Kicked Out of Applebee's

i was a waitress for 24 years. it is perfectly fine to give your
drink order and food order at the same time, as a matter of fact, it
saves time. if you are telling the whole, unvarnished truth,
applebee's has a lot of explaining to do.

Most of the Applebee's on the west side of Atlanta are notorious for
poor service. Especially this one and the one on Spring road in
Smyrna. Franklin Road in Marietta is even worse.

Seems to be par for the course. Not amazed at all that you were shown
the door. A group of seven EMT's counting myself went to the Spring
road location at 11PM on a Saturday night. We spent well over $250
among the group, and the manager came around at 12:30 to tell us "we
have closed the kitchen, plan on being out of here by 1AM". Now we
hadn't planned to be there much longer, but his tone and attitude was
one of "get the f**k out NOW". Nice way to treat customers who spent a
couple hundred bucks in about 45 minutes time.

We've never been back. The food quality has gone down too. Overpriced
bar food served by rude people. I'd much rather go down to the local
choke and puke and pay less for the attitude.

Your treatment at Applebee's was ridiculous. The statement about a
server being 'new' and 'tricked into' serving you was unprofessional
and unacceptable. I hope you get not only an apology but a coupon good
for a free dinner for the whole team...and I very rarely say taht.

This is horrible service. If your letter is 100% true with no
embellishment and no critical details left out, then this deserves to
be read by the upper management. I would send a paper copy, because
email will not always make it, and this truly warrants a complaint.

Great complaint! The manager and the waitress are jerks and they
should be reprimanded and fired if they pull that stupid stunt again.

you are MUCH more patient than I could be, especially having so many
little ones in tow.

I would have left and taken them to Chuckie Cheese. it is RUDE to make
anyone wait like that.

I agree with Donno. If the time element is really true then not only
did the establishment exhibit bizarre behavior but you did too. I
can't think of anyone who would sit for an hour waiting for their
drink order. It's even more bizarre doing that with a bunch of 5-6
year olds.

You waited 20-30 minutes for a server to greet you? After 10 minutes
I would have approached a host/hostess or another server and told them
we hadn't been helped yet. In fact I have done this at Applebee's and
several other midpriced restaurants. Sometimes a screwup occurs, but
you need to bring it to their attention.

When you say it took the server an hour to bring you your drinks, that
means you have now been in the restaurant One Hour and Twenty to
Thirty Minutes, assuming you were seated immediately. I'm sorry, I
don't believe you could have sat there that long. With 5 and 6 year
olds, let alone with adults. Maybe you mean an hour after entering
the restaurant. If so, it took another 30-40 minutes to get your
drinks. How can this be? Again, I would have gotten up maybe 10
minutes after ordering the drinks and found someone and said "Excuse
me, but we have been waiting for our drinks after a long wait to be
served. Our kids are getting a bit ansy, and we would really like our
drinks." And if they didn't show up within a few minutes, I would
LEAVE the restaurant. How much pain can a person endure?

They served cold food? That is odd, but there is a solution. I ask
the server to take it back and heat it up.

I see everyone supports the OP with this letter, but I find a few too
many things don't make sense. What happened when each of the events
that led up to being asked to leave occured? If the group just sat
there for 20-30 minutes and didn't ask for help, that is partially
their fault. What did the server say and do when the cold food was
pointed out? And why did the group sit for a whole hour waiting for
the drinks they had ordered?

We still don't have what was said that led to the group being asked to
leave. What did the OP and associates say prior to that?

I know that delays can happen at these places, but the diner needs to
speak up. It is unclear whether that was done, and if so how and when
(before the end).

This is crazy! The same thing happen to me and my family at Applebee's
in South Carolina. Applebee's is horrible.

Hope you didn't pay for anything you received there....

I think this is a great letter and that the manager's behavior was
appalling.

However, I also think it is inconsiderate to show up at a restaurant
with a large group without calling ahead so that they can be
prepared.

Doesn't mean you deserved the service you got - you didn't - but you
can help to avoid this kind of problem in the future.

They are not going to have a sit down meeting with you and the
district manager, that is not going to happen.

I would have left at being ignored after 20-30 minutes, even if you
had a group. You know right then, it isnt going to get any better.

Good Day

First of all: This manager was completely wrong in this situation.
And shame on that other waitress for screwing over a newbie!

But who waits an hour for drinks, especially with little kids? Who
waits 90 minutes for food? While the manager and wait staff behaved
horribly, I have to question your judgment. I also have to wonder how
a bunch of little kids who likely were hungry, tired, and excited were
behaving. Perhaps scheduling the victory dinner for another day and
time that is more appropriate for kindergarteners is in order.

As an aside, I certainly hope you didn't pay for that cold food!!!

Management should have stepped in the moment they say a "new" server
taking on a large group; they should have provided extra help and been
more aware of this situation before it turned ugly.

There are two letters on the same day about this location.

Clearly, this location has some serious management problems.

I'm sure someone will come and say that this letter is about people
with kids feeling entitled.

But it's not.

It's about a customer speaking to the manager, who didn't take
responsibility for the situation.

The manager was out of line to tell you that the wait person was
"tricked." The manager SHOULD have said: "I'm sorry and I'm going to
personally attend to this."

I appreciate that sometimes "you'd be better off leaving" is the right
answer, though. Some customers cannot be satisfied. Unless there is
something missing from this letter, though, this is NOT one of those
cases.

Wow, there is all sorts of wrong with that. Out of curiosity, how big
was your group? If the waitress really was new - and presumably slow -
then she should have had someone there to help with a large group to
make sure everything got out in time.

I like how the manager tried to blame you for ordering food and drink
at the same time. Unless you are at a fine dining establishment where
the presentation is part of what you are paying for, there is nothing
wrong with ordering all at once.

Good luck with getting anything done about this. It sounds like you
and your teams caught the restaurant being lazy and inconsiderate.