Applebee’s

Clean restaurant with a friendly staff. A little pricy, but the food is wonderful. It’s not too busy either, which is exactly how I like it.

The food was fine — order was correct and came out hot. However the staff was sub-​par. Our waitress was nice enough, but once she took our order we weren’t offered refills and she didn’t stop by the table except once we were done eating. Perhaps she was too busy? The manager came by and asked how everything was and when I commented that the waitress was not paying much attention she gave me a weird/​mean look and all she said was «oh…okay…» And then walked off. If it weren’t for the manager I would have given 3 stars. But the manager’s unprofessional attitude makes me not want to eat here again. Not to mention everyone on staff just seemed unhappy and uninterested in being friendly.

I’ve been here several times and really enjoy their new menu. Their new pub sandwiches are excellent. Would have been five stars but service was a little lacking. She just did the bare minimum and kind of forgot about us for a while.

I feel like all of the employees were having the worst day of their lives. The hostess should’ve checked her attitude before she walked in. Our server had attitude with us as well. If they don’t want to work there, I’m sure there are plenty of other folks willing to work hard and take care of their guests. One of our burgers was missing the sauce on it. But, the food was overall ok. We won’t be returning.

Dear Greg, the general manager at Applebee’s in Rockwall Texas,
You are a rude and unpleasant man whom is loathed by not only customers to your restaurants location but by the very staff that works there as well. It has been many years since I have felt so agitated to have to vent my frustration on a place like social media, but you sir asked for it quite literally.
In my youth I did my time as a server, first at a restaurant called Souper Salad and later at Bennigans. In these years I learned the business and about things like side-​work, sections and busing tables. Most importantly I learned the fundamentals of good customer service. During my time at Bennigans people would specifically request me to wait on them due to my reputation to sing, do magic, dance and entertain children with to-​go box puppets while never letting a cup get half empty. You could say that I have a good knowledge about how a modern restaurant works.
Today during your slowest time period, around 2:30pm I stopped in for a quick bite to eat. Being alone I sat at the bar so I could watch television and chat with the bartender. From my seat I could see that several servers were literally wiping down the walls, picture frames, decorations and under the tables. This is deep cleaning.
While I understand the necessity to have a clean restaurant and am thankful that you value that kind of environment, I was dismayed to see you forcing your servers to do this work. Your servers are paid well below minimum wage and depend on the tips from patrons to make money. Taking advantage of the fact that it was slow to make them deep clean the restaurant is basically getting super cheap labor, after all you are only out $ 2.13 an hour for this work. The servers are forced to do this because it’s the only way to get good shift assignments and retain their jobs.
Listen, I understand that this is a part of the business. All servers have to so basic sidework. Cutting lemons, restocking sugar caddies, filling up salt and pepper… I have been there. But when you make employees get down on their knees to scrape gum, stand on a chair to wipe down a picture frame, or start removing decorations to clean them. for $ 2.13 an hour… I have a problem with that.
So I was not sure if this was some cleaning crew, (at Bennigans we hired a pro crew to come in after hours to deep clean the place) so I asked one of them if she was a server as she was near the bar. She said yes, and I could see quickly in her eyes that she was upset she was having to do this but didnt want to speak about it.
I told her «I think it stinks that you have to do this, you come here to make money waiting tables not to be a $ 2.13 an hour cleaning service for Applebees. I know this is the way it is, but for what it’s worth, I am sorry that you have to do this without being compensated. That’s my opinion anyways. «
Enter general manager Greg, who unpronounced to me was listening in to our conversation behind my back.
«You are entitled to have your opinion, and to keep it to yourself!!!» He squinted his eyes and tilted his head at me.
He then turned and walked away as if he had just dropped the mic at a improv rap battle. Only we were not at a night club, we were at an Applebees and I was a customer and Greg was the general manager.
As soon as the GM was out of sight the bartender came to me and said «I am so sorry he spoke that way to you, he’s like that to people». I got into a conversation with her and learned that Greg had been the general manager since November and had been terrorizing customers and staff ever since.
«He’s just like that… he has no filter. I have so many regulars that wont even come up here when he is working.» she went on.
I realize that not everyone is going to agree with me about the deep cleaning for $ 2.13 deal, after all this is Texas and you don’t have to work anywhere if you do not wish. However I think no matter the context, a general manager eavesdropping in on a private conversation by a customer and telling them to «Keep their opinion to themselves» is extremely rude, and speaks to your character and a larger underlying problem.
Greg you approached the situation totally wrong. Had you said «I am very sorry but I accidentally overheard your conversation and I would love to address your concerns» we could have had a polite discussion about it. Instead you looked me dead in the eye and told me not to open my mouth.
Sorry Greg, I am going to open it, and thanks to your poor attitude a lot more people are about to be aware of how you treat guests and employees.
I do not expect much from others, but common decency and courtesy should be automatic when dealing with customer service in a public setting. Your staff has it, but you do not. Your staff fears you and your customers avoid you. You are a problem, and you need to correct yourself.
–Jared

First of all this location needs a MAKEOVER! The wallpaper is outdated & peeling, carpet is gross & the furniture is old.
The food is meh — not as good as Chili’s. The only thing I really do like is the white queso dip with chips. I ordered a steak and it was tough and tasteless. It came sizzling on a mini-​skillet with the mashed potatoes. The bottom of the mashed potatoes hardened and I couldn’t eat about half of them. Who puts mashed potatoes on a skillet — ever — for any reason at all??? The entrée was just steak & potatoes — no vegetable or bread/​rolls. I was very disappointed. My husband had the fish and chips and he said it was pretty good.
I’ve given them a chance about once a year — just to see if anything improves. It doesn’t. The only reason we went this last time was because they were open on Thanksgiving.
Sorry Applebee’s — you’ve run out of chances with me. Your restaurant needs an overhaul.

I’m not a big fan of chain restaurants but Applebee’s is one of the few I really do like. Their two for $ ²⁰⁄₂₅ dinners are a great bargain. My friend and I both had the Bourbon steak which was tender and tasty. It came with a side salad, roasted potatoes and mushrooms. All of it was great! My friend is not a salad eater and none of the appetizers interested her so the server offered to box up her salad for me to take home. Our server was the best! Very attentive, helpful with suggestions and going out of his way to be helpful. I was really thirsty and after my second root beer in their smallish glasses he said the to go cup was much bigger would I like one of those? I rarely drink soda of any kind but root beer is my favorite. Our waiter was kind enough to double check and make sure it was not Barq’s root beer which is the one root beer with caffeine. He told me the name and that it said right on the label caffeine free! He definitely earned his tip.

Food was ok, but the service was terrible. The waitress never smile, there was weird green stuff in our drinks, we told the waitress, she took it brought back another one, but never said sorry or anything like that. Bad experience, wont come back again.

Would’ve given 4 stars, but service was pretty slow considering the restaurant was pretty dead; after lunch & just not a lot of people in there.
Other than the slow service, food was good & the restaurant had a good atmosphere.

This particular Applebee’s in Rockwall suffers more than most Applebee’s throughout the Nation. They just can’t seem to get it right ! Example: We came to eat at the Rockwall Applebee’s tonight (based on recent dining service here rated by me as «Very Good…»). We get seated, promp greeting by our assigned server, drinks out in good time, order taken and… no food for 43 minutes! We did not wait for the 44^th minute… we walked. We don’t care… We have had this type of service before at the Rockwall Applebee’s. It’s like some Bad Karma Fog comes up from Lake Ray Hubbard and settles only at the Rockwall Applebee’s. I hope the cook’s /​bartender enjoyed our dinner (s)…because I pray that Applebee’s Executive Management reads this review and closes the Rockwall Applebee’s for good… Guy’s, it’s just not working here.