Applebee’s Near Me

Applebee’s International, Inc. is an American company that owns and operates the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar chain of restaurants. The restaurant has locations all across America, and also in fifteen other countries. The headquarters is currently located in Kansas City, Missouri, after moving there from the original headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas.

Since its beginnings in 1980, the company has become very prosperous and profitable. Since 2007, the company has been owned by fellow restaurant chain International House of Pancakes (IHOP), under the name DineEquity. You can easily locate an Applebee’s restaurant near you, just search “Applebee’s near me”!

Applebee’s Near Me – Find it on the Map

Applebee’s Near Me – Applebee’s Trivia

How was Applebee’s founded?

Applebee’s was founded in Decatur, Georgia in November 1980. Bill and TJ Palmer created a business then known as T.J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles & Elixirs. Their original vision was for a homely-themed restaurant. After opening a second location, they sold their business to WR Grace and Company in 1983. Bill Palmer was named president of the newly purchased company, and guided the company through its early years. The restaurant was renamed to Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar in 1986 to reflect the original vision of the Palmers. In 1988 the company changed hands again, with the rights being purchased by Abe Gustin and John Hamra, franchisees from Kansas City. The restaurant remains owned by Applebee’s International to this day, although Applebee’s International has been owned by IHOP since 2007, now known as DineEquity.

applebees near me

A beautiful night view of Applebee’s restaurant in Massachusetts.

What food do Applebee’s restaurants serve?

Applebee’s serves casual-dining meals, with an American cooking style. The restaurants sell items such as salads, pasta, shrimp and chicken. Their unofficial signature dish is ‘riblets’ – pork ribs cut in half, with the curved section removed to give them a more uniform look. All of the restaurants contain a bar area, and serve alcoholic drinks there, except in certain locations where the laws prohibit alcohol to be served.

How big is Applebee’s?

Since its beginnings in 1980, the Applebee’s chain has grown into a large, profitable company. There are locations all across the continental United States, in Puerto Rico, and in fifteen other countries including Canada and several Middle Eastern countries. The company employs over 28 thousand employees. Their total assets are worth over $935 million. The company has a net income of $80 million, and a total revenue of over $2.5 billion! The current president of the company is the CEO of DineEquity, the name of the company that owns IHOP and Applebee’s. The previous president, Stephen R Layt, decided to resign when DineEquity announced they were moving the headquarters of both IHOP and Applebee’s to Glendale, California, in 2015.

Where did the name come from?

The founders originally wanted to name the restaurant Appleby’s, but found that name to be already registered. They also tried Cinnamon’s and Peppers, but found those names similarly unavailable. They learned that they could add initials to the name Appleby’s in order to use it, and so they registered the name TJ Applebee’s. Originally WJ Applebee’s was chosen, but it was decided that TJs sounded better.

To find an Applebee’s location near you, simply search “Applebee’s near me”.

Applebee’s Near Me – Applebee’s Facts

Over the period of 1993 to 2005, Applebee’s opened at least one hundred locations every year!

In the 1970s, before creating Applebee’s, the Palmers were interested in owning a restaurant. They saw how successful the Atlanta restaurant chain Billy’s was, and bought out the worst performing location, hoping to turn it around. They managed to do so, with a $20 thousand loan. The management bought the restaurant back with a check that turned out to be bad. The Palmers then decided to start their own restaurant rather than purchase another. Today Applebee’s is much more successful than Billy’s ever was.

The company is currently facing a lawsuit to do with employee wages. The servers, who earn a minimum wage as tipped employees, claim that because over 20% of their time is taken up doing non-serving labor, they should be paid a larger minimum wage.

The couple wanted their restaurant to stand out from other bar and grill restaurants, and so in naming their business, they used the words ‘elixir’ and ‘edibles’ rather than ‘bar’ and ‘grill’ thus yielding the name TJ Applebee’s Rx for Edibles and Elixirs.

The company’s old logos used a custom font, named Eckmann-Schrift.

The theme of the first location was an old drugstore, which is why the name ‘Rx for Edibles and Elixirs’ was chosen. Rx is a symbol meaning ‘prescription’, coming from the old Latin word ‘recipere’, meaning ‘to take’.

The Applebee’s recipe for nachos, piled with chili, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, was TJ Palmer’s own recipe. It remains one of the most popular items on the menu today. The company chooses to keep its exact recipes confidential, for proprietary and commercial reasons. The company continues to create new dishes, recipes and meals to this day.

Today Bill Palmer is one of the largest Applebee’s franchise owners. Since the first in 1985, he now owns over 35 of the restaurants!

Some of the items on the Applebee’s menu are healthy, but some are quite unhealthy. The least healthy item on the menu is the New England fish and chips. It contains over 130 grams of fat and carbohydrates, and over 1970 calories! The healthiest item is the Pepper-Crusted Sirloin and Whole Grains, which has just 10 grams of fat and 350 calories.

In 2015, the company decided it would follow IHOP, Wendy’s Subway, Panera, Burger King and Dairy Queen by removing soda from the kids’ menu.

The company offers a car-side to-go service at every location. The Applebee’s employees bring a customer’s order to their car for them.

For the location of your nearest Applebee’s, just search for “Applebee’s near me”!

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