Applebee’s

I met a friend here for dinner here on a Monday night at 6 o’clock. We were seated right away by a nice gentleman who held the door open for us. Our waitress came and got us our drinks immediately and gave us the menus.
I really like their flavored lemonade. I got strawberry lemonade and my friend got pomegranate lemonade. They come with free refills to which is the best part. I ordered the Asian shrimp salad and my friend ordered bacon mac & cheese with chicken tenders.
Our food was out rather quickly in about 10 minutes or so. The portions were really good and very filling. What I wasn’t so excited about was I forgot that they tend to overdress their salads. So much dressing that it’s almost nauseating to eat. If you get a salad you should ask for the dressing on the side.
My salad was okay besides too much dressing. There was a fair quantity of shrimp on it. Nothing else really stood out it had a lot of cabbage and carrots on it. It was part of their low-​calorie menu but with all the dressing I doubt it stuck to the calorie content it advertised.
My friend and I stayed at the booth and talked for quite a while after we were done eating. I kind of felt rushed out. After clearing our plates we were promptly given the bill. Didn’t even ask about dessert. Not that I wanted anything but the option wasn’t given.
My friend and I stayed and chatted awhile because we hadn’t seen each other in so long. The restaurant was half empty so it wasn’t like they needed our seats but the waitress vacuumed under the table we were sitting at and seemed annoyed we were still there. She didn’t fill either of our empty glasses after we paid or even asked if we needed anything else.
It was quite expensive for two people too. $ 32 without tip for a bowl of macaroni and a salad.
All in all it wasn’t terrible. But it just cemented why Applebee’s is not my first choice in restaurants.

I visited this Applebee’s restaurant in August of 2014 for lunch while traveling on business in the area. The food was great, as usual, but I wanted to point out that I received some exceptional service. I happened to leave my credit card behind and, when I called later in the day the manager stated he would send it to me in the mail. In a few days, the card arrived. I really appreciate this service and the integrity of the manager at this location. Thanks to all and I will be back the next time I am in Waterloo!

This is a review of a visit we did in early May 2014. When we came in, we were tired, the kids were starving, and our day is slam-​packed with appointments that we had to make. So basically this was a sit down, eat, and get the hey-​ho out of there.
I kindly let the host know to pass it along to our server that we needed to be some place in short-​order. So he stepped up to make sure that our table was ready to receive us. The kids got their kids menus, my wife and I had ours, he took down any up-​front drink orders, and the table seemed already bussed and ready for the next patron. So far so good.
So our server gets to us, gets our entré orders, and we wait for the food to arrive. In a reasonable amount of time later, something like three or four servers come with EVERYTHING, all laid out for us to start. WOW. Now that’s what I call attending well to customers who gotta go.
We have visited Applebee’s a couple times after this one visit, and it seems to be that when the entrées are served, it’s normally not just your one server. Oh well… But they did get us served and out of there ON TIME. So they deserve the big 5 for responding well.
The food was cooked/​prepared well, the plates/​flatware was all clean, the restrooms are in good order. The only thing we did not experience was the bar. All else seemed good.
I think the food is a bit pricy for my taste, the portions are not enlarged to make up for it. But then again, this is a name-​brand restaurant. This positive experience has left a good mark with me.

Don’t bother. You can do better.

Usually Applebees sits at the 3 star rating, but our server, Tasha, was just so nice and genuine. She was great; way to go Tasha! :)
To drink, I tried the pomegranate lemonade and thought that was really good, little sour, little sweet. They had a whole bunch of flavored lemonades and iced teas (this is great if you don’t drink pop).
We got the 2 for $ 20, which is an appetizer and two entrees for $ 20. The appetizer was full-​sized (big mozz sticks with marinara, yum!) I almost always get the Oriental Chicken Salad and this time was no different, but the 2 for $ 20 meals to choose from offered a good variety. There was steak, chicken, pasta and salads.