Applebee's Grill + Bar — Restaurant in Woodstock

On 8/20/24, my son and I went to eat @ the Applebee’s on Ridgewalk, very near our home, at 10:20 PM, specifically to indulge in several of their 1/2-priced appetizers, a promotion that begins at 10:00PM, one hour before they close. Eating out has gotten so expensive that I take advantage of promotions like this one so that I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.

So that night, I had injured my foot & was going to the ER, & I wanted to get something good to eat first. We love Applebee’s appetizers, so when we can take advantage of the half price deal, we do. There were a couple of people sitting at the bar, and 2 or 3 small party tables still eating when we entered, but we were still given dirty looks, then completely ignored. There was no hostess, so we sat ourselves in the bar area in order to take advantage of the “bar only” discount. To make this long story as short as possible, the already disgruntled female server (& supervisor, we think) finally came to take our order after at least 5 minutes of aggravated looks our way. We ordered 2 orders of boneless wings, 3 orders of chicken quesadillas, and a single order of spinach dip & chips. (I also ordered French onion soup, but she said they were out, though I think she just didn’t want to deal with it.). She brought the (cold) spinach dip and wings fairly quickly; then our server disappeared, reemerging about 10 minutes later with our “quesadillas.” I’ve probably eaten more quesadillas there than anything else, and they’ve remained the same for at least 30 years. I took one look at them & knew they didn’t look right. I asked if it was the full size order, and if they had been made correctly; there were only 4 per order, and each piece was one small tortilla folded into a quarter with nothing but a tiny bit of cheese and chicken in each, no pico (aka, flavor). They had also been microwaved, not grilled or otherwise “crisped,” and I’m fairly sure our server was the one who did it. When confronted with the obvious question about them being made the right way, she lied to my face and said they were correct. I asked for sour cream, which it’s supposed to come with, and she said it wasn’t “available,” meaning it had already been put away, probably by the kitchen staff that I’m sure had been sent home shortly after 10:00 PM. I asked for my money back on the quesadillas, but was only refunded on the one I gave back. My son took the other two home (he fixed them so they were edible — but not worth $5.75). The quesadillas at Taco Bell are a better value than the crap they gave us that night. So, I’ve done my fair share of waiting tables (even started at an Applebee’s), and I’ve held several other customer service related positions as well. But let’s be honest: treat customers like you want to be treated if you want to make money. “The customer is always right,” should be a downright mantra for servers and others who deal directly with people and rely on tips for their income. At the very least, that means stay open as long as your sign says you’re supposed to be open. It’s an easy way to keep customers coming back. You may think you’re saving money by releasing staff early, but perfect customer service will make you so much more of it in the end. The last thing you want in a restaurant is a reputation for bad food or bad customer service. A final note: This wasn’t the first time I had attempted to eat at this Applebee’s at a few minutes after 10:00 PM and left disappointed. This summer alone, I and several members of my family had made at least 3 or 4 previous attempts to eat there between 10:00 and 10:30; once we were turned away, and other times we just left, as the restaurant looked as if it had been closed for hours, even though we were there about 10:15.

The point of this is I am pissed, and tired of being shortchanged at a chain restaurant where there’s no quality control, and where the management is more concerned about themselves than their customers or their customers’ loyalty. *The first pic is how they should look; the...

My husband and I came here for dinner last night and we were extremely disappointed. When we came inside we had to wait on the hostess for about 5 minutes. However 2 different servers did stop by to let us know that the hostess would be right with us. We sat down to the table and waited about 10 minutes for the server to come and speak to us, by the time she did she had taken so long we went ahead and ordered drinks, appetizer & dinner all at once. I also noticed a family who came about 5 minutes after us and was seated in a different section got greeted by their server almost immediately. Our server was rude and had no manners at all. Every time we would say thank you for something she would say nothing at all. When we would ask her for something she would listen and then just walk away without acknowledgement of what we were saying. We did notice she was extremely nice to the a different family that came after us and sat right behind where our table was seated. I’m guessing it was a race issue since we are African American. The food took a long time to come and when the appetizer came my husband let me know that when she sat the food down she gave me a dirty look. I tasted the appetizer and then my husband suggested that we just get the food and leave because at this point we felt VERY uncomfortable! When she brought the entrees my husband politely asked for some Togo boxes and the check. She walked away so quickly he was asking her for a Togo cup for his drink but she didn’t even hear him. When she brought the Togo boxes they were so tiny and she only brought 2 which means we didn’t have a box to put our appetizer in. My husband ended up asking another server for another box & and the server was kind enough to bring it. When the lady came back around my husband informed her that he was trying to ask her for a cup & he also let her know that she had been very rude. She seemed as though she didn’t care however she did apologize. Needless to say we won’t be going back & if you’re African American I wouldn’t come here either. I’m not going to spend money where I’m not wanted. If I could give them 0 stars I would. The servers need training on customer service as well as manners. Also the Togo boxes are very cheap, we warmed the food up in the microwave & the boxes melted. I guess we should’ve known what we were in for coming to this place anyway, we had not been here since we were in college. They get a big thumbs down...

Avoid this place if possible. There are much better options within a 2-3 mile radius. I'll start off by saying I don't like Applebee's in general, based on all the ones I've visited around the country, be it food or experience, but my fiance loves it. We're out of town and this is what she wanted so I conceded. We arrive and are sat but then we had to wait 13 minutes before a waitress even came to our table. Doesn't sound that bad, but the restaurant was a ghost town this afternoon. When begin giving our order and we're told "You can't order that in these seats. You can only sit at the bar. I'm sorry our general manager is really strict about." The bartender left for about 8 mins after she made eye contact and saw us coming and disappeared. This was especially frustrating because the place was empty with one guy drinking one beer at the bar. She finally comes and takes our drink order and asks my fiance who was born in 2000 for her ID which she provided. Simple math, she's 23, worst case scenario, she's 22. She glances at it, says she's sorry but the manager has to review IDs so she won't get in trouble. If you'll are hiring people who can't do simple math you have a huge issue. Another 5 minutes goes by and some guy with a pony tail emerges from the back, doesn't even look at her driver's license that expires in 2027 and immediately says sorry it's not valid. He preceeded to pass the blame to his boss who conveniently couldnt be reached. He wrote my name and number incorrectly on a sheet of paper, I'm sure in the trash by now, and shrugged us off. My fiance was set on those wonton tacos regardless of the service experience so I waited for her to get her food and eat. The chicken in her tacos was just above room temp based on how she described them. I did not and will not eat there. The lack of accountability, quality of service and food culminated into exactly what I expect from every Applebee's I'm dragged into. Do yourself a favor and try...