promotion solely for myself. I requested two sides of wings, and while we were eating, I shared a few pieces with my friend—literally just a few, as she wasn’t eating much at all.

When the check arrived, I was shocked to see that I was being charged $21.99 per order for two orders of the "All You Can Eat Boneless Wings," totaling a whopping $54. (I originally came here to pay $16) This was extremely surprising given that every piece of promotional material I had seen advertised the price as $16. When I questioned the discrepancy, the waitress curtly informed me that the price at this particular location was higher. This was never made clear to me before I ordered, and I feel it’s misleading and a clear example of false advertising.

The situation was further exacerbated when I noticed that I was also charged extra for my friend, who had only eaten a single piece of the wings I ordered. The idea that she could be charged an entire second meal for trying one small piece is beyond comprehension. What’s worse, I never even requested a second round of wings—I only had the initial two sides. Had I known how this would play out, I would have simply ordered the boneless wings à la carte, which would have been much cheaper and avoided this entire fiasco.

Despite my attempts to resolve the situation amicably, the waitress was entirely uncooperative. She refused to adjust the bill, arguing that the charges were justified, even though it was clear that there had been a misunderstanding or, at the very least, a lack of communication about the pricing structure. The service was dismissive and unprofessional, leaving me feeling frustrated and taken advantage of.

In summary, my experience at this Applebee’s location was deeply unsatisfactory. The misleading pricing, the unjustified charges for my friend, and the unhelpful attitude of the staff combined to create an overall negative experience. I strongly advise potential diners to be wary of such deceptive practices and to seek out other dining options in the area. Based on this experience, I will not be returning to Applebee's, and I recommend others proceed with caution if they choose...

I’m a travel agent in town for Fleet Week. I arrived on Thursday and decided to try this place for happy hour. I sat at the bar and service was great (bartender pink hair from Croatia) and the chicken quesadilla was hot and delicious. I visited on Friday and my experience was way different than the day before. The place was packed and as I made my way to the bar I noticed two restaurant managers chit chatting and carrying on in the corner. Mind you the bar staff were short handed and paying no mind to current and new customers at the bar. Janeen (one of the managers in the corner) joined her team at the bar to assist and after about 20-25 minutes waiting for someone to tend to me Janeen asked a staff member to take my order. I ordered the appetizer combo and a beer. When my food was served everything was cold minus the artichoke dip. I decided not to send my food back as several orders were coming out w/ customer dissatisfaction and I had no idea how long it would take to get my food back. I ordered another beer but that took another 20 minutes before I got that. While waiting for my beer, Janeen (manager) and an employee, went back and forth in a heated discussion at the bar in front of all the customers. When it was time for me to pay I asked my bartender IXCOY aka Eduardo if I can apply my military discount. He stated he didn’t think they do that anymore but didn’t sound confident. I told him it was applied the day before and I requested if he would ask his manager. His reaction to my request was dismissed and instead of asking a manager he asked one of his fellow servers who didn’t know. I asked him to please get me a supervisor. Janeen explained that normally they do not do military discount unless it is veteran’s day but due to fleet week they are honoring military discount this weekend and apologized for the confusion and comped my bill. I didn’t expect for her to comp my bill but I do appreciate the gesture. I returned on Saturday and Sunday and Zoey (bartender) has been holding it down. She is great and truly does the best she can with the cards that are dealt to her. Leadership issues, staffing issues, customer service, and quality of food are the many things that need to be evaluated and addressed. You have to lead by example and it truly all starts at the top. It is my hope that when I visit again that things will...