[Arctic Fox]

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.

[Papa_lecki]

Yeah, we fancy like Applebee's on a date night
Got that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake
Get some whipped cream on the top too
Two straws, one check, girl, I got you

[Stu from NYC]

Sad it used to be our go to restaurants for lunch and often for dinner when living in Va.

[ThirdOfFive]

Unfortunate. We've not eaten at that particular Applebee's but that has not been our experience eating at other Applebee's here and there. Nothing fancy but good value for money and very good service.

[Number 10 GI]

Every restaurant has the same problem, inadequate staffing due to difficulty hiring dependable employees.

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI

Every restaurant has the same problem, inadequate staffing due to difficulty hiring dependable employees.

I think that must be it.

The food was fine and the service was friendly and quick once it got going.

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI

Every restaurant has the same problem, inadequate staffing due to difficulty hiring dependable employees.

Why is this happening now??

[Sandy and Ed]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

Why is this happening now??

Now that IS the question. This area may not have the diversity in its population needed to fill jobs. By diversity I mean to say age, proximity to employment opportunity, socio-economic condition, language skills, yada, yada, yada. We are in a huge geographical bubble saturated with old folks of questionably slightly better than average means. At least that might be one reason. You could throw in a little bit of lack of work ethic and laziness but I don’t think that is the major reason

[Normal]

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI

Every restaurant has the same problem, inadequate staffing due to difficulty hiring dependable employees.

The Bonefish was the same way for us. Our exceptions with much better service have all been further outside the bubble. Ocala, Inverness, Wesley Chapel and even Leesburg all have great dining experiences.

[Nana2Teddy]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

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.

This is especially disappointing for me and my husband because for some reason when we moved out of our former home to come here last November our neighbors gave us a $100 Applebees GC as a farewell gift. We haven’t gone there yet because we live down south in DeLuna, but we were planning to eventually. While we appreciate their thoughtfulness we are still wondering why that was their choice of GCs since we have no Applebees restaurants anywhere close to where we used to live. Maybe we need to go outside the bubble to find a better Applebees. 😊

[mickey100]

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 Spanish springs is just awful.

[Suzay]

No-one wantsto work anymore! Its that way everywhere. We eat at home more ,no sense of going out and getting ticked off.
We have a couple of certain places where we will go and not get ripped off ,you take a chance anymore going out to eat ,foods are expensive .

[Number 10 GI]

Originally Posted by Sandy and Ed

Now that IS the question. This area may not have the diversity in its population needed to fill jobs. By diversity I mean to say age, proximity to employment opportunity, socio-economic condition, language skills, yada, yada, yada. We are in a huge geographical bubble saturated with old folks of questionably slightly better than average means. At least that might be one reason. You could throw in a little bit of lack of work ethic and laziness but I don’t think that is the major reason

It's not just in TV, when we went back to Tennessee for a visit with family, restaurants there were not sufficiently staffed.

[jimdecastro]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

Why is this happening now??

In my opinion, it's happening now because anybody who is able-bodied that wants to work hard is building houses in TV. That's where the money and job security is.

[Cviens]

We recently went to the same Applebees. I thought it was just me thinking that the service was extremely slow! We went in, absolutely famished, and the service was (and I am not over exaggerating), extremely slow. It took forever to have lunch, and it was not like it was overly crowded. I may give them yet another chance, because I too like Applebees, but I will try it at a time, where I have all the time in the world…so it may be a while.

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

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.