Applebee's Grill + Bar - Brenham, TX

Texas E.

My wife and I stopped here for lunch at 3:00pm recently. The place was empty except for one other couple. My wife ordered the Chicken Salad and I ordered the Chicken Sandwich. We waited approximately 25 minutes for our meals to be delivered. During that timeframe our server never came back to the table to apologize for the long wait. My wife's Chicken Salad was fair in taste. My Chicken Sandwich was overcooked. The chicken patty was dry and overcooked. We have no plans to return. There were too many disappointments with this eatery.

Brenda R. (. O. T.

The main purpose of this rating is to give kudos to Tony, our server, who was absolutely fabulous!

We have been to this establishment before and the food was good. We’ve been to other Applebee’s and the food was better. On February 1, 2025 we decided to give it a go again and we traveled an hour. The service was excellent! Kudos to Tony!!!

Had it not been for Tony, our experience that evening would have been definitely flawed. Not mentioning everything but a few of our issues were: The boneless chicken wings and ribs were overcooked, and the beer was not served in cold vessels. However, the sauce on both food dishes was good. The side dips,
allegedly ranch and blue cheese, were lacking in the flavor they were supposed to be. Had we mentioned this to Tony I’m sure he would’ve made corrective measures. The error was the person doing the cooking. There were a few issues in that department.
But a server cannot compensate for poorly flavored or cooked food other than to report it. Why should I have rained on his parade?!
The blue cheese was not blue cheese at all. I’m not sure what it was but it had a slight tartar sauce taste to it. It’s not even like anybody tried to make it blue cheese; it was more like sour cream with a dash of seasoning.
The restaurant cannot really be judged on a building structure or the decor motif; but it’s outdated and in some need of updating. Nor can I judge the atmosphere based solely on my taste as others might find it comforting so-to-speak.

Congratulations to you Tony For making our evening less of a disaster 😊

Tammy V.

Ordered chicken wings Got dried out hard chicken nuggets. When I questioned it she said that was the only chicken wings. Looked again at menu and pointed out what I ordered. She then said well that’s not what I thought you wanted. She went to the manager and while pointing and bobbing her head had the manager (covered in hickeys) and decided I didn’t have wings. They replaced them but then the server continued to make her comments where she thought I couldn’t see her. Won’t be going back. The whole place was not professional and tacky.

Sophia R.

Me and my grandmother went here for brunch 2 days ago and there were about 2 other parties dining at the same. I ordered a crispy chicken salad and my grandmother ordered a bacon burger. We got spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer but ended up having to send it back because it was watery. It took FOREVER to get our main course. The food was okay, but definitely not worth the wait due to the texture and temperature of the chicken in my salad, as well as my grandmother’s beef patty. I really don’t like to complain but the icing on the cake was that when I asked to see the manager over the issue he was very rude and dismissive. I also saw him scratching his butt while talking to the hostess. I really can’t recommend this restaurant in good conscience.

Elizabeth S.

I am not thoroughly convinced that although reasonably good their food is literally just kiwi dinners love the staff microwaves and then the stakes are put on the grill for a few minutes.
The real trouble is their prices. They are charging like everything is made fresh in-house when it's clearly not.

You want to charge prices like that.. show me quality like Chili's and Cheddar's where the cooks have actual skills.

They make you wait a long time to make you think they are preparing the food in house when it's clearly not. Which is also super annoying.

Kathy B.

March 2023
This location seems to have issues with food quality/quantity. Came here after a long weekend camping at Lake Somerville. I ordered a 3 kid's meals, & 2 adult meals. & one monthly drink special.
1st off the adult drink was very weak...like there was no alcohol in the drink at all. It was like I was just drinking the drink mix. I have been to a few Applebee's so I know how the drinks should be.
I also wanted a meal item but they were out of it. The food that I order was lacking alot.
My tomato basil soup was cold & looked like it was sitting on the counter for a while. It was chunky not smooth & it didn't have much toppings on it.There was no chicken in my wrap. Maybe like two tiny little pieces of it some where in the wrap.
For one of the kid's meal I ordered yogurt & strawberries but was only given strawberries. I asked where the yogurt was and I was then informed that they were out of yogurt. Ok when was I gonna be informed, I would have had my son pick something else. I asked for at least a little more strawberries to balance out not having yogurt. (She had to go ask the manager for approval) Why would you let me order strawberries and yogurt if you didn't have yogurt. You could have come back to tell me that there was no yogurt & asked if I wanted something else. Nope they just brought out the strawberries like that's all that was supposed to come with the meal. She informed me after the yogurt drama that the food truck had not yet arrived, so they were lacking a few things.

The service was decent and we didn't have to wait for refills.
I guess she did the best she could with the lack of food they had

July 2023
The service was the same. There was no food quality/quantity issues this time. I ordered tomato basil soup with a grill cheese & it came out good. Soup was smoooth this time. I ordered the $6 drink special. I asked for the new Tropical Mana Margrita, (which was yellow) but it wasn't until I was halfway done with the drink that the drink she brought me was blue. So I'm assuming that the drink she brought me was the Blue Bahama Mama. Either way the drink was good.
BUT the only issue is I wanted the $1 dessert for after my lunch order. I was told it had to be the regular price of $1.99 for the dessert because I didn't order the dessert before 5pm. I asked about dessert after I finished my meal & it was 5:10p. But it was only 99 cents extra so I didn't mind paying for it, I really wanted a brownie for dessert.

Update: Other than the small issues it was an ok experience. I'll keep the 3 star review I had.

Jeremiah R.

I’ve never been to a more depressing Applebees in my life, definitely outdated and ran down. Food came out about room temperature, the restaurant was pretty slow so it doesn’t make sense to me. This is the reason why I stay away from Applebees. Wish it was good like it was back a few years ago. The manager did his best to right the situation.

Joseph C.

Edit: This location has had a total 180 with the new management and staff, everyone was very friendly and attentive. Our nachos and french onion soup were excellent and I hope to see this store continue doing amazing! Thanks a ton to our server and the manager! I'll definitely be eating here again.

Worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. The night staff are RUDE and so slow. We had been waiting 20+ min for our drinks when a whole family stood up and told the night manager they're leaving because they waited 30+ min for their waters as well. The night manager told the mother of the family to "leave her store and stop being rude" the lady was not being rude and was just understandably annoyed. I spoke to her in the parking lot and she's never experienced anything that horrible before nor has she made a complaint to that degree. The night manager should be fired immediately this kind of behaviour is appalling and a stain on the franchise. Don't eat here unless you like being ignored, yelled at, or waiting forever for some service.