Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Springfield Township

Well, I haven't been to an Applebee's in forever, so I thought I'd stop in tonight. Sat at the bar for a good 5-7 minutes with no bartender present. 2 other customers with empty glasses waiting. Looking around there are 4 tables waiting to be bussed. There are 2 hosts at the door & they just told a family it would be 5-10 minutes after they've been standing there doing nothing but talking, when they could've been helping clear tables. Finally they did after they realized people were coming in & no tables were available. 1 manager realized the bartender was missing & finally stepped in to help right before she returned. Everyone has been friendly, just seeing a lack of communication & leadership from a management standpoint. Overall it's a calm and quiet atmosphere as I remember from my 'regular' Applebee's days. There is a whole section blocked off for less seating, which is surprising because I have seen most other restaurants at max capacity (BJ's Brewhouse). Then again, some chains block off like every other table, not a whole section though. One thing really missing are the customers. It's a Saturday night around 6:30pm and there's nobody at the bar to talk to. I'm seeing people come in and being turned away for some reason? Lack of seating? There's 4 open tables that I can see excluding the 'closed' sections with 8+ tables/booths & probably more I can't see. Again the 2 hosts with 2 more tables that left & nobody bussing? But it sounds like whomever is in the back of house is having a great time because they're all laughing and talking loudly. Management seems to be hanging out in the back of house. My 2nd drink was stopped short because the keg ran out... boneless wings came & I now have no drink. A solid 5-7 minutes to get another drink as my wings got cold. 9 wings? If you consider those bits of breading actually chicken. So before she went to pour my 2nd beer, she asked if I wanted a new glass. Well, duh. After 3/4s of a beer sat on the well for about 7 minutes waiting for the keg to get changed, she asked if I wanted a glass of water. No I want a beer to drink with my wings. Finally she decided to just give me what was poured and offered me the next at no charge. Hosts finally decided to bus the empty tables 'together' after a good 15 minutes. They bussed the tables & didn't touch the trash on the floor. A couple sat down next to me and the bartender introduced herself, which was nice since I didn't get her name. The manager did also ask a couple of regulars at the bar how everything was, but only them. She then did also bring out an order to a family. I decided to order the broccoli chicken Alfredo to-go for later on; hoping for a miracle with an amazing tasting dish for a late snack & lunch the next day; looked good, smelled good, let's hope it doesn't disappoint. However, I can get a 10oz. Alfredo chicken with chicken & broccoli at my local grocery store for 2.39 or 5 for the same price as Applebee's. We pay for the 'restaurant experience' or lack thereof. There is potential & opportunity at this location, but this staff needs some leadership & management direction. This place could be & should be packed; there's a difference between ensuring your customers return & why they don't. Final bill $47.59... 3 beers, wings & the brocoll chicken Alfredo. Should I return after this? If i do it's to see if anything changed or got better... I remember my Applebee's days where I had 6 or 7 beers, wings and it was only like $23 (in AZ) great experience with bartenders and other local regulars... no lie, thats why I went 3-4 times a week! Management & staff, when you read this remember you are always in the eyes of your customers... you're on stage presenting at all times to all customers & not just one like myself intently watching & reviewing... conduct yourself appropriately. Treat EVERY customer like they are reviewing your establishment & your performance. Other customers seemed to be enjoying themselves & having a good experience, I was here to observe....

We recently placed an order online which I will never be doing again. I doubled checked that everything on my boyfriend's burger was correct before placing the order. I mean I checked twice and had him come over to confirm because he is allergic to onions and I was trying to be diligent to not have an issue. He picks the food up brings it home and we realize there's everything on his burger that we said NO to. We check the reciept and it wasn't reflecting that we had selected no onions, onion straws or tomatoes. I was like no way... I made sure! I proceed to call the restaurant and let them know what happened. First person I spoke with was amazing. Super nice and understanding I believe his name was Holton or Colton. When speaking with the manager it was a different story. I admitted that the reciept didn't reflect the no onions request and I was concerned that there may be an issue with their online platform..I did not ask for all our food to be replaced or anything of the sort. I only requested that the burger be remade due to him not being able to eat it now. I did not even ask for the frys that were now contaminated to be remade just the burger. I was polite and apologized and everything so this managers very condicending and rude responses were absolutely unnecessary. He said they would not have known due to the reciept which I said I understood and apologized for and again stated my concern there may be an issue with the platform. He was like I mean I can send you something... I didn't ask for that and wasn't I was only asking for the burger to be remade without the two types of onions and no tomatoe...He didn't flat out accuse me of lying but he absolutely implied it with his sarcastic mmmhhhmmms and yeps when I was saying how much I appreciated it and was sorry but didn't understand what had happened because something clearly did. I did not deserve that at all and I can not believe someone would speak to someone in such a manner when they were not being rude to them at all..I love this Applebee's and everything is usually great and I have NEVER been spoken to in such a manner by anyone there before! I could have lied and said something was wrong with the food other than the issue at hand and being concerned that there may be an issue with their ordering platform... like it being under cooked or burned or said everything was wrong and demand all new food but I clearly did not do that and was honest with this manager and he was just so rude about it. Makes me not want to order here again even though we love this location as the overall staff has been great and the first people I spoke to were great! It was JUST the manager who was this way. The food was good and I was pleased with everything else except the way this man treated me which is...

Attempted to eat in this restaurant on Friday 4/7/23. My elderly, disabled friend has been released from the hospital 2 days prior and what was her only request? To "...go to Applebee's on Arlington Road." Given her mobility is very poor, I parked the car and went into the restaurant to secure a table closest to the door. The male host appeared a bit perplexed by my request and confered with a female employee who was tending bar. I was completely shocked when I was informed our request could not be honored and that we would either need to walk on the first level to the back of the restaurant or descend 2 stairs to the bar level. I again emphasized my friend was not capable of walking far or navigating stairs and asked if we could sit close to the door. Incidentally, I have made this same request at multiple other restaurants and have never been told no. I left and went to the car but then returned and asked to see the manager. Whitney, who identified herself as the manager on duty, was called but enroute to speak with me was intercepted by the bar maid who briefed her on the apparent unreasonable nature of my request. Whitney approached me and after hearing my request again, said they were short-staffed and no one was available to wait on us in the area we requested. I reminded her that patrons were eating just on the other side of a partition on the bar level and I didn't see the problem in a few extra steps to provide service to a disabled customer. Undetered, Whitney incredibvly then told me we could have a seat on a bench in the reception area and have our names placed on a waiting list. When someone else came on duty (who knows when that might have been) we would receive service. All other patrons were already seated and appeared to be recieving service. I loudly informed Whitney of the heinous nature of denying a disabled elderly person service and left. We then went next door to Denny's and were treated like royalty. Denny's appeared to be much busier than Applebee's but the restaurant hummed with a noted sense of quiet, gracious efficiency. We enjoyed a delicious meal that was served promptly and courtesly. Kudos to the Denny's staff for unknowningly providing service recovery for a terrible experience at their competitor next door. I think the Applebee's corporate crew needs to visit this unit and examine whether it should remain open. When an elderly, disabled person is treated so disrespectfully, I think it's...