Talk of The Villages Florida

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-   Restaurant Discussions (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/restaurant-discussions-90/)
-   -   Applebee's - Spanish Springs (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/restaurant-discussions-90/applebees-spanish-springs-342719/)

JSR22 07-17-2023 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bay Kid (Post 2236199)
Still too much free money out there.

Where is the free money?

MSGirl 07-17-2023 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI (Post 2236102)
Every restaurant has the same problem, inadequate staffing due to difficulty hiring dependable employees.

Correct..staffing is a huge issue everywhere! Employees are opting for jobs with full benefits with salary, over working for just tips and $1.00 per hour salary. My son’s place offered just that to his wait staff: salary plus benefits

Rainger99 07-17-2023 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive (Post 2236191)
Agree. There are at least three other restaurants in "The Bubble" where I have experienced the same issues.

It is instructive to look at the restaurants that do NOT have this problem. One such is Lopez Legacy. We've eaten there several times now and without exception the food has been great and the service wonderful. The other side of that coin obviously is $$$: Lopez Legacy and (say) Applebee's both serve food but that is virtually the only similarity they have. Lopez Legacy (according to what I've heard) pays their people well, and offers sick leave, vacation pay and health insurance--which of course translates into higher meal prices. Applebees? probably none of the above.

Villagers (some, anyway) are known to be penurious, and paying higher prices across-the-board for better food served by better waitstaff, no matter what the restaurant in question is, would go over like a fart in church with some of them. But maybe that is the price we will have to pay.

This is the menu for Applebees.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

The classic burger is $11.49. I assume that fries are included.

Menus | Legacy Restaurant

The burger is $12.99 - and includes fries.

At McDonald's, a QPC is $4.79 and a large fries is $3.69 for a total of $8.48.

Battlebasset 07-17-2023 09:07 AM

In addition to the lack of dependable help (all over) Applebee's has struggled for years to stand out in the field of "casual restaurants". They don't really offer anything the others don't, and you could argue, less. When we lived up north had one 10 minutes from us. Can't remember that last time we went there.

Add in the higher cost of eating out, and the expectation of 20%+ tip, and I don't see any reason to go there.

Captainpd 07-17-2023 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox (Post 2236077)
We have seldom had a meal as depressing as yesterday evening's at Applebee's.

It has always been a dark place inside, but usually enlivened by a crowd of diners.

Yesterday - a Saturday evening - it was maybe 10% full. Yet there were seven people waiting in front of us and it took 15 minutes for us to be seated. Several who came in after us left before being seated.

Around a quarter of the unoccupied tables were waiting to be bussed, which gave the whole place a feeling of neglect.

Never again - we'd have been better off grabbing a burger next door at Wendy's.

Missed what you wrote about the meal

daniel200 07-17-2023 09:15 AM

If I was a young kid wanting to work, I would take the first job offered. And if that job only offered 20 hours a week with a constantly changing schedule and few benefits, I would immediately jump ship for the first job offering 40 hours.

It is no surprise that restaurants offering less than full time have trouble retaining employees. It’s not the employees fault. They are upgrading their prospects whenever possible.

Kelevision 07-17-2023 09:31 AM

I think we all know why we have a labor problem don’t we? Because that’s what we asked for…… If you're wondering why America's labor shortage persists nearly three years into the Covid pandemic, it's in part because America doesn't have enough immigrants. Immigrants are vital to the US economy and fill thousands of US jobs – jobs many Americas don't want to do

ThirdOfFive 07-17-2023 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainger99 (Post 2236252)
This is the menu for Applebees.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

The classic burger is $11.49. I assume that fries are included.

Menus | Legacy Restaurant

The burger is $12.99 - and includes fries.

At McDonald's, a QPC is $4.79 and a large fries is $3.69 for a total of $8.48.

The difference (obviously) is that the items from the Applebee's menu are served all day--including breakfast which you can get at 9 PM if you want (or dare), while the items from the Lopez menu are LUNCH items, served only (if memory serves) until 3 PM. It would be quite a challenge to find (say) an escargot appetizer for $14.99, a salmon-avocado salad for $19.99, Pear and Ricotta Stuffed Sacchettini for 24.99, Chilean seabass for $42.99, or New Zealand rack of lamb for $54.99, at Applebee's, while all five of those are part of the Lopez daily dinner menu.

JC and John 07-17-2023 09:58 AM

A man was killed inside Applebees back in March around 1AM. This may have had an effect on staff. Not everyone can witness a shooting and be ok with it especially if you fear for your life. Probably hard for manager to replace staff when lots of businesses are looking to hire more employees these days. Just a thought.

Ramone 07-17-2023 10:00 AM

Applebees Spanish Springs
 
I kinda agree with the negative comments on this Applebees. Last time there I had my service dog and asked to sit outside so as not to bother others with view of dog under table. Nope, no seating outside they said. So inside table given me. Service and food stunk. Not going back for awhile till management and staff changed. Somehow need to get those living at home on gov benefits into jobs.

retiredguy123 07-17-2023 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainger99 (Post 2236252)
This is the menu for Applebees.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

The classic burger is $11.49. I assume that fries are included.

Menus | Legacy Restaurant

The burger is $12.99 - and includes fries.

At McDonald's, a QPC is $4.79 and a large fries is $3.69 for a total of $8.48.

Reminds me of the sign I once saw outside a Ruby Tuesday that said: "20 entrees for less than $10". But, when I ordered the 20 entrees, they wanted to charge me a lot more.

lynnschindel 07-17-2023 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna;2
236216
Hmmm, Applebees has been one of our ‘go to’ restaurants for several years. Great service, good food, good value.

I agree. Also, Applebees has the BEST French Onion soup we have ever had. We order it wherever it's offered, but theirs tastes the best.

Johnsocat 07-17-2023 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniel200 (Post 2236268)
If I was a young kid wanting to work, I would take the first job offered. And if that job only offered 20 hours a week with a constantly changing schedule and few benefits, I would immediately jump ship for the first job offering 40 hours.

It is no surprise that restaurants offering less than full time have trouble retaining employees. It’s not the employees fault. They are upgrading their prospects whenever possible.

Full time with benefit pkg went away with Obama care...

retiredguy123 07-17-2023 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnsocat (Post 2236343)
Full time with benefit pkg went away with Obama care...

Correct. Prior to the ACA (Affordable Care Act), an employer was not required to provide any health insurance for employees. But, after the ACA, employers with 50 or more fulltime employees, are required to offer and pay for "affordable" health insurance to employees. That is one reason that employers do not want to have fulltime employees. There are also other Federal and state laws that require certain benefits to fulltime employees, that do not apply to part time employees.

END OTT 07-17-2023 03:48 PM

Applebee's
 
[QUOTE=mickey100;2236160]We've always liked Applebees in other places, in fact we would look for one when traveling because they were dependably good, but I agree, the one in


Liked their baby back rib basket - too bad


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