Wait Time and Disgruntled Patrons Sour Meal at Barboursville, West Virginia Applebee's

Recently my best friend came to town for a visit on her way to Charlotte to look for a job. While in town, we decided to go out for a nice dinner. After spending an hour trying to find a restaurant that was not packed, my friend, my husband and I decided on the Applebee's restaurant in Barboursville, West Virginia. As my husband and I have visited this location of the national chain, I expected my visit to be as good as it had been in the past.

As we entered the restaurant we were told by the hostess it would be about 30 minutes until there was a table available. This seemed reasonable as it was Saturday evening. As we waited for our table with the other patrons we noticed that there were at least three tables that were not being used at the time. One table was set for two people, one was set for four people, and one was set for six people. As there were several two, three, and four party groups waiting we assumed these people would be seated at these tables. This was not the case and the hostess waited until new tables were cleared before seating those waiting.

Finally after 30 minutes of waiting we were shown to our table which happened to be directly behind the hostess stand. The hostess threw our menus and silverware on the table and took off without another word. About five minutes later our waiter showed up at our table to take our drink orders. We each ordered a soft drink and two of us ordered a mixed drink. While trying to decide what to order and waiting for our drinks we noticed that the same three tables from before were still empty and that the line at the door was quickly spilling out to the sidewalk. The hostess was less than accommodating to those adding their name to the list and often ignored new customers for several minutes before getting their names for the waiting list.

We decided to order and appetizer of Nachos Nuevos. These nachos arrived on our table after about twenty minutes of waiting. The nachos were as expected. White corn chips arranged on a large platter with beef, beans, lettuce, cheese, jalepeno peppers, sour cream and fresh tomatoes. In my opinion these nachos are the best appetizer Applebee's has on their menu. We found them to be very enjoyable and commented on the portion size being large enough to feed at least four people.

After we received our nachos we put in our order for our main course. I ordered the Fiesta Lime Chicken and a house salad with ranch dressing. The Fiesta Lime Chicken is one of my favorites and tends to be what I order every time I visit an Applebee's location. My friend ordered the same thing as I did, while my husband ordered the 12 oz New York Strip Steak medium well with French fries and a salad.

With our ordering out of the way we sat back to enjoy our nachos and take in our surroundings as we waited for our main course. During the next hour we noticed again that the hostess often left her station leaving those arriving to stand there waiting on her return, which often took several minutes. We also noticed that the hostess spent a lot of time talking to coworkers instead of paying attention to those entering and exiting the restaurant. Many times there were upwards of thirty to forty people waiting to be seated. As time went on and those waiting noticed the many empty tables that were not being filled they began to get restless and demand to know why they were not being seated when they could plainly see three tables from the entrance with no patrons. At one point the hostess explained that the servers were busy filling drink orders and could not take additional tables because it would mess up their system. I am still not sure what she meant by that, but it was apparent that her priorities were not in providing customer service.

We also noticed during our wait for our food that our waiter was only working with two other tables and he seemed to be overwhelmed. We had the impression that we was new and was still learning so we gave him some slack when our drink glasses became empty, when he placed trays of empty glasses and plates on the railing near our table, and when he had to ask three times to see my identification for my alcoholic beverage. I believe that everyone deserves a chance to learn and since I assumed he was new I wasn't going to give him a hard time or be difficult.

After eating our salads it was another 45 minutes before we received our entrees. My Fiesta Lime Chicken arrived and as always it was wonderful tasting. The chicken was moist, the cheese and ranch type dressing that covers the chicken gives the taste of the chicken a nice zing to it without being sour. The rice pilaf that accompanied the chicken was cooked just right and as always the portion size had me wondering if I would be able to finish my dinner. While my entrée was delicious, my husband found his steak to be over-done but did not want to wait another hour to get a steak cooked to his liking. As he ate into the middle of his steak he found it to be good tasting, though it was dry.

As we ate and watched the same three tables remain empty and heard numerous customers around us complain about the wait for a seat and the wait for their food we asked to speak to a manager. Our intention was not to complain about our seemingly new waiter (whose other two tables demanded a price reduction on their food) but the fact that several tables had remained empty while the line at the door grew larger with each passing moment. The manager arrived at our table and informed us that they had been having some trouble with their order management system and orders that had been entered into the computer had been lost causing a delay in the preparation and delivery to the tables. As we had a seat behind the hostess station we had never once heard the hostess explain to customers that there was a problem with the computer system and that was the cause for the delay. It is my belief that most people do not care to wait 30 minutes of longer if they understand why they have to wait so long. I feel that the hostess would have been better off telling those who were inquiring about the empty tables about the computer issues as this would have explained why they were waiting when there were obviously empty tables.

As we paid our bill and began to gather our things from the booth I asked the waiter how long he had been working for the company. I was shocked to find out that he had been there for over two years. I suppose he may have just been having a bad night but I would have thought his demeanor and efficiency would have been better based on his experience.

I wish I could say that the experience was as pleasant as I had hoped, but to do so would be to lie. Overall, the food was good and arrived at our table hot, but the wait time and the disgruntled patrons around us made the experience less than perfect. Applebee's new commercials feature a talking apple who uses that tagline "get it together baby," perhaps this is what the Barboursville Applebee's restaurant needs to do.