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Brothers Bill and T.J. Palmer opened the first restaurant in Decatur, Georgia, in November 1980 as T.J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles & Elixirs, after finding the name Applebee already registered; Cinnamons and Peppers were also floated. They sold the company to W.R. Grace in 1983, with Bill Palmer staying on to build a franchise system, and the name became Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar by 1986. Franchisees Abe Gustin and John Hamra bought the concept rights in 1988. The chain reached 100 restaurants in 1989, went public in 1991 and opened its 1,000th in 1998, standardizing local sports memorabilia, stained glass lighting and server greetings to make every location feel like a neighborhood pub. In July 2007 IHOP Corporation bought Applebee’s for about $2.1 billion, creating the company now called Dine Brands.

By 2017 same-store sales fell 7 percent in a single quarter and 105 to 135 locations were set to close. Servers had sued from 2006 to 2012 over being paid the $2.13 tipped minimum wage for side work like rolling silverware, and an Illinois judge sided with them in 2012. In 2013 a waitress was fired after posting a pastor’s receipt objecting to an automatic gratuity, and a push to court millennials alienated core diners. In late 2017 Applebee’s launched the $1 Dollarita in October and $1 Long Island Iced Teas in December as loss leaders, which CEO Steve Joyce credited with a turnaround, and brought back “Eatin’ Good in the Neighborhood.” The U.S. count has since shrunk from 1,787 restaurants in 2019 to just over 1,600 by March 2025, when Applebee’s took back 47 restaurants from franchisees.

• Applebee’s spent $177.4 million on ad fees in 2022.
• Walker Hayes’ 2021 hit “Fancy Like” led the chain to bring back an Oreo cookie shake it had cut during COVID-19.
• In 2022 a CNN split screen paired coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with an Applebee’s ad set to Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried,” and the brand briefly pulled its CNN ads.
• The Date Night Pass of January 2024 cost $300 for 52 date nights of up to $30 a week in food and nonalcoholic drinks.
• In March 2024 Dine Brands announced dual-branded Applebee’s and IHOP restaurants in the U.S., after locations abroad generated twice the revenue in the same footprint.