Applebee’s

The food here is good, but if you’re ordering takeout make sure to give them an extra 25 minutes past the promise time and then if you’re lucky you might get your food. I don’t know if this is a store management issue or what but I don’t have this problem with other Applebee’s locations and I eat out a lot. (not that I’m proud of that.)
I love the food though, and the menu changes frequently and they keep finding ways to make it interesting. Burgers are good, I also like the sirloin steak. And the boneless chicken wings aren’t bad. 45 minutes to wait for a burger and a salad is ridiculous though and I’m probably going to start sending my business elsewhere. Both Hacienda and Outback meet or beat their quoted times.

Slow service two of our party members burgers came out 20 min after the other food. Disappointing all around

Avoid! Let me preface this by saying we’ve eaten at at least 10 different Applebee’s locations over the years, including this one (PORTAGE RD.; South Bend), and most have been fine, maybe 3 – 4 stars if I had to rate them.
This location however seems to constantly disappoint, both in food quality, taste, quantity, presentation, and various wait staff issues.
Lunch, dinner, crowded, not crowded, there seems to be no rhyme or reason. There’s always something out of whack with this place.
Example – on a recent visit I ordered an $ 11 «triple bacon» cheeseburger, which comes with fries. $ 11. The picture in the menu shows a large, magnificent looking burger, bursting with bacon goodness. After some minor service issues with our aloof waiter I was eventually served a juvenile-​sized cheeseburger (slightly larger than a slider) with three under cooked strips of bacon flopped on top. Yep, $ 11. I am not a big eater but I was somewhat hungry at the time and this was a really pitiful meal for $ 11. And beverages are extra, of course, and the wait staff expects a tip. So in reality it was about an $ 18 meal by the time I hit the door.
We also appeared to be there on some sort of frenzied, booze-​fueled sports night and some of the other folks around us were whooping and hooting so loud we couldn’t even hear each other talk, and the ones sitting behind us kept kicking around in their booth like they were having seizures. I would expect to run into this in a sports bar or pub but it was ridiculous the way they were carrying on and we were just trying to eat our meal in peace.
Other disappointing experiences at this location are too numerous to list – read some of the other reviews here if you want an idea, they are spot-​on. I can only assume local management and Corporate just don’t care as long as the watered down booze is flowing and the cash keeps rolling in–
Do not recommend. Avoid.

I’ll never eat here again. I’m so sick of places that give us excuses for poor service. We actually had the manager come over to tell us it’s just a bad day for good service because they’re so busy. What? Ok so you anticipate a busy day and deal with it properly. I’ve dealt with people for years and everyone counts. You don’t walk over and expect a customer to understand that you’re going to treat them less than everyone else because they arrived when you were «too busy».
I can’t believe we waited an hour for food to find out it was overcooked. Our mistake was not walking out after 30 min. When we complained that the order was wrong and food was not cooked properly they told us we had to wait and put us back in queue. Are you serious?! So we had to wait for their mistake to be resolved. Never again. Stay far away from this poor excuse. I’m not saying all Applebee’s are bad. The one on Ireland Rd is better. Avoid Portage like the plague though.

Food was terrible, worst $ 17 steak I’ve ever had. Even the sides weren’t good, my friend agreed. Our server was very unpleasant. Service took forever and they weren’t busy at all. Sat there waiting for almost fifteen minuets before anyone came to get out drink order. If there were anything closer to eat we would of left. Heard arguing/​yelling coming from the kitchen before we got our food. Never going back again. All around terrible. Never been a big fan of Applebee’s but this is just unacceptable.

If I knew how, I wouldn’t give a star. Salmon was way too salty, potatoes weren’t cooked to fork soft. I’m glad I ordered a salad also, because I wouldn’t have eaten. I’m pretty sure I got food poisoning, because the meal was the only one I had.

I hate giving a ine star but our server was talking to the tabke behind us as we were ordeing, the food was terrible, and it was way over priced for what you get. This will be the last time i give Applebee’s a try.

I’ve lived on the north side of south bend my whole life and have visited this applebees location frequently (not sure why…). LITERALLY every time we do take-​out, they screw up the order somehow. It’s always something small, like forgetting the sour cream, or giving you a well done steak instead of a rare one, etc, but it’s EVERY time. The take out is always less than appetizing. As far as their dining in experience, still sub-​par, but decent prices. I have finally decided that I will never go there again, even though there are literally no other restaurants on the north side of SB.

Do NOT order take out! Although they heavily advertise their «car side to-​go» they just can’t seem to get it right. They messed up several things in my order and once I was home and discovered the mistake it just was not worth going back! I’ve physically eaten in this restaurant before too and it is a better experience because you can have stuff sent back if it is not what you ordered.

Came here on a Wed evening. It was not very busy with lots of empty tables. Walked in and the hostess wanted to seat us at a table. But we wanted a booth and she didn’t seem happy to get us a booth. Waiter came by with a trainee. Thought we would get primo service! Nope. Asked for a 2^nd drink and after waiting a long time, it was wrong drink. Food took a very long time, never refilled water, long time to get check. Nice training job. Food was average.

I got off work @ 9PM and I was TIRED!
I just wanted a little snack before I went home and I thought of Applebee’s.
I sat @ the bar and asked the bartender (V_​_​_​_​_​e H.) if you still had the ½ price appetizer deal– she said «yes».
I opened the menu to the app. page and the first item I saw was the «sampler platter», it looked good so I told the bartender I will try it.
After I finished eating and I got the bill (from K_​_​_​_​_​n) I saw that I was charged full price for my app., K_​_​_​_​_​n informed me that the ½ price deal was only good on SELECT apps.
V_​_​_​_​_​e H. never mentioned this to me prior to my ordering nor did she mention it after I told her I wanted the «sampler platter».
I left Applebee’s feeling like I had been scammed, I still feel that way today.

The beer gets a five everything else gets a two!!!
The beer was so cold and tasty!
The food was okay nothing special the service was slow and I don’t want to be ageist or anything but the waitress were the oldest women I have ever seen working in a restaurant ever I felt guilty asking her for anything. Like Grandma you sit down I will get it!

Nothing wrong here. It was friendly and quiet. Our server was kind and very attentive. Food was great. We had the grilled chicken oriental salad, which is a favorite of ours. Just enough dressing. And the jalapeño lime shrimp was delectable. Only gripes would be that it wasn’t spicy enough and they did not have the option of brown rice. The chocolate meltdown dessert was so chocolatey and satisfying. We’ll be having it again. The service was some of the best we have had in a long while, so thank you kasey! :-)

Walked in and were told we could not sit at a table in the «bar» area because of our 2 kids with us; like the wooden post separating the table in the bar area and out if the bar area was going to make a fricken difference. Then we were told on the Notre Dame could be on because this is ND territory, then my steak was nasty our waiter was nice but the food was the worst out of all the Applebee’s I have ever traveled to.

We got our food in «shifts,» so we didn’t all eat at the same time; they got orders wrong (basically walking out with anything from the kitchen and hoping somebody ordered it); the staff, including the manager was rude!!! I personally ordered the new chicken «fundido,» and was the worst thing I’ve ever had. The description for what I ordered was basically, gooey cheese, crispy potatoes, grilled veggies (what you’d expect). What I got, finally, was a piece of luke warm rubbery «chicken» on a burnt layer of cheese, raw veggies and cold potatoes. This was needless to say, not «sizzling.» I then asked for melted cheese, and got more, shredded cheese. The manager came by and asked if they could make something else, which would be the right thing to ask. However when my fiancé said that doesn’t look like «fondue,» she said to him in a condescending manner, «it’s not ‘fondue,’ it’s ‘fundido’ honey!» Unreal! I then had to let her know it’s best she just walk away. My fiancé’s dinner had no artichokes, although it was certainly advertised as having them, and both my daughter’s dinners were cold. I’m still in shock that the manager was that quick to react in such an uncontrollable, uncalled for, condescending manner. We then get an automatic 15% gratuity when they served four people. Are they even allowed to do that?! We will not be back!!!

Terrible customer service and the rudest waitstaff I’ve ever seen! We were traveling and came in to order some food to go and just take it back to the hotel. For this, they seated us next to the «car side to go» station, which apparently is where all of the waitstaff hangs out to bitch and moan about their tables and everything else imaginable because the whole time we were there, that’s all we heard. And it’s not like we were eavesdropping, these people were literally less than 5 feet away from us. I tried to give some nonverbal clues that signaled to them «hey peoples… we can TOTALLY hear everything you’re saying!» but to no avail. Management really needs to step up and get this location’s waitstaff under control. How embarrassing.

Their thai chicken pizza on the appetizer menu is note worthy, as is their deep fried bread pudding. I use to come here and gorge on french fries, nachos, spinach dip, boneless bbq chicken, the sampler platter and dessert all in one sitting, after my photo shoots in Chicago with my then honey and friday nights after work. Conveniently located right in front of south bend’s mecca, a la Super Walmart. If you are a minority other than a black person, expect the entire restaurant to turn and stare once you make your entrance. Makes you feel like a movie star. So glamourous.