Applebee’s

This is a follow up to a recent bad experience I had at the Applebee’s in Sterling Heights. I have to give back a few extra points to Applebee’s, their manager Barbara P. from corporate and manager Jen at the restaurant. Both responded to my concerns very fast, and I’m most impressed that a company has such great customer service. Thank you both.

This was probably one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in a year.
I walked in and was greeted by a friendly smiling face and was seated rather quickly. It took the waitress nearly 30 minutes to take our drink order, which she did with a scowl. 30 minutes and and multiple requests for the server later, our drinks arrived. The waitress was unapologetic and appeared to be in a rush to leave for the day (around 3 pm). When the waitress dropped off the drinks, she took our food order (Keep in mind we’ve been waiting for an hour already). Our food arrived after an additional 45 minutes missing items, the waitress then preceded to blame us for her forgetting to add our items to the ticket. The food was cold and not cooked correctly, but instead of waiting another 45 minutes to flag down the waitress we just decided «screw it».
After our completely sub-​par, cold meal we asked for our ticket. The waitress arrived with the ticket, said «here» and threw it onto the table. I don’t know if she was having a terrible day, or if she’s just terrible at customer service but either way, I will never visit this restaurant again.

The worst Applebee’s!!! Never going back to this location. My food was not hot at all seemed like it was sitting there under some heat and I got 3 appetizers and a soup none of those were fresh. My waitress had a bad leg and couldn’t walk !!! Why are u at work if you can’t walk .!? She also got my order wrong and over charged me. Don’t bother going to this location…

Our server Alayna was absolutely phenomenal! Checked on us, joked with us, made our experience at Applebee’s wonderful! The cooks messed up my order but Alayna made sure she did everything in her power to correct things along with apologize on their behalf even though it wasn’t her fault. I give the restaurant a three or four star but I give Alayna a 10 star for her amazing service and wonderful personality! Thanks again Alayna!

I had a better experience this time. My appetizers were on point and my steak tasted great.

Lisa is AMAZING! Had a really bad day today and she made me laugh so much and feel so welcome and comfortable that I forgot about my rough first start to the day and was able to carry through the rest of the day with a smile on my face. :) thanks again Lisa. You will make one great bartender when you are 21

I was eating here and the food was cooked normally… just normally. The service was sub bar and i know because im an idiot. I oredered the shrimp poppers and they just didnt pop enough. Next the waitress took my order and wasnt really happy that i was there, i could see it in her eyes. She def didnt smile enough, i mean come on if you didn’t want to see me you shouldnt have come to work today dummy. Finally ihad to do diarrhea (because i ate most of the poppers) and the toilet paper was very thin and weak. My finger poked through like a million times, the end, ill never shit here againnnnnn.

Staffing sucks. there is no bartender, just a waitress that stops by the bar every 20 minutes. Food was cold, beet flat. skip it

Got seated right away but waiting 22 minutes with not even a drink order! Will never return!!! We go to leave they say oh you leaving already we told them we have been waiting for 22 minutes without even a drink order and she said ok sorry have a nice day.

I’m not sure what happened to the franchise, but quality and customer service seem to have taken a gigantic step backwards.
After ordering a Triple Hog Dare You, the sandwich was missing two things listed in the menu (after being told it did but couldn’t provide the proof after having them look at the abysmal creation) and felt like it was warmed up in the cook’s armpit. The overpowering taste of jalapeño killed everything else in the sandwich.
Our server was in training and was clearly more concerned about this than the server that was training him. The rolling of the eyes as she walked away was the final straw.
I’m not a picky person, and I’m not on this earth to make anyone’s life miserable. Out of the last four visits to this chain, three have been tragic letdowns from cold management, shoddy food prep and disinterested staff. Needless to say, our money will be spent at other establishments from here on out.

Met up with some Mommy friends for drinks & apps on an early weeknight.
We were seated right away at a cozy & clean table.
One of the moms in our party had a glass of Barefoot Merlot and noted that it tasted watered-​down. I had the New American Mule, which is vodka, club soda, lime juice, and ginger. It was a good balance of bitter and sweet, and not too strong or weak.
Three of us sampled appetizers: Spinach & Artichoke Dip, Sweet Potato Fries, and Onion Rings.
The Spinach & Artichoke Dip was delicious: savory, with a roasted flavor. My complaint is that appetizers are for sharing, and the bowl the dip comes in is small & shallow.
Ditto on the fries & onion rings, small portions, and I’m almost positive the fries were frozen. The dipping sauces however were tasty, especially the spicy cheese, and the honey.
We also ordered a dessert to share, the chocolate lava cake. A different server breezed by with it, unceremoniously plunking it down in front of one of the ladies in our party. He swooped over to the next table, dropping off their order when I called him back. I handed him our empty appetizer plates and moved our dessert to the middle of the table so we could share. Unfortunately, after being delivered so hastily, I had to use napkins and my water glass to clean off the spoons that were in the soup of ice cream that had already melted. Adding to the let-​down was the lava sauce was also meager, lining right up with the other small portions of the evening.
I think next time I’ll see if the girls would rather meet down the street at Panera, where we would get better portions sizes & fresher food, for a fraction of the price.

We got seated in the freezing cold booth, air vent had to move, after moving waiter not really that friendly. I had to pay an extra 1.00 for sweet potato fries instead of regular, thought that was odd but whatever. There was a sign on the table that said if a manager does not visit you during your visit you get a $ 5.00 gift card for next time, no manager ever came but I didn’t want to cause a scene and ask why. Also we are supposed to get free cheesestix if they dont mention buying gift cards. That didn’t happen either. I know I need to speak up but just wasnt in the mood. Wasnt the best experience. Food was not that great. Not much of a side of sweet potato fries and there is supposed to be some special bacon ranch on this bacon cheeseburger I ordered. Didn’t see that either. Don’t want to go back.

Was there today 9÷24÷14 at 7:30pm. Ordered chicken fajitas and steak for the wife. Asked for Med steak and came out rare. It was still cool in the middle.
Fajitas and rice was over cooked and dry not to mention it wasn’t sizzling as most fajita plates would when served. It was actually warm although the plate still hot.
Also had ordered the chicken taco appetizer which took forever to come out. I counted 12 total tables in use and one person at the bar so no, they were not busy at all.
The waitress never came back to ask how everything was or if I wanted another drink. My wife would have sent the steak back but was tired of waiting and ate it rare.
When the waitress did come back to ask if we wanted dessert, I asked for the menus. Again, she took off. Once we decided on dessert (Hot Fudge Shooters) she never returned. I tried waving her down to no avail. When she did come back I told her I was in a hurry (which we weren’t) And I want my bill ASAP.
Paid bill and won’t plan on coming back. Just a bad experience with management being mostly to blame for lack of presence and training.

We had the spinach dip tonight, not good. Since I «checked in» on Unilocal we got free hot pretzel sticks with a cheese dip. OMG YUM! Had the portabella mushroom chicken with was very good too! Waitress was good and manager was very friendly!

I used to frequent Applebee’s (and TGI Friday’s, for that matter) in the older days when money was at a premium and these places were «the thing» for affordable, good meals.
Then, I grew up. The food here is OK at best, with nothing sticking out for being the «it» meal. The pasta was average and I could cook better pasta at home. The steak isn’t anything special. The vegetables taste bad, under-​cooked. And the drink prices are outrageous.
They recently renovated this location, and I think the brand in general. No difference to me, it is nothing special and I see that now more than ever. Go somewhere else.

Has gone down hill-​oriental chicken salad no longer has napa cabbage just the reg cheap kind and the past couple times has tasted kind of bitter. slow service. spinach artichoke dip sucks and never order the riblets they are gross and fatty and were cold when they came out the was the first and last time I ever ordered them