Applebee’s

Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar trades from just over 1,600 restaurants across the United States. Franchisees own and run almost every one. Riblets, boneless wings and a bar that discounts twice a day are what the name carries in most towns.

Applebee’s History runs below, from the founders and the rename to the company that owns the brand today. Four pages carry the menu, the off-menu builds, the allergen declarations and the bar deals.

Applebee’s History

Bill and T. J. Palmer opened the first restaurant in Decatur, Georgia in 1980. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles and Elixirs was the original name over the door. The brothers wanted a neighbourhood room that sat between a fast-food counter and a white-tablecloth dining room in a suburb. W. R. Grace and Company bought the business in 1983 and shortened the name to something a customer could say. Kansas City franchisees Abe Gustin and John Hamra took the rights in 1988 and built Applebee’s International around them.

Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar became the trading name in 1986. Riblets, boneless wings and the Quesadilla Burger turned into the dishes people name the chain by, and the positioning has held ever since. Growth came almost entirely through franchising, with local operators taking whole states and building outward from the suburbs into small cities. That model is why timings, promotions and bar deals still differ from one restaurant to the next. A full bar came with it.

IHOP Corp. bought Applebee’s International in 2007 and renamed itself around the two brands. Dine Brands Global is what the parent trades as now, out of Glendale, California. Applebee’s is the larger of the two by dining rooms, with just over 1,600 restaurants across the United States and a smaller estate abroad. Franchisees own and run almost all of them. Company-operated restaurants are a small minority of the estate.

Applebee’s Menus & Details

Four pages carry the detail behind the kitchen and the bar. Each one puts an item name and the figures that belong to it on the same row.

The full board, section by section, with a price and a calorie figure on every row.

Off-menu builds, the wording to use at the table, and what the base item comes to.

Milk, egg, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish and tree nuts named against each dish.

The bar deals, the two windows they run in, and what each pour comes to.