Applebee's Grill + Bar

We've always been very happy with the food at Applebees until we visited the Applebee's in Marshal town IA. The service was very poor. Not a very friendly waitress at the bar. Had to ask her for silverware. She never asked how the food was. We tasted it and it was very dry noodles as though they'd been sitting about for some time. Noodles were all stuck together and chewy. I can't remember the last time I was so disappointed that I complained about food, but I'd bet it was 40 years ago The manager removed the entrees from our bill, but no one goes out to eat to wait for bad food that they don't eat or pay for. We had 2 drinks and 1 entree which were not great but only ok and the bill was 35. Bad enough experience to write this review. I typically save my reviews for good experiences but this bad experience was noteworthy.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

Food was really good, I had the 3 appetizer special. I ordered pretzel w beer cheese, wonton tacos (so good), and fried shrimp. My date had a bang bang hamburger which he liked. The waiter put order in wrong and i received buffalo chicken wings with beer cheese Lol! He apologized when I pointed it out and said he would re-order the pretzels. After waiting several minutes he came back and said the cook had misunderstood and dropped onion rings but that he was making pretzels and would be out soon. They did come but we were done by then so boxed for home (they were still very good later) I was a comfortable, clean atmosphere. Tho some mistakes service is still a four rating due to effort to correct and pleasant personality. Sorry not pics 😏

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Our server Mel , did not ask us what we wanted for drinks and ignored us for half an hour and when her coworkers told her she had a table she had an attitude and would still not come take our drinks or orders. I would give less stars if possible. 0/10 experience do better

The service was absolutely phenomenal. Our server was so nice, and she deserved a good tip. The food I got was the Chicken Parm Fettuccine. The sauce was so creamy and cheesey and had an amazing flavor. The chicken was tender and cooked very well. There was a picture in the corner of the Marshalltown football team, it seems like this Applebee's is very proud of where it is. 5 stars.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Had lunch with some cousins and a good time. Staff was friendly. Food was good. Atmosphere was great.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Updated 11/20/25. Came for a low key anniversary dinner. It was disappointing. Wife's pasta dish was inedible because of chewy, dry noodles. Did not get her replacement dish until after I finished. My sirloin was average, my garlic mashed potatoes were only lukewarm when served. Overall subpar experience. We did receive credit for the returned dish.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

I love this place but when I ordered my food for pick up. The food wasn’t hot or look fresh. It looked like it was sitting out for a while. I also called and complain. The customer service was shitty. Worst experience in my life

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

October 25, 2025 we stopped here - it was a Saturday night and busy. We had the pleasure of having Jayden B. as our waitress and she was AMAZING, as well as FUN!
The food was perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
If we should be in the area again, we'll definitely be stopping again!
Kudos to the cook, bar staff & of course Jayden!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Applebee’s in Marshalltown, where the food is just okay, but the people make it awesome.

Let’s start with the MVPs: Troy and the whole crew of servers, bartenders, and support staff absolutely crushed it. Even though the kitchen must’ve been low on staff or staff in the kitchen were on strike, the team out front kept the energy high, the drinks flowing, and the smiles coming.

Troy was engaging, funny, and made me feel like a regular even though I’m not. The bartenders deserve a raise too they had great personalities, kept things moving, and made the extremely long wait for food feel like part of the fun.

Now, let’s be honest the food? Meh. It’s Applebee’s. Nothing to brag about, nothing to write home about. But here’s the magic: good service can make average food taste like a five-star meal. And that’s exactly what happened.

You can serve me the best food in the world with bad service, and I’ll leave grumpy. But give me average food with people who genuinely care, laugh, and make you feel welcome that’s the kind of meal that sticks with you.

One thing I wish Applebee's would do differently is allow sound on the games that are important to the local community. I know if there is a game I want to watch, DO NOT EVEN THINK OF GOING TO APPLEBEE'S, THEY WONT TURN ON THE VOLUME. Just go to any local sports bar and your guaranteed to get the volume on if you ask. Applebee's has something against people coming to their place to enjoy a game.

So, hats off to Troy and the Marshalltown Applebee’s crew. You turned an ordinary dinner into a genuinely great night out (at Applebee's).

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I always love meeting at Applebee's with family or friends. Great food and a good atmosphere for visiting.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Terrible service! Food was fair.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 1

Food and service was good

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Worst experience ever walked in to place Togo order because no one answers phone . Then places order and only received half of it . The half that I did get was not hot at all only reason I am not there in person is due to my anger about how many mistakes were made , ordered beer cheese and chips , and only received the chips , ordered a combo sampler and I'm missing 1 motzeralla stix and I'm missing all sauces I asked for .

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 3

Ordered mushroom Swiss burger very good. Server was friendly and would stop there again when I'm in Marshalltown sgain

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Never have I been so frustrated before even finding a table. Stood in the front for 15min while the hostess talked to what looked like a friend at the bar before she came and greeted us and told us it would be a 15-20min wait. We said okay and found a spot to wait. We continued to wait for 45 min until another group also got frustrated and demanded to be sat. She continued to seat all the other parties there and continued to ignore our presence or say anything about our wait. We decided to eat elsewhere as it by then was getting late and already could tell the slow pace environment and didn’t want to wait anymore

Service: 1