Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Virginia

At first our server Kiara T. was great! She greeted us with kindness and a smile on her face and was very friendly. However this quickly derailed. We were one of three tables and 3 people at the bar at the most during our visit. We came in at 8pm got sat down and ordered our drinks and food. We had to wait an obnoxious amount of time for our food for half of it to not be warm-including my mashed potatoes (ew gross.); I also did not receive my side salad before my meal as they normally give it during other visits. During this time our waitress was not seen until we were almost done with our food when we asked for the desert menu. She came back shortly with the desert menu and I placed a to go order (the four cheese mac n cheese) and we all ordered desert while we finished our meal. Our desert came out and we nearly finished it waiting for our waitress to come back and check on us so we could get the check and the to go order that had not come out yet. Finally our waitress came around and we asked for the checks. She gave us our checks and didn't come back to check on us. She wandered around the restaurant on the other side avoiding our table and checking on the others that weren't even in her section and meandering eating her meal; which I understand eat when you can but check on your customers before you do that. Someone came and cashed us out but once again I do not have the to go meal. We were cashed out at 9:22 pm per our original receipts and no one came back to our table until 9:55 pm when I requested the manager come to our table from the waitress at the bar as our waitress was still avoiding us on the other side of the restaurant trying to look busy doing nothing. The manager makes his way to our table where I promptly ask where my food is and he tells me that to go orders are usually kept in the back on hot plates under warming lights until we are ready to leave, well that is fine but this was not communicated through the original server nor was the food brought out when we asked for the check because we were ready to go. The manager promptly brings me my to go order which I am assuming was sitting out for the 40 minutes I was waiting for it and proceeds to comp my to go meal (thank you) and apologizes for the server and the wait and makes a joke about not trying to hold us hostage. Overall it was not a good experience, our server Kiara T. disappointed in many ways. She stated to the table behind us when we got there that she had been at this job for 3 months, well during these three months I honestly feel like she had no training and lacks common sense for the job she is trying to perform and is failing at. If you are only seated two tables in your section and cannot take care of those two tables and communicate effectively with the customers what are you doing? Because you clearly don't need to be here working this job. If they were busy or busier than they were I would've understood a bit more as they would've had more traffic and orders but that wasn't the case at all. I don't understand in what world it takes over an hour for a to go meal and for someone to come check on a table of customers who had been there since 8 pm and didn't end up leaving until 10 pm because of a servers...

Some chain restaurants get a bad rap for being boring, cookie-cutter places, having unimaginative food or just paying their staff poorly. This Applebee's, though, was nice. The staff were attentive and anticipated our party's needs, the food was hot and tasty, the prices were surprisingly good and everything was clean and well-appointed. It isn't an exciting adventure in fine dining or a hidden secret known only to Yelp reviewers, but for a young family getting a late lunch before they finish the shopping, it's not a bad choice at all. Sometimes one doesn't want excitement, a Zagat rating or anything more complex than a kind server who immediately knows that one's two-year-old would like crayons while she waits for her macaroni and cheese and is happy to recommend the perfect dish for a busy dad who likes spicy food. This is the ideal first restaurant for a toddler who has practiced her table manners and inside voice at fast-food joints and has earned a more grown-up experience. Not only do the staff understand children, but the layout makes it easier to keep a child's concentration on using her inside voice, as there are TV screens to look at, lovely crayons and a nice placemat to draw on whenever the grownups' conversation stops being interesting, and the booster seats available for the booths let a small child enjoy the thrill of eating at the table just like grownups do, instead of the undignified high chair.

I was pleased with the food, which is of that 'just familiar enough to be comforting, just different enough to be a nice change from the usual,' style that Applebee's gets flak for from more adventurous diners. It was also very affordable; their 2 for $20 deal and $4.99 kid's menu was cheaper than many comparable restaurants and the food was well made. Portions were a little big, but the server brought us a takehome box, so it all worked out. It was also nice to have the option to swipe one's card and pay at the table on the little tablet-looking thing, and I could easily imagine parents whose children weren't having as good a day might enjoy the family games on it. Apparently one can also order drink refills with the tablet, which I hope makes things easier for the servers, they were clearly working hard and putting in a special effort to give everyone there a nice meal and a positive experience.

It may be a standard, garden-variety Applebee's, but it's an uncommonly fine one, for what it is, and sometimes, a nice reliable chain place is exactly what you want. This location is a great choice for an easy, comforting...

Went to Applebees tonight and initially it wasn't too bad, we sat down pretty quick. however it was all downhill from there. I should have taken note to the people that were beside us who they offered a bunch of different appetizers and desserts to. Their freezer was broken so they had no ice cream and I guess a limited amount of other items. there were no signs up so you were kind of stuck once you sat down. When we got our food, my wife didn't particularly like hers and mine only came with three or four potatoes. When they delivered it the manager said I'll be right out with more red potatoes for you. I cut my food up, took my oldest child to the bathroom, returned and asked the waiter for a refill( was never asked for anything.) When he brought my refill he told me he would bring my red potatoes shortly because they were just about done. I finished eating my meal and then asked for my check at which time I also asked for a to go box and the remainder of my potatoes that I was waiting on. Waitor replied I will be right back with your check and the potatoes. He brought the check walked by me five times more. I finally held my arm up with the bill which he took from me and again replied I be right back with your potatoes. Then the manager was apologizing to the table across from us. I now asked the manager to come over to us which he did. I informed him I still haven't received my potatoes. He apologized and then I said also if someone would have bothered to ask, my wife didn't enjoy her mealife either. He replies oh I'm so sorry. He offered her to go meal , which was nice, however we had already been waiting long enough. So we waited another five minutes and decided to stand up and leave still no potatoes in hand. To some people it may sound like it's about potatoes but it's mainly about the poor customer service. At the end of it I just wanted what we paid for and when that wasn't delivered at least offer a refund or discount. I would have declined because that's who I am and I believe sometimes things do happen but there's a right and a wrong way to handle it and this was definitely...