Will Applebee’s New Menu Items Overcome Their Service ?
We just got back from a birthday dinner at Applebee’s. Daughter #1 turned 22 and wanted to try some of the new menu items that were crafted by her favorite chef, Tyler Florence.
Tyler’s one of my 3 favorite chefs to watch on the Food Network, too, and it was a great move for Applebee’s to add his name to theirs, kinda like the casino’s are doing in Vegas.
But Tyler can’t be in every restaurant to oversee the service, so you’ll be at the mercy of the local college-age crowd to make or break your meal.
It took me several years to convince my wife to go to another Applebee’s after her and all three daughters had a terrible experience at the Clarksville (IN) location.
Finally, I caught her weak from hunger and convinced her to eat at the St. Augustine (FL) location and we had a great meal.
Our local reataurant, Owensboro (KY) has been hit or miss, service wise, and tonite’s fiasco was par for the course.
First our waitress, Hannah, didn’t think we could get rid of the fries that came with the new Bruschetta Burger. ” Why not ? “, was my question. ” Because they’re new dishes,”, was the reply.
I’m betting that’s not the policy and if it is, they need to change it quickly. I ain’t eating oily garlic fries with my meal unless I absolutely am forced to.
Next, daughter #3’s meal came out with (regular) fries that she’d asked to be substituted with Onion Peels.
Our waitress didn’t bring our food, so we wanted to wait for her to tell her we needed her to fix that. Too bad she was busy running outside with Carside To Go orders and we were halfway finished with our meal before she came by and we were able to ask her for some Onion Peels.
As we were finishing our meal, without Onion Peels, she finally brings ‘em and doesn’t bring the dipping sauce. She performed a Stop-n-Drop with ‘em, so we couldn’t get her attention … again.
Finally, she came by with the check and I asked for 3 to-go boxes for the ladies with me, who cannot eat all the food at one sitting AND one for the Onion Peels and some dipping sauce in a to-go cup.
She came back with the sauce and two to-go boxes. Not four, two.
We crammed it all into the two boxes, left some food behind and wished she’d hurry and bring back my credit card and let us end our misery.
What the heck kind of tip do you leave for someone who doesn’t do anything right ?
Nothing ?
10% ?
15% ?
You tell me.
By the way, I had the Bruschetta Burger and Tyler did a helluva job making it one of the Top 5 burgers I’ve ever eaten. It’s a little smallish, but it’s at least a 4.75 out of 5.
The parmesan fries that are the side items are okay, but I’d prefer they come up with a choice between 2-4 items. Steamed veggies would be nice, since us 250 pounders don’t really need those fried taters.
The ladies had some of the other new menu items and they were all good additions to their menu, but I’ll let them tell you about it on their own food blog.
Service is still king, no matter if it’s food or another industry. They’ll have to step it up a notch or the $100 + that I spend to take out my crew of five a couple times a week will go somewhere else.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Too bad you never spent a month or two waiting tables at any point in your life. Then you would understand exactly why “nothing” went right with your meal (here’s a hint: for starters, I doubt it was her choice to be working to-go orders in addition to her complement of tables) and exactly how much to tip for such service (at least 15% unless the server was openly hostile/malicious, in which case you should summon the manager, explain your concerns, and still leave 15+% so as not to screw the other employees in the tip pool).
How much did you leave her, BTW?
First thing Carl, two of my daughters work in food service and both of them said she was terrible.
Second, the phrase you used, ” at least 15% “, for this kind of service is ridiculous.
You don’t pay extra for ineptitude. That would only encourage her to never learn the finer points of her craft and that’s exactly what the service industry is - a craft.
None of the other employees, who probably weren’t in a tip pool btw, came by to help us when we were in need.
We left her 10% more than she deserved.
I would have left nada for a tip. Carl makes an almost persuasive point about the others in the tip pool, but sorry Carl, maybe if her peers gave her a talking to when they noticed she wasn’t contributing that much to the pool…
Here’s what I would have done, Mike. I would have gone to the manager on duty and complained AND to Applebee’s Web site and e-mailed their corporate office with the URL to this blog post. I do that when I receive customer service that wows me and I do that when I receive customer service that stinks.
I’ve gotten some nice e-mails for the compliments and a room comped from a motel chain because I took it upon myself to act.
Regards,
Glenn
Thanks Glenn ! I agree with the nada on the tip, but the ladies with me made me leave something.
Blogs are a great way to spread good and bad news. Let’s hope they are a contributor to the service industry’s reformation for the good.
BTW - I subscribe to your blog and have read about 1000 good customer service posts on it. Keep up the good work.
Recently visited Applebee’s in Houghton, MI. My first visit. We treated our son, daughter-in-law and our three grandkids to a “night out”! It was one of the worst experiences in many years of frequent dining out. I tried the “new” bruschetta burger as well and it was dry and tasteless.
Even worse was the tasteless mac & cheese the kids got.
It will take a real apology from Applebees to get me back into one of their joints!
Besides the food, our server was more than lackadaisical. The only PLUS was the bright pleasant decor of the place…a misleading scenario to such mediocre food!
Al
That’s too bad about the service AND the food being less than best.
It’s always one of my favorite looking places to eat.
Sorry to say the service is usually one of the worst in all of the foodosphere.
Thanks for taking time to talk with us, Al.
I used to work at the Applebee’s in Houghton, MI, as well as many other dine-in restaurants in the area. If you have not yourself worked as a server, you would have no idea how frustrating it can be. I’ve had days where I was just completely off my game. I would be busting my butt and it still seemed like I couldn’t get anything right. Just because your server made a few mistakes doesn’t mean she’s a bad server. She could have just been having a bad day. Everybody has them every once in a while. That’s no reason to frown upon the server. Furthermore, you should always leave at least a 15% unless your server treats you poorly. Its respectful if nothing else. Us servers work our butts off and make a good $2.25 an hour. So really all the money we earn comes from our tips and if we’re having an off day and nobody tips us, that’s a couple bills we can’t pay. And one more thing, there is a tip pool at Applebee’s.
Thanks for your thoughts Amber, although I disagree.
If your surgeon has a bad day and you die, will your relatives forgive him for not being on his game ? Uh…..no.
Whether you work as a server, a salesman or a surgeon, you have to be ready when the whistle blows or you’ll be held accountable.
Life’s short - play hard.
While I agree with everyone except Carl, I do have this to say… Everyone does have off days and comparing surgery to waiting tables is a bit extreme. In my vast expirence waiting tables and in eating out, Applebees is most likely the worst restaurant I have ever eaten in, in fact the absolute only reason I step foot in one is to visit the bar which I seldom do because it is highly over priced. The Corporate Executives need to completely over haul the entire thing down to the crappy theme a Neighborhood Grill & Bar, designed to take the customer’s attention off of the less than desirable expirence. It will take a lot more than this Tyler who ever he is to fix the disater known as Applebee’s. Food for thought (pun intended) If they were really the Neighborhood’s Grill & Bar don’t you think they would take the time to find out who there neighbor’s were and include things such as vegetarian meals not just that gross veggie patch pizza on the menu, bigger bar tables, and a clean place to eat (see http://www.healthinspections.com/articles.cfm?YXJ0aWNsZUlEPTQ4). I am doing research for a paper and after what I have seen I will never step foot in that petry dish they call a restarurant chain again.
PS- Your daughters were right, even though food service is an art and should be taken as seriously as any professional job, one should always consider the high road and act accordingly (not always 15%)but if the service expirence was less then expected and not a one where you didn’t even recieve your food, please from one human being with bills to another at least leave something.
Thanks Vanessa. That took a lot of time and I appreciate you spending it on us.
I tried another Applebee’s yesterday, in Louisville this time, and the bruschetta burger was awful and the fries were dripping oil/grease.
The server was outstanding, but the food was not.
I’m done with them for a long, long time.
Back to searching for a go-to place. Any suggestions ?
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