line cook

server

restaurant manager

host/hostess

to-go specialist

Applebees

I've worked here for 4 years and when I first started at Applebee's in Clarksville, it was up to beat always busy and always steady dinner rushes. I enjoyed working with my management and co-workers, everyone was always on the same page and everyone was taught the same way how to address any issues with your table, etc. There was hardly every an issue with our staff or anything regarding Applebee's in general except for your common issues with guest, that can and was taken care of immediately. As time went on we had gained a new staff and replaced management. Our General Manager at the time who was just such a wonderful man, so kind and would regardless of the time and issues he would always make sure his job was done for the day. He ended up getting placed at another store were later down the road he had passed away from a heart attack which was a very upsetting ordeal for the staff that was close with him. But again, as time went on we ended up with a new GM and assistant managers, including new co-workers. Some caught on quick others not so much, my personal thought but the GM that we replaced our old GM with it was his FIRST GM passion and to be honest I believe he put our name threw the floor. He ran our store for a year and ended up stepping down from his position. In his own words "it wasn't the job for him". That being said, I do believe that in his year of being employed with us as GM he by far made things better but worst. I can go on for days about my experience but I have had 5 General Managers and numerous assistant managers some good some bad. I have had many good days with Applebee's as I am a people person and LOVE meeting new faces. We always had new guest come in expecially dinner time, being off of the interstate and near a lot of hotels we brought in all kinds of guest traveling. Great conversations and great memories! When I first started up till about 2 years ago we had pretty much all the same staff, same people working and same schedule for the most part. But because of the lack in business and new surrounding restaurants our good co-workers started to find other jobs. I stuck around because it was for me a "easy day for the most part" I know the menu, and know what I am doing so therefore I stuck around. But 4 years in, again very much a different place. New Managers, New Staff. It's basically someone's first day everyday there. It's no longer what I am use to, new rules, new this and that all because we change managers like socks. Now I have been in the restaurant business for over 7 years, I know people come and go, etc. But here at one point it was such a great place, these days it's almost brand new to me. I must say after 4 long years I am actually interested in finding a new job and moving on. The most enjoyable part of my job here at Applebee's was getting to know your guest, finding out there reason for being out, weather it was just a dinner and a movie, family outing or anniversary, even had several marriage purposals over the years. It was all fun in getting to know your guest!! The hardest part of my job would have to be dealing with the handful of extra things to do threw out your shift and after your shift, including running your own food and taking care of you guest, busing your own tables and making sure your side work threw out your shift is complete or should I say kept up. As time goes on you may get use to it like I did but it's always a hustle to make sure everything is done and everyone is happy. It also depends on you side work as well, some are much easier then others of course. But I would have to say that was the hardest part at times. Working here like any other restaurant you can learn many things even if you feel you know it all it to me is always a learning process. You deal with different people and different personalities and when dealing with peoples food it can get hecktic at times. I over the years have learned the does and don'ts, for example replacing certain words with another word that you use more then often and trying to remove it from your vocabulary when talking to guest. You sound more perfetional to them you sound like you know what your talking about "even if you do" you sound smarter and guest tend to like your conversation more. For example: Can I get you guys something to drink -Sometime ago, two ladies told me that they didn't like being called guys. Even though I wasn't personally calling them guys I was using the word in a wrong manner towards two woman. So now, I'll say if there are two woman I'll say "Hello ladies, can I offer you ladies a drink. Or if it's a family I'll say "Hi, how are we doing today" ... Just seem to use my words more proper and had got me a long ways.. A typical day at work would be me going in for a night shift and staying until when ever it dies down or whenever the management makes cuts towards closers. Sometimes there would be more then just closers closing just because a table will stick around and it's your table and you are to stay with that table until they are ready to cash out and leave. But other then being assigned a section and taking care of your guest, taking care of your side work threw out your shift and running your own food it was simple to the thought but it all really depends on your section, the day of the week, how busy we get and your co-workers on how SMOOTH the shift runs. Over the past year I had more bad shifts then good shifts, it doesn't take much to have a bad shift if people are not helping one another out or perhaps just in general someone is having a bad shift and isn't holding there part down on there section or side work it can effect you or your whole staff. At the end of the day I always went into work and did what I had to do, and remained the same person I came in as. The guest next to your section might not be your guest today but maybe your guest tomorrow. So always tried to hold the same attitude towards everyone and everyday.

As a server the certain way things have to he done often take longer than they should. We only have one credit card machine aside from the TED's which are not on every table and are often dead. We can be stuck behind a server or 2 with multiple cards for several minuets waiting onto cash out of tables who are ready to leave. To top it off the machine rarely reads our own gift cards so they have to be manually entered which requires a manager swipe.
We have 1 minute to bring out drinks after ringing it in, but because we don't use trays going into the kitchen most of the time means you have to forget abput your own tables to run someone else's food. If you are making drinks for a large group, have been double sat, or have already run food so you decide to still grab your drinks and go you will be yelled at. 
We have 30 sec to buss our own tables without ising bus bins and despite the fact thay hosts get 10-20% of our tips daily some of them don't help like they are supposed to. During our cooperate review we will actually lose points if the hosts help bus our tables or it takes longer than 30 sec. We have skillets that go on wooden burn boards, when bussing those we have to walk to the back of the kitchen to drip off the skillets and back to the front to clean the boards before putting them away. It doesn't sound like much, but in a dinner rush every second counts.
Food is often expoed wrong with missing mods and sauces. Sometimes we have an expo and sometimes we do it ourselves, there are very few people who make sure food goes out exactly the way it should. 
In the mornings we don't have a dishwasher, if we run out of silverware we have to wash it ourselves unless a cooks happens to go back there and wash more than what they need. We are ALWAYS running out of silverwear. Management blames us for throwing it away and will not order more for long periods of time. We also run out of appetizer/side plates constantly, burn boards, skillets, and cups. And this is blamed on the server's for not pre bussing enough when the fact is that we don't have enough. Even when we have a dishwasher we can't get silverwear unless one of us has the time to rack them all properly after they've been run through the first time because our dishwasher won't do it. We often times wash what we need right away by hand because of this.
When it's slow (I have made as little as $14 on a Wed morning shift) we are expected to clean clean clean, scrubbing booth cracks, sweeping under booths, cleaning the kitchen, side stands, windows, and even the floor boards all for  $2.13 an hour without complaining because you should be happy to work for nothing because of teamwork.
2% of sales are taken from us whether we get tipped or not .5% for the bartender and 1.5% to hosts. This is normal for restaurants, but they use this to pay the hosts far less than minimum wage. On Veteran's Day everyone worked and we gave out free meals which we were almost never tipped for. I accepted that we were doing a large portion of the days work for free, but then they decided to add up our Veteran's meals and take a tip share from that too. I believe it was because our sales weren't enough to bring the hosts to minimum wage. We PAID for every single meal we gave away. I was tipped by one Veteran only, every other veteran meal I paid to do the work for. It didn't amount to alot of money, bit I will never get over how absolutely unfair that was when we were already doing a great deal of work for nothing.
I have been yelled at for telling another server that I will get mine own food that was ready to be run because "it slows down the line" for them to wait for me to walk over to it. We all prefer to do this because people notice when you don't and we have gotten bad surveys for not brining out our own food. Also not every server will ask your table to check that steaks are cooked properly or if they need anything else.
As a server at Applebee's they seem to put everything on us and it is often more than one person can do. When we are taking tables, washing dishes, expoing, running everyone else's food and decode to prioritize by not wiping something down or putting an empty cup rack in gu right away someone will always have something to say about how lazy you are and you will be scolded. Some managers understand slightly better than others, but some don't even care how much they put on us, they are always ready to add more.
My overall experience working here has not been good. I do feel Applebee's takes advantage of us servers by having us do a great deal of non tipped work without extra pay and supplementing non tipped employees pay with our tips.
One thing that has kept me here is how great they have been when I needed my schedule changed. I have a pretty well set schedule because I have to and they adjusted it for me twice over the past year without hesitation.

I applied for a job at the Kent Applebee's. Two to three weeks later, I received an email from the manager stating that he'd received my resume and was very interested in interviewing me. I called to schedule an interview and was asked to come in at 11AM the next morning. I arrived promptly at 11 and waited 10-15 minutes for the manager to be available to meet with me. The interview went well and he mentioned that he was very impressed with my previous restaurant experience. He was so impressed, in fact, that he'd decided to email me to come in, after attempting to call me and finding that my number was no longer in service (I'd had to change it during the three weeks since applying). He expressed immediate interest in hiring me and asked that I come back 2 days later for orientation.

During the interview, I wore my hair styled with a headscarf, but left my hair completely exposed at orientation. The first thing the GM said to me, in fact, was a comment about my haircut at the start of orientation. This is an important detail to remember for later. Nothing further was said on the subject of my hair, and we continued with the orientation and all requisite "new hire" paperwork for about 45 mins, before another girl joined us, and then another hour after that. The orientation ended with a tour of the restaurant. It's important to mention at this point that I am pregnant. Most of my interactions I'd had with the GM were conversations while seated at a table. It was at the time that I stood for the restaurant tour that I believe the observation of my pregnancy occurred. I believe this because of the events that unfolded after.The other girl and I were told that we would start training the following week - one of us on Monday and the other on Wednesday. He said he would give us a call or email over the weekend or early in the week to discuss our schedule.

I never received a call from him, so I called on Wednesday and was told that they hadn't done the schedule yet, they would work on it and call or email me the following Saturday, a week after orientation. I did not receive a call Saturday or Sunday, so I called again Monday. I was told the GM wasn't in, so I called Tuesday. I was told he was busy and would call me back, he never did. I called Wednesday and the GM told me again that the schedule wasn't done and to call back that evening. I called back that evening, he told me that they would schedule me to start training the next Wednesday at 4PM and I would train Wednesday-Saturday of the following week. This would put me on track to start training two and a half weeks following orientation. He told me he would email me a schedule Saturday. I did not receive an email Saturday or Sunday.

I repeated this process the following week and was unable to reach him until Wednesday, again. I called Wednesday around noon to ensure I was still set to start training at 4PM. It was at this point that he informed me that there was a problem with my hairstyle. I have very curly hair that is currently cut and styled as a long mohawk. He informed me that he didn't notice during the interview, but did during orientation and it doesn't comply with the Applebee's dress code and that it was his fault that he didn't mention it at the time he noticed (or in the subsequent two and a half weeks I called about training.) He said unless I could do something different with my hair, which he assumed I couldn't because there's "no way" to make my mohawk not look like a mohawk, he couldn't put me on payroll. I informed him that I'd be happy to part it down the middle, straighten it, and wear it down, covering the shaved sides. He told me that I would need to do that and come in so that he could see it and make sure it was appropriate.

Two days later, I came up to Applebee's with my hair styled as described, to show him that it was actually possible, with as much hair as I have, for my mohawk to be styled to look like a bob. He looked at my hair, said that it looked great and eliminated the issue of the mohawk. He said that as long as I wore my hair styled this way "100% of the time" while working, I would be fine. He said that he would give me a call the following afternoon to discuss my training. Four days passed after this. I never received a call and, each time I've called in the following three days, I was told he was busy and would call me later, which never happened. I am now absolutely convinced that I was strung along for three and a half weeks, and that this all stemmed from his observation of my pregnancy at orientation. He was so eager to hire me that he pursued me after finding my original number out of service, and offered me employment on the spot. All of this to refuse to schedule me for just shy of a month? At worst, it's active discrimination; at best, it's very poor and disorganized management.

I started working at my Applebee's (Westside location) directly after Thanksgiving after leaving my last serving job. 
At first, I was enjoying the experience because management was much more relaxed and not hovering over my every move, which was an issue at my last place of employment. However, after only a week it quickly became apparent that the management simply don't do their jobs much. I am a part time student and even after giving my school schedule to the managers in a public place all of them can see, I have still been scheduled during class time. When I bring this up to management I am told to get it covered - making absences, if I can't get them covered, no call no shows. Other servers have also had this issue with the schedule being changed in the middle of the week and no one being notified, leaving servers unaware they are scheduled until it's too late. I have also recently found out that one of the bartenders occasionally writes the schedule because the scheduling manager often does it wrong. I want to add here, however, that the managers are not personally unkind people; they are usually quite friendly and approachable but I do NOT enjoy working with them.
Most of the other servers, especially the ones who have been there a while said this was a usual, agreed the store was a bit of a wreck, and that they did not enjoy working there any longer but stayed because of seniority. 
There is absolutely zero discipline established at this store; servers, hosts, and cooks alike will either call out whenever or show up VERY late w/ no action taken against them. I have more than often waited far longer than I should for my replacement server when he or she simply decided not to come in on time. The cooks are often immature and pick fights with the servers. Several work relationships cause drama that disrupts serving customers, which brings me to the next issue: the customers.
Many other Applebee's servers have complained about 10% tips at best, and this stands here, too, not to mention I have never been to a location with such rude and unkind people. Customers are very impatient and trashy. Our location does not serve the $1 drink specials due to Mom's Against Drunk Driving because our area has a high number of DWIs. Customers expecting $1 drinks don't take this explanation as good enough and often complain, ask for the managers name, etc. I used to work at a Cracker Barrel which is less than a mile from this location and I did not have this issue with the customers.
Back to management, when dealing with these customers they usually give them what they want, free dessert, etc, with even one manager selling a free alcoholic beverage even after I explained to him that the customers had been served and consumed this beverage although they insisted they had not and wanted it free. 
The store itself is also very dirty.

Lastly, this store is constantly sorely understaffed. I cannot tell you the amount of times I and one or two other servers will have the entire dining room during a rush which has left us floundering and customers unhappy, badly impacting our tips. Management does not seem perturbed by this and has done nothing to change it. This has done a number on my mood and leaves me quite anxious and unhappy during work hours.

Tldr; this store has poor management with terrible scheduling issues, no disciplinary action taken against consistently late servers; it is often understaffed leaving the servers to flounder, and work drama makes it difficult to work. The clientele is often impatient and rude despite your best efforts, and tipping can steer from 10% to much less to none at all. I hate to sound unprofessional, but I cannot stress enough how nearly miserable I've been working here - so don't make the same mistake as I! If I was not privileged enough with a mother paying for my community college tuition, I would not be making enough of a living wage working here.

I worked for eight years at this location. For the first year, I was a host, and would greet guests at the door, then seat them at tables. This was more challenging than people assumed, because the host must rotate tables carefully to avoid overwhelming certain servers; a task that becomes increasingly difficult depending on where people may ask to sit. Some servers would get overwhelmed with back-to-back tables because of guest requests. Managing the host stand efficiently is crucial because it plays into server performance, which in turn plays into kitchen performance. 

The years that followed were spent as a server, as the neighborhood expert for the Carside To-Go feature. I would take orders by call, which would often flood in all at once; requiring careful management of time and many simultaneous tasks. I would then ring in orders, then expo and bag them up when they were ready. Afterward, I would take them out to the car when the guest arrived. In the years I did this, I managed to build up a clientele, some of which were only satisfied with my service, and would not even order through someone else. 

I learned to overcome my timid nature when dealing with people professionally, I learned to answer the phones with professional composure even in stressful situations, and generally how to manage a vast many tasks in small time frames. The hardest part of the job was the way certain guests, servers, and managers would treat me. It's unsatisfying to try your best and be mistreated regardless, so I was dissatisfied with management. Some servers enjoyed littering my stations with drinks and other personal effects and trash, which would slow me down as I would have to clean up after them to proceed. Some guests treated me terribly no matter how hard I tried, but the majority of my guests loved me and I formed friendships with numerous regulars. 

The most enjoyable part of the job was both the food and my colleagues. It can be a fun, candid atmosphere, and I made many lasting friendships with fellow servers and cooks, even certain managers. I greatly enjoyed the food, although it was not terribly healthy. There were many items I could eat time and time again without getting tired of.

In a typical day, I'd arrive, count my cash register, then begin. The calls would come in at random, but almost always with a huge rush. Most nights, when I wasn't in the rush, it was very slow. I thought, if some of those calling during the rush were to call when I was slow, the workload would be more even distributed over time and I would not be forced to fall behind despite my best efforts... but that is not the way the restaurant industry works. Even still, I worked in the restaurant long enough to see when it ran well, and when it was run badly. I see how smooth things can really be with the right management and employees, and have developed good insight for what is needed to establish and maintain such a flow.

Overall, this was the most stressful and hectic job I ever worked. 90% of the workload was often crammed into half, sometimes even one third of the night's time frame. Falling behind was inevitable, but it should be well-understood by restaurant managers that the flow of the rush is not predictable, and doesn't take into account how overwhelmed the restaurant may or may not be at any given time.

There was no typical work day here.  The closest that it came to being typical was our everyday duties depending on if you worked more than one different job there as I did.  Working as a dishwasher was typical, clean dishes during the day and make sure that every station in the kitchen has the dishes that they need.  As a host, it was only slightly typical, only because the duties were always the same, but the branch I worked for was either very busy or very empty.  Duties as a host consisted of seating customers, and just general customer service, making sure that servers get an even amount of customers a piece, and cleaning tables once customers had left.  As a food prep, all you did was make sure that the cooks are working in synchronization and getting food cooked on time with the orders as they came in.  Also, food preps made sure that before food left the kitchen that it was correct and was made properly, and garnished appropriately.

I learned all about customer service by helping customers on a regular basis.  Time management was a big skill that I acquired from working for this company, because if food is taking too long to cook and prepare, the whole restaurant will be slowed down, and this results in poor customer service.  I learned a good deal on how to lead co-workers.  My managers always had the last say, but as a food prep, you are forced to lead the kitchen, because you see how the whole restaurant is working at that point in time.  You see the full order for every table and how long it had been since the order had been put in, and from that information you could remind the cooks what you needed to complete orders, and ask for things that had not even been started yet.

The management for this company was great.  Just like any company, you have ups and downs, but overall I had more ups with the management staff than anything.  The staff were professional, but were caring at the same time. They would bend over backwards to help their employees, as well as, making sure that all employees were properly trained to the standards of their job descriptions.  Also, they were always more than happy to cross-train employees to do a multitude of different jobs.

My co-workers at this company were, also, very great.  Everyone was happy and willing to help each other out no matter what that meant.  Everyone was always worried about each other and checked in quite often to make sure that everyone was taken care of and that no one was falling behind in their work duties.

The hardest part of this job was just the random hours, they weren't very long hours but they were very random, and given the time that I held this job, it was just a difficult schedule to work around.

The best part of this job was being able to improve myself as much as I was able to with cross-training for other jobs, and my managers always had something new to show me, because every day was different than the last day.

I learned a lot working as a server at Applebees. My favorite thing about working there was the friendships I formed with other employees. I also enjoyed meeting new people. I liked that the job was fast paced which made the day go by faster. 

I, personally, did not make a lot of money working at Applebees. I was not able to pay my bills with the amount of money I was bringing home. Other servers have made a career out of serving at Applebees. 
 
A typical day at work would include coming in and being assigned a section to work in. The hostess is supposed to seat based off of a chart, rotating between servers. When a guest/family is seated in your area, you go over and pass out menu's. You will state your name and explain that you will be serving them. First thing you offer is promotional items. Whatever the sale is at the time, usually posted around the table somewhere. Grab drinks and appetizers. When they are ready to order, you will write down the order, being sure to include how they want their meat cooked, which sides they want, any items they don't want or any items they want extra, any special sauces, etc. If you don't remember to do so the first time, you will have to either return to the table to ask, or potentially have your order wrong. In my own experience, I have had the kitchen staff just put that plate on hold without telling me because they didn't know how the customer wanted it. That will make your table have to wait for a long time for their food. The kitchen staff also didn't like it if you made a mistake on the computer when you put an order in. They would get aggravated if you had a customer complain about their food. They would get aggravated if you needed to change something after you already put the order in. 

Next you would take the guests their food and make sure they had everything they needed. While you let them eat, you will probably have been seated again. So you will serve that table accordingly. Sometimes you will have two or three tables sit down at one time. It can get stressful. You have to be able to handle highly stressful situations and be fast paced. 

While you are running back and forth, refilling drinks, fixing orders, grabbing extra sauces, and pre-bussing your tables, you may have to answer the phone and take a to go order if the carside person isn't by the phone. 

*It's important to know the menu. You should know what everything is and what comes with it. Try to remember prices for alcoholic beverages as well, because the prices aren't listed in the menu. Guests will typically have questions about what alcohol comes in a drink. It comes in handy to know those things as well. (You are responsible for learning these things on your own.) Also, it will take time, but you will have to learn where all of the buttons are in the computer. *

It's not a super high end restaurant so people's expectations are not too high, but the training for service is very thorough. Management will always make sure you are prepared and well trained. If you have questions, ask! You don't want to find things out the hard way and lose money for the company or send a guest running out, never to return. 

Over time, you get a lot more freedom to manipulate the menu to satisfy guests. People that get "special treatment" always come back. You are responsible for service and busing your own tables. I think that's a little gross, but it gives you control over your turnover rate. You do need to bring a bank (some singles, fives, and coin). The bar will give you coin if you don't have it... but you won't get a high five and a smile. Tip out is purely based on sales (you don't tip out the bartender on how much alcohol you sell). Yes, I have worked a day where I lost money going to work, but those are fluke days like giving someone too much change back, people stiff you, etc. You purchase your own uniform and shoes. Jeans, belt, plain polo, and non-slip shoes. Absolutely NEVER skimp on the shoes... seriously!

The coworkers get along great, and teach each other constructive tricks and shortcuts. The language barrier with the kitchen staff is a struggle sometimes. It's like playing charades, but like any restaurant, you learn some spanish.

The hardest part of the job is INCONSISTENCY. You never know what you're going to make during a shift. You could show up to work, nobody comes in, but there are 10 servers on the floor, and you get sent home with no money. Your income is based on the number of guests that walk thru the door and how much money they spend. Plus, no such thing as paid time off, and the benefit packages might as well not exist. I knew of one server that actually paid for it.

The most enjoyable aspect is INSTANT GRATIFICATION. Go to work, and leave work with cash in your pocket. I like the flow of new, unique people. It's a great job for sociable people. Management is very good about letting you work in addition to your scheduled hours. Say you need some extra money, there is a big football game going on, and the place will be packed. Well some other server that night may have been invited to a party to watch the game. Typically (depending on your skill), you may work in their stead. People want to work extra just as often as people don't want to work. Managers notice these changes so keep it balanced. Nobody wants to be the person that always ditches work.

Ultimately, the flexibility is both a gift and a curse. I personally liked it, and I would go back. I still go back there to eat or sit at the bar just for the company of my old coworkers.

After working there I would have to say I am  appalled by how utterly pathetic their sanitation practices are. I choose to never eat there again and I would not recommend that you work there either. While working there I experienced conflict with the general manager because I expressed my concerns with the sanitation. My concerns involved numerous health risks to not only the customers but employees as well and my manager failed to correct the problems and cut my hours because I continuously expressed concerns forcing me to eventually quit. Of the many concerns to name a few, The restaurant was left dirty overnight leaving food and other contaminants for the morning shift.  This also fed to the infestation of roaches. They had many and never once did they hire a professional team of bug exterminators.Not to mention there was faulty/ dangerous equipment or safety violations. While there I noticed many oil spills and other spills that no one attended to. The fire escapes always had things blocking them. One fire extinguisher and lots of flammables by the grill/ stove/ broilers. I was the prep cook yet before my shift I was made to sweep the parking lot and clean the rest-rooms without proper equipment to do so in a sanitary fashion. There was occasion that had it not been for my prior experience as a nurses assistant I could of potentially contaminated myself with various diseases because there is no reciprocal for peoples insulin needles or other needles in the rest room. When I first started there was no bags in the women’s sanitary napkin waste containers. Meaning I had to reach in with a gloved hand and wipe down the waste everyday. The only thing I was really given was gloves, a broom and dustpan and mop bucket. There was no receptacle to toss contaminated waste . No use of disinfectant sprays or cleaners. Food was left uncovered and sitting out overnight.  Harassment was an issue, there was numerous accounts where something was either said or I was touched inappropriately. Lastly the overall quality of food before it reached the customer was at an all time low... wrong items, not properly heated or undercooked, old or poor grade.The meat is grade D and usually served even if it smells putrid and is three or four days old. I had been told to complete recipes with missing ingredients or without properly measuring things out.
    If the store is properly managed and sanitary, prep work is a piece of cake. It is basically following a recipe and pre-ping the food in large quantities and then properly covering and storing it in accordance to the food health and safety administration.

While working at Applebee's I learned some of the top time management and customer service skills. You were basically the manager and supervisor of yourself while on the floor as a server. Being that Applebee's is a corporation, there are pretty strict guidelines that are in place for turn around time, time management and customer service. Along with that, being in a position such as server and bartender, you have to have the ability to be able to multi task. This is so important because you are the main person who is in charge of each table in your section, and also the guests at the bar. The last thing you want to have to do is involve you manager in a situation that ultimately you can handle on your own. On a Friday evening during dinner, the manager is probably one of the busiest persons in the building, and letting him be able to run both the front of the house and back of the house efficiently, is of the utmost importance. At any given time, he can be called to the line to help prepare customer orders, to running the dishwasher. As a server you are the main point of contact for your customer. With that you are also the main person to be yelled at by your customer if any issue arises, so to be able to handle yourself in a composed manner is very important. Again being able to prioritize and manage your time, is very important. I definitely enjoyed working in the fast paced environment that Applebee's offers. But on the flip side, some employees came in not knowing of the demands and responsibility placed on your shoulders, which led to a high turn over. This would've been one of the hardest parts of being in that business because everyone's shift usually changes to accommodate the loss of people until the position is filled. Some of the great points of being at this job was the one on one time you were able to have with customers, and the "sink or swim" attitude that was used by many. I would have to say a lot of the reasons why I have learned to multi task well, especially under pressure, is because of this job, and the never knowing what one night would be like. It was also a great place to be able to pick up extra shifts if needed, and you were rewarded for your hard work with great advancement opportunities. I would say though another downside was not having a set schedule to rely on, but all in all the four years I spent with Applebee's was rewarding, not only because of the friendships made and the great team work, but because I learned many skills I use to this day.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Line cook 2237 salaries reported	$15.51 per hour
Server 1401 salaries reported	$19.61 per hour
Restaurant manager 94 salaries reported	$58,207 per year
Host/hostess 1280 salaries reported	$12.75 per hour
To-go specialist 824 salaries reported	$13.64 per hour

Working at Applebee's: Company Overview and Reviews

Applebee's

Applebee's Ratings

Popular jobs at Applebee's

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected