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I had to go to an Applebee's yesterday with a group, no choice in the matter. The server introduced herself and then asked for each of our names. What the hell? I don't want to be your friend. And as the service played out, names were never used again.
I figure somebody here must have worked for this crappy chain at some point and can explain the reasoning behind this intrusive type of service and why they'd ask for our first names.
It wasn't just the name. It's that she came back 5 or 6 times to ask how things were, the first three times while we were still waiting for our food to arrive. And she ignored one of the group, served cold coffee and forgot to bring silverware.
Taken in total, I found the service exceedingly intrusive in addition to just being poor. We left a $10 tip on an $82 bill and I felt that was even too much. And I'm normally a 20% pre-tax tipper for average service.
Additionally, when I have to go to an Applebee's/TGIF/Chilis type of chain I'll pick something that's pretty basic and hard to screw up. Yesterday that was a club sandwich. Yet it was awful because they put overly sweet honey mustard on the thing - my fault as I didn't fully read the description (but who puts honey mustard on a club?)
Anyway, it was just an awful experience. What do people see in this place?
Stuff happens, sometimes you get great food and service, sometimes you do not...use your consumer power however you want.
True. But this style of "service" - asking for customers' first names, multiple table visits for the sake of multiple table visits - nothing more - certainly seems to be institutionalized for this particular chain. So it doesn't appear to me to be "an off day" that can be written off. It's part of the system, culture and training.
I've dined in Applebees many times and the server has never asked for my name or anyone's name who is with me. Hard to imagine it happening. I think your situation is or was an isolated case, not at all a part of their system.
I had to go to an Applebee's yesterday with a group, no choice in the matter. The server introduced herself and then asked for each of our names. What the hell? I don't want to be your friend. And as the service played out, names were never used again.
I figure somebody here must have worked for this crappy chain at some point and can explain the reasoning behind this intrusive type of service and why they'd ask for our first names.
It wasn't just the name. It's that she came back 5 or 6 times to ask how things were, the first three times while we were still waiting for our food to arrive. And she ignored one of the group, served cold coffee and forgot to bring silverware.
Taken in total, I found the service exceedingly intrusive in addition to just being poor. We left a $10 tip on an $82 bill and I felt that was even too much. And I'm normally a 20% pre-tax tipper for average service.
Additionally, when I have to go to an Applebee's/TGIF/Chilis type of chain I'll pick something that's pretty basic and hard to screw up. Yesterday that was a club sandwich. Yet it was awful because they put overly sweet honey mustard on the thing - my fault as I didn't fully read the description (but who puts honey mustard on a club?)
Anyway, it was just an awful experience. What do people see in this place?
Just a bad experience. I have been to Applebee's many times, And the server introduces themselves but usually does not ask for names. It's possible due to the group she was trying to match the name with the order for each person. For the person she ignored: Did they give her a hard time or hit on her? I'm serious.
My take on Applebee's: It's just an American chain restaurant. Casual, reasonably priced (except for Manhattan LOL) and a place to maybe grab beer and wings with a buddy.For this purpose it fits the bill. No more no less. Service should be excellent in any food establishment but I don't expect the Four Seasons or the Ritz when I go-Which is maybe 2 or 3 times a year.
I usually avoid Applebee's. I've seen a lot of places that serve honey mustard on club sandwiches though. That doesn't seem unusual to me, but asking for everyone's name at the table does.
Additionally, when I have to go to an Applebee's/TGIF/Chilis type of chain I'll pick something that's pretty basic and hard to screw up. Yesterday that was a club sandwich. Yet it was awful because they put overly sweet honey mustard on the thing - my fault as I didn't fully read the description (but who puts honey mustard on a club?)
Read the menu more thoroughly next time and stop complaining. Problem solved.
We have given Applebees many "second" chances over the years, thinking they might have changed for the better. No such luck. The first 3 times we went the food was on the very skimpy side. When I leave a restaurant hungry, that rings a bell and I am not a huge eater. The next time we went the service was horrible. There are so many local and chain restaurants here that I will not be going again to our local Applebees. However I'm sure there are many good ones in other places. We tried one on Cape Cod it was 100% better than our local one.
Every time I go to any national chain restaurant, I wind up annoyed by how much I've spent relative to the quality of the food and experience. I've never been asked for my name in any of these restaurants, however. That is weird.
The last time I ate at Applebees (Two years ago? I think so.), I ordered some sort of "Cajun skillet" style dish with chicken and shrimp -- the description sounded pretty good, so I took a chance even though I try to stick to more basic things at chains. The meal was an oily, salty mess. SO oily, and salty even past my very high salt tolerance. Yuck. Thinking about this meal brought some sort of flashback to my tastebuds, and now I need a salad or something.
Unless you are paying top dollar, and I mean top dollar, having expectations for anything other than a minimum wage meal is absurd.
If you want a good EXPERIENCE, cook it yourself, or go large. Very large.
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