1980–2006: Founding and going public

The Applebee's chain was founded by Bill and T. J. Palmer in July 1980. Their vision was "to create a restaurant that had a neighborhood pub feel to it and could offer friendly service along with quality fare at a lower price than most of their competition." The name “Appleby” was their first choice for this concept, but they found that it had already been registered.^[5] They also considered "Cinnamon's" and "Pepper's" before arriving at Applebee's.^[6] They opened their first location on November 19, 1980 in Decatur, Georgia, at the time named T.J. Applebee's Rx for Edibles & Elixirs. They opened a second location outside of Atlanta, Georgia, a few years later, and sold the company to W. R. Grace and Company in May 1983.^[7] As part of the transaction, Bill Palmer was named president of the Applebee's Division, an indirect subsidiary of W. R. Grace and Company. In that capacity, Palmer guided the operation from its entrepreneurial beginnings to a full-fledged franchise system. He became an Applebee's franchisee in 1985. Bill Palmer died in 2020.

In 1986, the name of the concept was changed to Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar.^[8] In 1988, Applebee's International, Inc., became the restaurant chain's franchiser when Kansas City franchisees Abe Gustin and John Hamra purchased the rights to the Applebee's concept from W. R. Grace.^[9] In 1989, Applebee's opened their 100th restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee.^[10]

In the 1990s, Applebee's became one of the largest sit-down restaurant chains in the United States,^[11] and it began trading publicly in November 1991.^[12] In 1998, Applebee's opened its 1000th restaurant.

2007–present: Acquisition by IHOP

Former headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas (now called Restaurant Support Center)

On July 16, 2007, IHOP Corp. announced that it agreed to buy Applebee's International for about $2.1 billion. Applebee's shareholders would receive $25.50 in cash per share, representing a 4.6% premium to the closing price on July 13, 2007.^[13]

The acquisition was completed on November 29, 2007,^[13][14] after which IHOP Corp. was renamed DineEquity.^[15] The combined company became the largest full-service restaurant company in the world, with more than 3,250 locations.^[14][16] A major goal for the new ownership was to revitalize the chain, as well as shift towards a franchise model for the majority of its locations.^[17]

In 2013, the chain faced an uproar on the Internet after firing a waitress who posted a picture of a customer's receipt that had a rude note written on it objecting to a required gratuity, and then poorly handling their response to the incident.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]}

On August 11, 2017, DineEquity announced that Applebee's would close between 105 and 135 locations by the end of the year. Same-store sales decreased 7% in the previous quarter.^[36][37]

In-late 2017, Applebee's began to place an increased focus on promotions involving low-cost cocktails, including a $1 margarita promotion dubbed the "Dollarita" in October, and $1 Long Island iced tea (promoted as "L.I.T.s") in December. The drinks would serve as a loss leader, with customers subsequently upsold towards higher-priced food products. Despite hesitation by some franchisees to participate, the promotions were associated with a major increase in traffic at some locations, and prompted the chain to offer similar promotions later on. Dine Brands' new CEO Steve Joyce credited the promotions with having helped influence a major financial turnaround at the company, noting that almost all customers who ordered one also ordered food, and that some customers also moved towards the other cocktails on its menu.^[38][39][40]

As of December 31, 2019, there were 1,787 restaurants operating system-wide in the United States and 15 other countries, including 69 that are company owned and 1,718 that are franchised.^[1] United States locations have steadily declined in recent years and as of December 26, 2022, there were 1,586 locations.^[41]

Side-work compensation

Since 2006, Applebee's and its servers have been engaged in a lawsuit over hourly wages. The servers, who received a federal minimum wage of $2.13 per hour as tipped employees, allege that the company requires them to spend 20% of their time doing non-serving labor, for which they should be paid the federal non-tipped minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The case has gone through several stages, including a judicially mandated binding arbitration session.^[51][52]

In September 2012, a judge in Illinois ruled in favor of the Applebee's employees and will evaluate damages at a later date.^[53]