disappointment

Applebee's did a nice thing this week, feeding active duty military for free for Veteran's day (if I have my facts remembered correctly). I'm sure it brought them business that amply made up for that generosity, and indeed, we were willing to support them, for their support of Veterans.

Except... that it was Friday. And busy. Now, the item on my to-do list is to consider when I'll be going back. It won't be soon, and it certainly won't be on a Friday. The service was slow. I mean, I understand busy can contribute to somewhat slow service, but the wait we had between being seated, and ordering even drinks, well, it was way too long. Our server seemed a little new to the job, and hopefully he will improve with time and experience. The food, though, was about the worst I've gotten at any Applebee's. I consider a chain like that to have a dependable if not stellar cast of entrees, but not tonight.

I ordered the chicken and penne bowl, with a side salad. Ron had a rueben. Raine had mac & cheese, and probably got the best of all of us (I mean, how bad does it have to get to mess up Kraft Mac & Cheese?) The server forgot my salad, and we had to remind him when he brought the entrees. The chicken was skimpy, the noodles overdone and the alfredo was somehow... off. Ron's sandwich looked good, but he said it was soggy on the bottom and the corned beef wasn't very corned... The best thing was the salad... the one that almost didn't get there.

When the bill came... and the server had to go for it twice... the salad wasn't even on it. Now usually, I will point out something like that, even when it means I'll pay more. Tonight, however, I didn't. (although I did mention the irony to Ron that the best plate of food on the table was the one that wasn't on the bill) The server didn't even ask about the quality of the meal, and the manager, who is usually asking at each table about customer satisfaction, was nowhere to be seen. I just paid what the ticket said. Well, I did leave a tip for the server... he'll probably get better.