Applebee's - Duncan

I went there with a group of friends—six of us in total—and we were one of only five tables in the entire restaurant, with at least three servers on duty. One server took our drink orders and expressed frustration about staff cutbacks, which she claimed hindered her ability to serve us. To make matters worse, only half of our table received menus. After waiting 20 minutes for our drinks, another server came to take two of our orders and then disappeared. After roughly 45 minutes without our food, we decided to leave. Just then, the two orders arrived, and the server seemed upset that we were leaving. I lingered behind to discuss the bill, as I didn’t feel it was right to pay for such terrible service—after all, we hadn’t even had a chance to eat. When I spoke with the server about what went wrong, I pointed out that it was the worst service I had ever encountered. I have worked in the food industry, so I understand that things can get hectic, but that is no excuse. A food establishment's top priority should always be to provide customers with the best possible experience. It’s disheartening to witness the lack of effort here. I don't believe in making excuses; if you're going to work in this field, you need to do it right. Although some customers can be challenging, that doesn’t justify being a frustrating server. It pains me to write this review, but I feel it’s important to inform the community. Whether this Applebee’s needs new servers or a complete management overhaul, something needs to change. I can’t imagine this location will survive long if it continues to operate with the reputation it has earned. Duncan Applebee’s, it’s time to seek help.