Lynn was working the bar area and provided us a great service and information. She is a homerun and worth going there again just to talk to her read more

I'm going to skip to the thesis, in case you don't have time to read the whole thing. We went to this Applebee's expecting decent casual food. The order was entirely messed up, and, well... I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. Basically, don't eat here if you expect good food. Now on to the full essay! My party had 5 members, and we were at an AirBnB. I'll call them me, Jack, Jill, Julian, and Jean. (These are not real names.) Anyway, Jack, Jill, and I had invited Julian and Jean to the house for a get-together. When dinnertime came, we had no food, so we planned to pick something up from a restaurant. We went through several options, but nothing seemed to stick. Then Jean decided she wanted Applebee's. We all looked at the menu. I pulled up the Yelp app on my phone. When I found the place, it had 2 1/2 stars. Not very promising. So I scrolled down to the reviews. One of them said the food was "undercooked" and the sauce was "rancid". Even after hearing this, Jean still wanted Applebee's. So we decided to order. Here was our order: I ordered chicken tenders to split with Jill. Jill ordered chicken fettuccine to split with me. Jack ordered blackened salmon with garlic mashed potatoes and mac n' cheese. Julian ordered ribs and broccoli. Jean ordered a taco wrap or something like that. Jill called it in on the phone. She spent a while on the phone talking to a robot. The robot then transferred her to a human because of some unknown error. She finished the order. Jack then went to the restaurant to pick it up. Here is a breakdown of our order when we get it: My chicken tenders are fine. They come from the kid's meal. I eat two and give one to Jill. Jill's fettuccine came, along with mozzarella sticks that came with it. It tasted fine to me, but she said it looked "so horrible that I didn't even try it". Jack's blackened salmon came. It was not very blackened, but it was salmon. As for sides, his mac and cheese came (which he didn't even really want). His garlic mashed potatoes (which he actually wanted) did not. He said that the mac and cheese was more like a soup than a solid. Julian's ribs came. However, his broccoli did not. But most shockingly, in a twist of cruel, tragic irony, Jean, the one who wanted Applebee's so much in the first place, DID NOT GET HER FOOD. It did not come. It apparently was not transferred, so we were not charged for it. So at least that was a silver lining. And Julian shared his ribs with her. All in all, it was a very disappointing experience. Our food was not rancid. At least, the food that came wasn't. (At least we got food. Looking at you, Golden Griddle Pancake House!) But if we ever go back to an Applebee's, it will not be this one. And I hope you don't go here either. BONUS: Our food came COLD. Guess they didn't put it in the microwave long enough ;p read more

After waiting for 40 minutes for a table we sat down. I ordered a salad and French Onion Soup, the salad was watered down and the soup was nothing but cheese and bread, it had no broth in it. I haven't been here in years and now I know why, horrible experience read more

Again tonight I kick myself for ordering "to go" from Applebee's. I ordered our dinner and specified "car-side delivery", MISTAKE! I followed instructions signaling "I'm on the way" and "I have arrived" and I sat for 15 minutes waiting. It turns out "car-side" means get out of your "car" and go in"side" to get your to-go order while the staff is sitting on their rear ends. And upon getting home ready to eat I discovered the order was wrong (third time this has happened). Shame on me! I think the third time is the charm and I WILL NOT order to-go again, and it will be a long time before Applebee's gets any business from me. read more

The waitstaff and kitchen were on it tonight. I have a severe shellfish allergy and the head of the kitchen personally came and answered questions and prepared my food to make sure it was safe. Thank you read more

Have received different types of service every time we go. The most disappointing is when told that they are sold out of a popular item on the menu. This has happened multiple times that we have visited. We used to come here every other weekend (at least) but now may visit once a year. read more

Applebee's Grill + Bar - American Near Me - Hickory, North Carolina

5/29/21: Probably one of the filthiest restaurants that I have ever been in. The bathrooms were disgusting with a black ring in the sinks, black hair clogged the drain. The table looked like they hadn't been bused all day; the wait staff was standing around chatting while we waited to be seated because there were no clean tables. This used to be one of my favorite restaurants, but I don't plan to ever step foot in this establishment again. After seeing how nasty the bathrooms were, we decided to take our business elsewhere. read more

Avoid like the plague. Ribs came out burnt. Food subpar. Hickory has plenty of other options.

Every weekend me and my roommate go here at least once and we've only had one bad experience and needless to say that person is no longer there. We always get the best service but today was just awesome. I love our waitress and though I'm not sure of her name I loved her butterfly tattoos. read more

Wait time was listed as 10-20 minutes on the app, we checked in through Yelp. When we arrived we were told it would be 30 minutes. It took an hour and twenty minutes before we were seated. The poor hostess was doing her absolute best. She was the only one up front, she was dealing with all of the to go orders, the door dashes, the bussing of the tables and the seating. I don't know what was going on here but the experience just with the seating was awful! There were at least 3 large tables that were piled with dishes, only 1 or 2 servers on the floor at any given time. Once we were seated it took another hour for our food to arrive at our table. We were a party of 5 with no special requests and no complicated items. Of the 5 of us that ordered they only brought out 4 of our meals. It took 4 different servers to do this. We asked each one of them for silverware and the only one who brought it to us was again the hostess. About halfway through our meal a 5th server showed up at our table with a handful of plastic silverware asking if we needed some. Once our waitress came back by apologizing for the delay. Whoever is managing this restaurant has failed miserably, and they should give their salary to the hostess who is clearly doing the best job out of everyone here. read more

Every time we go and we are served my Bobby and Kaylah we have the best service. They always take care of the six people in my family and we appreciate it. The food is usually better when they serve us too! read more

Waited about 45 minutes for a table. That was okay, however once we were seated no one ever came to our table. After 20 minutes the table next to us filled up with 8 people (there were 2 of us), and the waitress appeared immediately and started taking drink orders for them. We were completely ignored! We got up and left. Don't plan on ever going back. read more

We got the 2 for $20 deal. The food itself wasn't bad, however the service was terrible. The server was fine when my boyfriend was there, however while he was in the bathroom the server was rude. I usually understand when someone can have a bad mood, who knows what's going on in their personal lives? But he was slamming dishes down on the table and at one point even tossed a paper card thing that was on our table across the table. Once my boyfriend came back from the bathroom he was fine again. Though from this point on he only paid attention to my boyfriend other than to fill my water once. read more

I have been to the restaurant countless times and every-time I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. NO ONE speaks when you enter into the restaurant. All of the servers are slow with service. The bar would be the best place to sit if you're looking for quicker service. There never that busy but it will take them 15-20min to seat you with open tables. Management NEEDS to be addressed and new staff is NEEDED or needs to be adjusted. Horrible service. read more

I came her with my granddaughter and her boyfriend and he got the 4 cheese Mac and cheese with honey pepper chicken tenders it was absolutely disgusting it tasted awful no flavor and very very sweet and I had the bourbon street chicken and shrimp it was ok but the potatoes where hard and no flavor. The only good thing was the desert the brownie bite is very good so I recommend it read more

Service was good but the kitchen is far off. Cold fries, rock hard bread stick, and the entrees were barely warm. My four cheese mac and cheese honey pepper entree had barley any cheese. Next time I'm driving the extra distance to the Mooresville location. read more

We went here to celebrate a birthday for a friend. We had 6 in our party. We had to wait a while to get a table, but not as long as most everywhere else near by. The servicer was supper nice! And the wait for our meal wasn't too long. The food was good! read more

Our Bartender Christy was amazing! I can not say enough good things about her. She was friendly and fast. We encourage Applebees to use her as a trainer. The food was great this visit. read more

Good food. Good specials. Wait was short. Co I'll d tell they were short staff but everyone had a good attitude. Very friendly and accommodating. read more

Horrible. Waited 20 minutes to just get our waters. We made it very clear there can't be meat on the nachos we ordered and they still came with meat. Sent that back and received a cold one with the chicken picked off. Took an hour and a half for 2 people to eat. Quite possibly the worst experience at a restaurant ive ever had. read more

Got on the waitlist on yelp. It said 17-33 minutes. Got there at 25 minutes after I put us on the list. Was told by a snarky hostess that the wait was 1-1.5 hours. I told her I put us on the list even showed her this from my phone. She said ok give us 45 minutes. We waited in our vehicle and went back in at 45 minutes and she tried to say I texted you. I proceeded to show her my text messages and none were from her. They seated us immediately. The waitress was clueless. She didn't know if they had chicken tenders. Last straw was the table next to us was seated 10 minutes after us and ordered 15 minutes after we did. They got their food before we did. I motioned for the waitress she came to our table and said how can I help. I motioned to the table and said they ordered after we did but they have their food. She stated what do you want me to do. I calmly asked her to get the manager. The manager was amazing. Server was clueless. read more

The waitress named Avery was immediately rolling her eyes when she came up to take our order - she was rude right from the jump. She told the manager we called her a bitch when all we said was she was being rude because of a party member with us has a food allergy and we asked for the manger (whom the party member had spoken to prior to going to the restaurant) and that was amongst the table she wasn't even around when it was said. So she lied to the manager. We never got silverware the whole time we were there and even asking for them! No one ever checked on us the whole time we were eating to ask us if we needed anything at all. Even tho we were missing a whole meal and a side. When we tried to get the waitress attention (which even got the attention of other people in the restaurant who turned around ) she just ignored us and kept walking. Would not recommend this location at all! Or the server read more

I went today with 3 of my friends since it had been awhile since we had gone to an Applebee's. To our dismay, it was rather unappealing. It felt like our waitress was annoyed by any request we placed (refills, lemon for water, etc) if she ever came by at all. I had sat with my food eating with nothing to drink for what felt like 20 minutes before we had to flag her down just to ask. My quesodilla burger was the only entree that tasted good. I got the 4 cheese chicken cavatappi as well as part of the 2 for $20 meal, that's where I was really disappointed. The dish was lukewarm at best and the chicken was pitiful. I spit out my chicken for fear that I'd get sick from eating what felt like undercooked chicken. I won't be going back. The mozzarella sticks and cheeseburger egg rolls, along with their sauces on the side, were spectacular. In short, if you go, just order an appetizer. It's about as pricey as an entree anyway. read more

Terrible customer service. Set at a table and sat forever before we finally left. No one acknowledged us or spoke. Waitress just walked around like they were confused. They have no care for people's time. read more

Never again took wife out for Valentine's Day worse mistake I ever made waitress was excellent but food and kitchen are horrible ran out of mashed potatoes and the substitute foods waited an hr for food restaurant was nearly empty read more

Waited a very long time for a server to show up. Asked the hostess to get our server. She stated she was busy. Never saw a server in our section of the restaurant. I don't think she had made it in. Got up and left. read more

So we understand that with the lack of employees wanting to go back to work that every industry is hurting . So we went here for Mother's Day dinner we had just over an hour wait what's not really that bad. After we were seated we ordered our drinks and our food other tables that were seated after us received their food before our appetizer. When I got my bowl of soup there was a chicken bone piece in it needless to say I sent it back. Our food was cold not cooked right I don't hold the server to blame but I do blame the kitchen for not following instructions when you wait for your food for over a half hour at least it could come out hot and cooked the way you asked. Not going to be coming back here ever again would rather wait three hours to get into Olive Garden then be able to walk right in and sit down at Applebee's with no wait read more

My mom said she loves there spinach dip and she recommend it. 100/10 Service and they are amazing people. So happy I chose to eat here today. read more

Food is so bad I wouldn't give it to a bad dog. Seriously, it tasted like cleaning fluid...it just had some really weird flavors and looked nothing like the pictures on the menu. Service matched the food. DO NOT GO HERE. read more

I went on a friday night they Didn't even want to give us the menus then our drinks took 20mins to come out then our appetizer another 30mins and it was cold and it looked like they just slap it together food wasn't any better then The waitresses just kept yelling at each other back-and-forth we waited and waited for a check we were literally the last one out of the restaurant because everyone was too busy arguing and smokin in the parking lot when we did get out of there on the way out one of the angry workers almost Ran us over speeding out of the parking lot. read more

I use to love to go to Chilis at least once a week. But after several bad experiences with poor service and food that looked (and tasted) like it was slapped on a plate I was done. Each order of chips and salsa was dripping with grease and if you were lucky they were at least room temp. The quesadillas were barely held together with dried cheese causing them to stick to the plate. Had to beg for refills or extra napkins if you even seen the waiter or waitress after placing your order. The place never looked dirty but it was messy and unorganized. They used to have great service and the food was awesome. You could see it gradually go downhill. I asked the servers "where is all your help" their response was new management cutting hours and lots of turn over. It's a shame really, the only time we eat at Chilli's now is when we are out of town read more

Slow service. A lot of mix ups on orders with more customers than could be counted. Dirty and I stocked restrooms. Some of the food on the plates were cold as if it wasn't prepared at the same time. The taste was ok but nothing to brag about or recommend to others. The waitress did apologize and was nice overall but never refilled our drinks once and we were there waiting on our food over and hour and a half. read more

So we go in and after standing there for about 15 minutes another customer took everybody's names and wrote them down on the waiting list. We were first and the place wasn't busy and there were plenty of workers milling around, they finally seat is a good 30 minutes in. Anyway we order there special $1.00 margarita and I know you don't expect much from a $1.00 drink. The bartender comes over, not our waiter, and informs us, very rudely by the way, "I can't give you salt or lime, do you still want them?" We said yes and she proceeds to go back to the bar and complain (bitch) to somebody about people that order 1.00 drinks get what they get. They were awful. Anyway we order our food, and it took forever and it was awful. Won't be going back there again. read more

Amazing food, great customer service! Got the 2 for 20, I got the whiskey Burger, very good, I could really taste the whiskey in the BBQ sauce. So if you like whiskey this is the burger for you. The waiter talked to us like family. Loved this restaurant so much. Definitely going to come back! read more

Good food and good service thing they're open front during the virus in the dining room is open with the

called in a order for pickup and was told it would take about 25 minutes until it was ready.... after about 30 minutes we arrived for the food and it wasn't ready.. we waited in the parking lot for another 30 minutes before receiving our food and then when we got home to eat it was cold!!! read more

Called and asked about a wait time, they told me first come first serve. As I watched 7 other parties get off the list before mine. Only to go inside and be told they couldn't serve us alcohol after 9. Watched 2 other tables get beer. Server never brought items asked for. read more

This is the only Applebee's in the Hickory area and I was disappointed when me and my wife ate here today. We ordered the 2 for $25 - 6 oz. top sirloin plate and bourbon street chicken and shrimp plate. Our steak looked great if we had ordered it well done but had to be sent back as my wife had wanted it to be medium. After receiving it the second time we sliced into an almost raw piece of steak. I don't know much about how bourbon street chicken and shrimp should taste but as far as I got into my dish, the only urge to take another bite came from the nearby Tabasco sauce that I used to add any flavor to the dry chicken I had been given. The potatoes were okay at first but after the first five minutes they took too much effort to bite into as they had already hardened on the outside. The only thing good that came from our meal was the kiwi lemonade and the service from our waitress. read more

Applebee's Grill + Bar - American Near Me - Hickory, North Carolina

See all

I placed my order online at 4:45pm for a 5:40pm pick up. Arrived at the restaurant at 5:39pm. Sit there 5 minutes, no one came to the car. There was a sign there that said, "Stay in your car, we'll come out when we see you". I finally called at 5:45pm and was told the food would be right out. Nothing. I called again at 6:00pm and spoke with someone who claimed to be a manager. All she said was sorry, nothing more. When I got home with my order which consisted of a cheese burger with fries and grilled chicken with mashed potatoes. The fries were stone cold as well as the mashed potatoes. I pd almost $30 for this order and when I called the manager offered a lousy $15 credit. I drove 9 miles for this order. I have placed orders at other restaurants across the street and even farther away and my food has never been cold. Also when I spoke with the manager named Greg, he gave me the impression I was more of a bother to him. I will not be supporting this restaurant ever again. read more

Stopped in for a late lunch after shopping. The place was clean, food was delicious, server was excellent. My only complaint was the time it took to get our food. There were only two other tables occupied, and it took 30 minutes for our food. Soup and Salad for my friend, and a medium rare stake with broccoli for me. read more