So this was my first time to this particular location. My waiters name was Nick. NICK WAS AWESOME! He was very attentive to our needs. He was extremely polite and very personable. GOOOOOOO NICK! If you ever want Nick as your waiter go during happy hour time that's when I know he's there for a fact! WILL BE RETURNING SOON! read more

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We were a party of 3, we had called on our way right before 7pm to ask about their happy hour, woman on the line said it was happening all night. We came in and asked for bar seating for happy hour and was informed of it not starting up again until 9pm. Pretty disappointed, but we chose to eat there anyway. Our server, Joseph, was amazing! He definitely turned our prior disappointment around. He grabbed us the new 3 course meal menu and put our drink orders in. We had a digital coupon for a free appetizer with an entree and ensured us of it being removed from our bill if it didn't adjust off. We ordered extra cheese and another server came with a regular size side of cheese, we were happy, moments later, Joseph came to check in on us and quickly came back with a soup bowl sized side of cheese! How awesome! Joseph was very kind, very professional, and made sure we were well taken care of. Great service is hard to come by so it was refreshing to have such an easy going server. Food: delicious Drinks: great Server: awesome read more

Just okay. Met up with the in laws last night for dinner. We had to wait 20 minutes so we went to the bar. We were served drinks right away and watched the Seahawks game. I was almost half way done with my drink and still no table. I saw an open booth at the bar area & asked mother if we should move there. She sent her husband over to remind them about us. We were sa right away haha, they must have forgot about us. We ordered the two for 25 which included an appetizer. We got mozeralla sticks and both ordered half ravk,. I got honey BBQ and he got chipotle. In laws ordered two Cesar salads, grilled fish and riblets. She was disappointed at the size of the riblets and thought they were like the ones we ordered. They only liked the salads. Our meal was good, we both scarfed ours down. He even liked the chipotle sauce and trust me, he is hard to please! read more

The waiter was great. Very attentive and friendly. The steak was a tad too salty. The veggies and potato was good. The salad was excellent, especially the bacon vinegarette dressing. The blackened chicken shrimp and rice were tasty and flavorful. The chicken breast was a tad over cooked on the edges. The dessert, pretzels needed a lot more caramel sauce. They needed to be a bit warmer also. Nevertheless, we scarfed them down as they are delicious sauce or not. The fried string beans were delicious. My favorite appetizer. read more

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Simply, stay away... Bland food, filthy oil, & vinegar bottles for the salad.... Just bad..... That's to bad, because i feel bad for giving this review, but Yelp is about honest reviews...... Employees only do what's allowed by their management, and they only do what district managers fail to point out.... sorry for this review..... read more

Every time were in El Cajon We meet up with our friend and we eat dinner. That's our thing. That's what we do so we always think of somewhere to eat when we meet up. This time around we were near Parkway Plaza Mall so we yelped what's near here and brought us to Applebees. It was super packed in the lobby on a Saturday night around 6pm, Duh what'd we expect? Although we got seated pretty quickly. 3 adults one booster seat and a highchair to put a baby in a baby seat in. We were comfortable. There's plenty to choose in the menu and if you're like me you'll probably have about 3 options. Right now looking at the lighter side* I got the bourbon Chicken and Shrimp with mushrooms and caramelized onions. Delightful and satisfying! Chicken wasn't all dry or anything. My boy got a burger with fries and when he got his plate he goes "That's all the fires I get" I guess it was a small portion because he was still hungry by the time his plate was finished. Our 4 year old friend got 3 mozzarella sticks and one hamburger and we picked at her mozzarella sticks because took her all of eternity to eat her hamburger. Our friend Got the steak with broccoli and mashed potatoes and look do we have here a free side of macaroni and cheese with sprinkles of bacon bites because they got her order wrong. My friends had food coma. Me? I was perfect. read more

Applebee's Grill + Bar - Bourbon chicken and shrimp - American Near Me - El Cajon, California

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Okay, wife's out of town. It's getting late. My son and I are hungry. Where do we go? I don't know. Where do you want to go eat? I don't know. Hmm....Let's drive around until we find something open. Hacienda closed. O wait! An Applebee's. Okay, let's eat good in the neighborhood. Happy Hour? Late at night? Jackpot. I can order some cocktails and half price appetizers. The kid can drive me home. I have always liked their margaritas. Applebee's makes a decent blended margarita. I loves the salt on the rim. It was good to kick it with my kid and talk and enjoy a decent meal. Service that night was pretty good too. Applebee's came through on a late night food hunt. read more

We sat at the bar tonight wait was too long for a table Myrna the bar tender is the best she's on top of everything So attentive to her customers she made our time very enjoyable. Thanks read more

We started with drinks, a Mountain Dew and a water with lemon please? We asked from our waitress Savonne B. and the drinks were brought out promptly. I want to start with telling you how awesome this waitress really was. If I had to hire someone I would really hire her! So, the first drink came with something that was a small black ball that was not really floating at the bottom of the soda glass. I took a picture and posted it immediately. When we told Savonne she apologized profusely promising to bring us another soda which arrived in a minimal amount of time. The second Mountain Dew was presented and right when a sip was about to be taken we noticed a bug at the top of the glass. Really? Again? I could not believe this! Savonne apologized again and then said she would have the manager come over and he did. Jamie T. came over and announced who he was. I was pretty shocked at him saying that we requested him to come over which we did not. We told him the problem and he said he would check on that immediately and appreciated our feedback. Sometimes things happen in restaurants right? Meanwhile, our meals were brought out. I ordered the Lemon Shrimp Fettuccine~Seared plump shrimp, ripe tomatoes, onions, sautéed fresh spinach and basil served over fettuccine noodles lightly tossed in a roasted garlic cream sauce and topped with artichokes, lemon zest and Parmesan. My man ordered the Sizzling steak fajitas~Served with lettuce, sour cream, pico de gallo, rice, sautéed onions & red peppers, fire roasted poblanos and white cheddar. Steak and Chicken. My dish looked wonderful. My man's plate did not have the Chicken that was ordered and the rice that was served was burning on the hot plate. So again, we had to find Savonne to let her know yet something else has gone wrong. Jaime brought out the chicken about 5 minutes later. As I was eating I also noticed that my silverware was really dirty but at this point I am so drained from complaining and it was almost time for our movie that I needed to order an Appletini. I have never had one before and NOW seemed like a great time for one. The drink was really fruity and had a nice taste to it and I can now say that I have had one. I would never order it again but that is no fault to Applebee's. The cool part about the drink was the carved out pieces of apple on a small sword~ I liked that. The manager Jaime came back to advise us that they found the source of the bugs at the tap of the Mountain Dew spout and that it has now been resolved which was pretty cool. Yes, we ate the food and it was actually really good considering the shortcomings that came previously. Savonne came over to offer us a "Sunday dessert shooter" for the inconvience to which we decided to pass on. If you read my reviews I am not very nice and will tell it like it is. Long story made midsize, lol is that the food was great once they got it right. The service was wonderful from both the waitress and the manager however I have never sat at home saying "ooh I want to go and eat at blah blah because their service is great and the food is good but everything else is dirty except the bathrooms!" I think that they may need to have Bar Rescue come in to explain how to not stack glasses so that they are not dirty at the rim of the glasses and how to keep the bugs out. PS: The bathrooms were really clean and they do have a diaper changing station in the ladies. I also liked the fact that they sponser local sports teams and have their pictures all over the walls. They have more than just sports stuff showing on the Tv's. I had to give this a 2 star because of the filth and the wrong orders coming out. Otherwise this could have been a 4 or 5! read more

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I have not been to an Applebee's in quite awhile. I thought the food was absolutely delicious. It came out hot and it was extremely tasty. The server was Daniella was absolutely wonderful. I will return !!!!! read more

Very bad chicken and looks old and the workrs are very wired and dont know what to do

I went on 8/8/21. The place was really dark. The carpets were dirty and there was a foul smell as soon as we walked in. The man who checked us in was not very friendly at all. He seemed lost and like he didn't want to be there. Our server was slow. So slow. It took 20 mins to get 1 breadstick because mine fell Off my plate when it was handed to mw because it was on the edge of the plate when it came out. It took about 30 Mins to get a drink. I would understand if it was busy but there was hardly anyone in there. Food was barely ok. I got the chicken broccoli alfredo. Chicken was extremely dry and barely any sauce on it. Ribeye was ordered medium rare and it was well done. It was not a pleasant experience. I Probably wont be going back at all. read more

Honestly the whole staff is welcoming and inviting, I love coming in after work and knowing I'm being treated like family!!! The STARtenders [bartenders] are amazing and I love the service EVERYTIME I COME [and I'd say I'm a frequent flier ] I AM NEVER DISSAPOINTED WITH THE FOOD OR SERVICE. management doing table touches and being friendly just the icing on the cake !!! - a fellow server read more

Thank you to our waiter JOSEPH who assisted my BFFL and I tonight around 7-8:45pm on sept 9, 2018. He had went above and beyond for us and I can't thank him enough. I asked for extra Parmesan cheese for my meal and he gave me a whole bowl full (LOL!!) we took it home . Thank you Joseph! Please give him a raise and a proper position in management. Always, Yelper read more

The service was great and the food was pretty delicious! Applebee's is always a go-to place if it's near exclamation point I had the Sriracha shrimp appetizer and a wedge salad and it was so good! read more

Applebee's Grill + Bar - Sriracha shrimp - SO GOOD! - American Near Me - El Cajon, California

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we've been coming to this applebees for years and have never had a problem. tonight we came in and victoria the host came up to the host stand. didn't acknowledge us for a little bit but it was busy so i understand. looks at us and just says "2" and walks away. comes back and says it'll be a 5-10 min wait(which is 100% okay with us we understand and would've waited longer if we had to). my boyfriend was looking at 2 ppl sitting in the back corner just minding his own business and she says in a snarky tone "um that sections closed so". mind u he said nothing, just looking around. we were so taken aback we didn't say anything. but i'm a waitress myself. i understand when a sections closed and empty and ppl say rude things. don't think someone like that should be the face of ur restaurant. will still be coming back for people like alex and tyson though. read more

They people out side in 58 degree wealther with no heaters. There is no excuse for this.

They seem to be out of food items.. crayons .. and now milkshakes and or alcohol because there isn't a bartender on duty.. it's happy hour! This is the third time we've come back and tried to give a chance.. 3 strikes .. your out.. $$$$ read more

Remodeled interior makes it seem a lil weird awkward sittin at the bar... ...it's gonna take a while to get used to. Other than that, it's still the same ol Applebee's with a more modern atmosphere now. read more

Applebee's Grill + Bar - New remodeled location! - American Near Me - El Cajon, California

Ordered curbside pick up for lunch. The food was so gross. We ordered chicken tenders and chicken roll up. It was very gross. The signature side was nothing like the pic. It came in a side container with one strip on it. The wrap had a couple pieces of diced chicken but mainly filled with pico. read more

Applebee's Grill + Bar - American Near Me - El Cajon, California

When I went to this particular Applebee's Fiona Beach refused to seat us in a adequate lighted area. Thus, I spent my evening in a dark corner where I began to have flashbacks of my past relationships. Due to this sudden relapse I ordered a single bean. The least they could do was deliver my bean moist and warm. Though, because of Fiona Beach and my less than optimal lighting circumstances my bean arrived cold and limp. Now, I know, I can't be too picky, but I only enjoy firm and hot beans. Therefore I am leaving this review, I know Fiona Beach will be able to learn from this experience. Hopefully next time my bean will be warm... read more

Absolute horrible service I called in an order for curb side they told me it would be 20min waited 45mins then went inside and they said it was for pickup but why did they ask me for the color and make of my vehicle and they were very rude read more

Went originally nextdoor, we called from car and the Roadhouse wasn't going to have 2 chicken Caesar salads ready for another 50 min. So we tried Applebee's to our pleasant surprise a gentleman ran out to car with menus we told him what we wanted he said it would be ready in 10 min, the service was amazing and the food was excellent we will definitely be back. read more

Customer service leaves much to be desired! I placed a curbside pickup order; delivered several minutes past time scheduled, only to get home & discover half the order wasn't in the bag. I called immediately & spoke with Lexi & then passed off to manager. Apologetic, offered to have it ready along with a free dessert if I wanted to come back! Not at that point! So then he promised to send me a gift card, have NEVER received it or any compensation for what is essentially an overcharge. I've spoken to the GM, & another manager as well & STILL NOT BEEN MADE RIGHT 90 days later! I had been a regular but no more. read more

Food was delicious,fish and chips w/ fries were yummy, fish was nicely crisp on one side and the other soft, just absolutely PERFECT!! The mozzarella sticks with the warm sauce was absolutely delicious, my favorite was the delicious CHOCOLATE PUDDING LIKE CAKE, it had a wonderful delicious homemade tasting like chocolate cream that was out of this world! Yummy yummy , And it was nice and warm!!! Which I love and prefer ( of course) With a creamy vanilla ice cream. Order this you won't be disappointed FOR SURE! my food was so delicious and warm and tasty. Thank you apple bees. read more

I wish I never wasted my money here. They are so stingy with the meat. I ordered two steaks one with garlic mushroom topping and it came without mushrooms. That's not right. The steaks were DRY we asked for medium rare. The food here leaves you feeling icky it's not good quality food. I tried to call and ask for some sauces in my order and they would pick up and I would say hello and then hang up. I called about 5 times and they'd do the same thing. Never going back here again and will encourage everyone I know to do the same. read more

Nice location right off the highway. wasn't to bad to find parking. Staff is not the best. all of the ladies who worked here are rude. food was ok not the best I ordered a burger and got my son chicken fingers. Bartender was the only one who treated you like he was happy to be at work. I didnt get his name. read more

Just stopped for a drink and bite to eat. Decided to get the 2 for &10.99. Ordered the won ton tacos...get 3.....small, but good.....and a bowl of onion soup. The soup I assume was in their normal bowl. It was literally 1/2 full. And that is 1/2 bowl of broth (almost none), a piece of crouton and cheese. I feel we just got royally roped off! Waitress very pleasant but not enough for us to go again. Too many other places to choose from. I was shocked. read more

I wish I could tell you how their new menu times are or how the new drinks tasted, but we waited 10 minutes after being seated and never even saw our server so we left... poor, poor service, and sadly that's all I can comment on. read more

We ended up at Applebee's tonight for date night after the "fancy" restaurant we had reservations at seated us at our table and ignored us completely for 25 minutes, then did not even apologize when we complained. So I was inna bad mood when we arrived at Applebee's. Our server, David, was amazing, very attentive, and even tried to save us money with specials (which shows integrity for someone whose tip will be a percentage of the bill). He could not have known, but David saved date night. Thank you! read more

Nick was an amazing server. He was so attentive and got us extra fries just because ours weren't very full. He definitely went the extra mile and it showed. read more

TERRIBLE! Worst service! The hostess was so lazy she led us to our table with my mother. Walked so slow and was looking at people and than just threw our menus down and left. As I ate the waiter was kind, but I see the hostess sitting on her phone. As I leave she's on her phone by the door texting. Than looks up and says " have a good one " and looks back. I just felt so ignored here it's the worst service. Don't come here and waste your money when they hire lazy people. Blonde pony tail you suck!!!! read more

Would have loved to try the new Irresist a Bowl but since I never got waited on after 20 minutes and had to leave......

i used to absolutely love this place. the service is almost always good and the food taste good too. but on my last visit i threw up the food. a couple hours after i ate i thew up everything i had eaten. do a better job at checking if your food is still fresh! read more

The problem I've found when I went is that they make you wait so long between plates that you get tired of waiting and just leave. Very Poor service at the restaurant in El Cajon CA It seemed very scammy when you ask for second plate since it's all what u can eat but you get half of what u get first time And when you ask the 3rd time the manager or the server will make you very uncomfortable never again !!! Go else where it's not worth your money worst service and treatment read more

I like it here it's casual. Just a few minutes to be seated on a Sunday around 6. The wait staff is friendly and the door is pretty consistent. Tonight I was craving a Chinese chicken salad read more

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This food takes forever to get here and it was burned and cold .. our salads came after our food lol . The manager was no help at all. We have been waiting on our chocolate cake and bill for the past 30 mins . This location is horrible . If you want to eat at Chili's go to Mission Valley (There always bomb ) read more

I would like to thank Nathan for being very helpful over the phone as he was taking our order today. He was nice clear and very helpful. The food was very good and I have nothing but nice things for this place. read more

Just had a late lunch in the bar and we have to give a shout out to our waiter, Nick. What a delight! Super personable, helpful and attentive. Thanks for a great afternoon, Nick. You made our day!! read more

First time here in 20 years ... Service was great, Richard was great, food tasted great, ice cold beers on draft!! Boneless wings great, burger was great veggies were fresh, had a great time!! read more