Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Woodlawn

This past Saturday, my family and I visited Applebee’s, and unfortunately, the experience left much to be desired. While I’d like to compliment our waitress for her excellent service under difficult circumstances, I must express my frustration with the overall experience, especially with the kitchen staff.

To start, I wouldn’t recommend visiting Applebee’s after 9 PM. The service quality noticeably declines during late hours. I understand that walking in at 11 PM and being seated by 11:15 PM, with the restaurant closing at midnight, can create challenges, but that’s no excuse for the lack of service we experienced. The responsibility for this falls squarely on the kitchen, not the hardworking waitstaff.

Our waitress was clearly doing her best and was attentive, despite appearing to be the only person working the late-night shift. She greeted us after a slight delay, but it was evident she was overwhelmed, juggling multiple tables. Once we placed our order, the issues began with the food.

The first problem was with the sandwiches—there was barely any mayonnaise, and they looked hastily thrown together without care. My sister’s chicken sandwich was even more concerning. After eating some fries, she noticed that her tomato appeared to have a bite mark. While I’m not claiming it was bitten into, it looked extremely suspicious and unappetizing. This is unacceptable and deeply concerning.

We frequently visit this Applebee’s, but this experience has made it clear we should avoid coming after 9 PM. I’ve had better experiences at other late-night restaurants like IHOP, and it’s disappointing to feel this way about a place so close to home. A restaurant should maintain consistent service and quality regardless of the time—whether it’s 2 PM or 11 PM. It feels as though the kitchen staff gets lazy late at night and stops caring about the quality of their work.

What the kitchen staff needs to understand is that their mistakes directly affect the waitstaff, who are the face of the restaurant. Any issue from the back of the house reflects on them, unfairly putting them in difficult situations with customers. A conversation needs to happen, and I sincerely hope this feedback doesn’t go unheard.

The waiter deserves praise, but the kitchen needs serious improvement. I hope to see changes soon so this doesn’t happen to other...

This was probably the worst experience I have ever had with a restaurant in over five years. And I eat out a lot. I called to place a takeout order and opted to speak directly to the restaurant to place my order as I needed to make one substitution that their call center cannot do. Jason answers the phone, and I tell him I would like to place a takeout order. He rudely tells me “Well you missed the prompt for the call center but since you’re here now I will just take it.” I was SHOCKED. As someone who works in the industry, I would be FIRED IMMEDIATELY if I ever even thought of speaking to a customer that way. I calmly replied “I understand, however I need to make a substitution that the call center cannot do.” He hastily proceeds to take my order. When I get to the substitution part (a kid’s mac & cheese with tortilla chips as the side, really not that hard) he cuts me off AGAIN to scream at me “TORTILLA CHIPS ARE NOT A SIDE OPTION”. He got on my nerves at this point. I replied “Is there any way you can just do chips instead of a side, I am not interested in any of the sides?” He puts me on hold. Comes back and says “We can make a one time exception but just so you know this is not something we can do”. How hard is it to ring in fries and throw some chips instead? Really? I was very upset at this point and DONE with his ego and attitude so I said “I’ve ordered this exact order to (other location) probably about 30 times and I’ve never had an issue.” He then starts SCREAMING AT ME “WELL WE ARE NOT (other location) and that was it for me. I replied “I’m just going to call another location because your service is unacceptable”. Did just that and another location delivered easily. I got screamed at for wanting tortilla chips. There’s even other reviews about him and his piss poor attitude!...

Updated review they did correct the issue. Turns out the manager in the red did ask the waiter about our food earlier and he put the food in the system wrong. So they did correct the issue. This time they included the shrimp we paid for that we did not get and the onion rings as well.

So it was the waiter who needed a little more training and not the manager. You just got to check behind some of those waiters.

Hi Everyone,

I went to Applebee's Grill and Bar recently in Catonsville with a family member. Now the food was ok but for what we paid it should have been a little more and been a little bit better. So we paid 35.00 for two pieces of small chicken and some mash potatoes. I could have spent the same amount at Kimmy's or the Golden Corral and gotten more food. Plus our drinks were not included. I do not mean alcohol I mean regular drinks like soda or tea.

The waiter we had was nice and 👌 . I think one of the manager's could have done better. Not the manager in the Blue he seemed alright but the manager in the red needs some a little more training. Now they did not mention the deal about the gift card either. So the waiter, the hostess, and the manager all did not mention anything about the gift card deal at all. So do we get our appetizer?

Also the heat in the restaurant was cold. You had a lot of senior citizens in the restaurant why was it so COLDDDDDDDD! I know you have to save on BGE I get it but still turn on some heat. I will give them credit for updating the restaurant but they need to do better.

Also turn on the lights why is it so...