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.