Each Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar is designed as an attractive, friendly, neighborhood establishment featuring moderately priced, high-quality food and beverage items, table service and a comfortable atmosphere that appeals to all ages. As "America's Favorite Neighbor®," each Applebee's restaurant reflects its local neighborhood. The decor conveys this theme with photographs and memorabilia highlighting hometown heroes, local schools and area history.
Applebee's® International, Inc., headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, develops, franchises and operates casual dining restaurants in 49 states, one US territory, and 17 international countries under the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar® brand.
Each Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar is designed as an attractive, friendly, neighborhood establishment featuring moderately priced, high-quality food and beverage items, table service and a comfortable atmosphere that appeals to all ages. As "America's Favorite Neighbor®," each Applebee's restaurant reflects its local neighborhood. The decor conveys this theme with photographs and memorabilia highlighting hometown heroes, local schools and area history.
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar is the largest casual dining concept in America, both in terms of number of restaurants and market share. As of Dec. 31, 2006, there were 1,930 Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants, of which 1,409 were operated by franchisees and 521 were operated by the company.
The company's common stock trades on The NASDAQ Global Select Market® under the symbol APPB.
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Exchange: NASDAQ Global Select Market
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Applebee's® was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, by Bill and T.J. Palmer. The Palmers envisioned a restaurant that would provide full service, consistently good food, reasonable prices and quality service in a neighborhood setting. Their first restaurant, T.J. Applebee's Rx for Edibles & Elixirs,® opened in November 1980.
In 1982, the Palmers opened their second Applebee's in Atlanta and in 1983, to fulfill a dream of nationwide expansion, the Palmers sold the Applebee's concept to W. R. Grace and Co. As part of the transaction, Bill Palmer was named president of the Applebee's Division of an indirect subsidiary of W. R. Grace. 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 and today owns more than three dozen Applebee's restaurants.
In 1986, the name of the concept was changed to Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar to reflect the Palmers' original concept of a place people could call their own.
In 1988, Applebee's International, Inc. became the restaurant chain's franchisor when Kansas City franchisees Abe Gustin and John Hamra purchased the rights to the Applebee's concept from W. R. Grace.
Applebee's International, Inc. completed an initial public offering of its common stock in 1989. Subsequent offerings of the company's stock took place in March 1992 and July 1995. The stock trades on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol APPB.
When Applebee's International, Inc. acquired Applebee's in 1988, there were 54 restaurants. In 1998, Applebee's became the first casual dining concept with 1,000 restaurants.
Today, with more than 1,900 restaurants, Applebee's is the world's largest casual dining concept. For each of the past 14 years (1993-2006), Applebee's has opened 100 or more new restaurants. The company estimates the development potential of the Applebee's concept in the United States to be at least 3,000 restaurants.
Applebee's® International, Inc. develops, franchises and operates casual dining restaurants under the trademark of Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar®. The company is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.
Applebee's is the largest casual dining concept in the world with more than 1,900 restaurants in 49 states, one US territory, and 17 international countries.
For each of the past 14 years (1993-2006), Applebee's has opened 100 or more new restaurants. This rate of development - growing from 250 restaurants at the end of 1992 to more than 1,900 currently - is unprecedented in the casual dining industry.
Applebee's currently estimates the development potential of the concept to be at least 3,000 restaurants in the United States.
According to Nation's Restaurant News, Applebee's is the tenth largest restaurant chain in U.S. system-wide sales and, within the casual dining segment, Applebee's is first in number of units, first in sales and first in market share.
Applebee's is publicly traded on NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol APPB.
The décor of each Applebee's restaurant reflects its local neighborhood by displaying photographs and memorabilia highlighting hometown heroes and history, area schools, and local police and fire departments.
Applebee's offers a full-service lunch and dinner menu. Signature items include Applebee's Riblets, Oriental Chicken Salad, the House Sirloin and Fiesta Lime Chicken.
The average guest check in 2006 was approximately $11.00 in company restaurants.
Including both company- and franchise-owned restaurants, there are more than 100,000 Applebee's associates worldwide.
The Applebee's system is approximately 73% franchised and 27% company-owned. As of Dec. 31, 2006, there were 44 domestic Applebee's franchisees.
It was featured in the 2006 film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby starring Will Ferrell. Not only do characters in the film eat there (and get thrown out) repeatedly, but during the film's climactic final crash scene, the film cuts to a commercial for Applebee's, in a parody of the commercialism of NASCAR. After the ad finishes, the film resumes with the cars still wrecking.
Often, Applebee's was a spot for Coach Taylor and other characters to eat or meet on the NBC television show Friday Night Lights.
In the cartoon Drawn Together episode "Spelling Applebee's" an Applebee's gift certificate is the prize in a Spelling Bee.
The exterior shot of the bar featured in the Cinemax late night softcore series Nightcap is actually a side shot of an unknown Applebee's, although the restaurant signage is not seen.