What It's Really Like To Work At Applebee's
Applebee's is one of the nation's more "polarizing" restaurants. It's popular enough to have 1,587 locations all across the United States (via ScrapeHero), and country singer Walker Hayes helped to give the business a considerable boost in popularity thanks to his song "Fancy Like" (via Restaurant Business Online). At the same time, there are those who absolutely loathe the chain's existence. The Daily Meal reports that a Reddit thread in 2018 was dedicated to bashing the 'Bees with incredible fury. Reports of snotty, lazy waitresses, low-quality and poorly-cooked food, and even credit card theft filled the 4,000+ comments of that thread. For some, if they really want to eat "good in the neighborhood, " Applebee's sure isn't the place to do it.
But what do the employees think of the chain? While Redditors describe waitresses who like to add generous tips for themselves or would rather take smoke breaks than deal with customers, it would be incredibly unfair to say that all employees of Applebee's behave like that. With over 28,000 employees company-wide (via Applebee's FAQ), there are bound to be those who love the job, hate it, or find it better than being in a ditch.
Fortunately, there are many employees of Applebee's, both past and present, who are happy to share their stories about what it's like to work at America's "neighborhood bar and grill."
Applebee's has pros and cons
Much like any other job, working at Applebee's differs from person-to-person, so you'll always hear a different personal experience. But what about the general experience, such as serving customers and working the kitchen? On the subreddit r/IAmA, a former Applebee's employee known as u/ApplebeesWageslave opened up to questions about their experience working for the company. The user reported that they had been fired for a "policy violation," noting that the event was triggered by becoming fed up with their general manager and rude customers. They did, however, claim that their co-workers were incredibly nice, even supporting them when they had been let go from the company.
It seems that good co-workers at Applebee's aren't too uncommon. Several reviews on Indeed claimed that they worked alongside friendly and helpful people, although there were some reviews, of course, that painted an unflattering image of their former co-workers. Other problems involved lack of hours, relatively low pay aside from tips, and issues with management.
There also seems to be a focus on customer service as well. According to Redbook, employees will go the "extra mile" for customer service, such as giving free items or even compensating your meal if you were in any way displeased with it.
While Applebee's is a job that has its fair share of perks and drawbacks, the average pay of Applebee's employees compared to its CEO is something interesting to consider.