I applied in-person. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Applebee's (Sacramento, CA) in Jun 2010
Interview
Walked in, asked for an application. Application was given to me in store. Filled out the application there and turned in into the host at the host stand and asked to speak to a manager (since they were currently slow, he was able to get a hold of one). Spoke to the manager that very same day, asked a few general questions (this was my first job). Was told that she was going to talk to the general manager and I would be hearing something soon. Received a call a few hours later, told to come in the next day. Next day, spoke to the general manger, asked me a few things like "why do you want to work here?" "what customer service skills do you have?", really standard questions, and was hired on the spot. Best advice I can give is just to be really friendly and smile a lot during your interviews, restaurants focus a lot on personality.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
None of the questions were really difficult, they were all really standard interview questions.
This was a pretty easy interview process. I was asked if I had ever dealt with difficult people and to say what was my motivation for wanting to work at Applebees. It was overall very chill and I enjoyed it.
Was a simple interview and was offered a job afterwards. The manager was kind. It was easy to apply and find an interview time. I was trained shortly after and got paid for the training.
The interview process was fairly straightforward and I felt that the interviewer did what they were supposed to but the focus seemed on like what corporate wants unfortunately. The experience was fine overall though.