Latest news with #Applebees
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Chili's and Applebee's shut down neighboring restaurants in the same city on the same day
A Florida community watched as two fast-casual restaurant titans permanently closed on the same day. Residents in Sarasota are going to have to find a new spot for enchiladas and mozzarella sticks: the local Chili's and Applebee's restaurants both closed. Final plates were served at the Chili's on May 19. The restaurant had been open since 1986. 'It was a great place to hang with friends and meet new ones,' Judd McKean, a local resident and self-described bar-fly, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune about the closure. 'I'll definitely miss the place.' Restaurant-goers who want to grab a bite at the chain can still head to the Chili's location closer to Lake Sarasota. Similarly, the final Applebee's $1 margaritas were also served from the University Parkway location on May 19. Another location is still serving diners in Fruitville. Nationally, Chili's and Applebee's have been on very different sales trajectories. Dine Brands Global, the owner of Applebee's, reported a 2.2 percent sales decline during its latest earnings on Tuesday. The corporation said Applebee's had raked in $1 billion in the first three months of 2025. In an effort to reinvigorate customers, Applebee's has leaned into more deals and better customer rewards. 'We are focused on elevating guests' experience, enhancing the menu by focusing on our core products, and better communicating offers through dynamic marketing,' John Peyton, the company's CEO, said during the company's March earnings call. Meanwhile, Chili's has had a surprising resurgence. Chili's parent company Brinker International made $1.43 billion inn revenue in the latest quarter, and Chili's same-store sales jumped 31.6 percent. Chili's solid performance has largely been attributed to the company's low-cost meals and constant mentions on social media. Chili's has received enormous goodwill on social media, with customers praising the brand's value-packed menu Fast casual chains across the US have been struggling with a toxic mix of higher food prices and lower consumer appetite Chili's is perhaps the red herring in the fast casual dining industry. Several big-name restaurants — including Hooters, Red Lobster, and TGI Fridays — have all shuttered hundreds of restaurants and declared bankruptcy. Restaurants have been dealing with a toxic mix of inflationary pressures on their offerings. Food prices have skyrocketed, leaving the companies with higher costs to run their stores. Meanwhile, middle-class shoppers, the core audience for the chains, have cut back on discretionary spending as they pay higher prices at the grocery store. Combining lower revenues with higher costs to stay alive has given several brands a poison pill. and cut back their year-long forecasts.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Applebee's restaurant, Subway sandwich shop permanently close in Gainesville
Two national chain restaurant locations in Gainesville have joined the growing list of area eateries to recently close. The Applebee's Grill + Bar at 7441 W. Newberry Road and the Subway at 1805 SW 13th St. have both permanently closed, according to notes posted on the restaurants' front doors. "Thank you for your many years of business! This location is now closed," the note at Applebee's reads while inviting diners to visit the other Gainesville location at 1005 NW 13th St. The Applebee's signs on the outside of the standalone restaurant have already been removed. Related news: Restaurants that closed in Gainesville and Alachua County in 2024 The casual dining chain — which opened on Newberry Road in 2015 — is known for its variety of classic American fare such as burgers and fries, boneless wings and pasta, as well as its popular happy hour and late-night drink specials. The note on the door at the Subway on Southwest 13th Street says "Not a goodbye — just a see ya at a nearby shop." The Gainesville area still has more than 15 other Subway locations. The closest to the now-closed store that is not on the UF campus is located at 1005 W. University Ave. USA Today reported on May 13 that the chain closed 631 restaurants in 2024. Other recent restaurant closings in Gainesville include the TGI Friday's and Bahama Breeze locations in the Butler North shopping plaza. This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Applebee's and Subway restaurants close in Gainesville Florida
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Applebee's fan favorite deal returns
By Published: Updated: Applebee's All You Can Eat (AYCE) specials are back in restaurants nationwide today. The restaurant chain is allowing customers to enjoy Riblets, Double Crunch Shrimp, and Chicken Tenders with endless fries. This marks Chicken Tenders' AYCE debut, and it comes with the choice of 8 delectable sauces, including Classic Buffalo, Honey BBQ, and Spicy Honey Mustard. 'Every combination is a win when it comes to our All You Can Eat Riblets, Double Crunch Shrimp, and Chicken Tenders,' said Reid Leslie, vice president of marketing. 'Whether starting with Riblets or Chicken Tenders paired with your favorite two sauces, followed by Double Crunch Shrimp, or sticking with your favorite - the combinations are endless.' The popular deal is running for a limited time and starts at $15.99 per person. The special comes in the midst of the restaurant chain's 'Lookin' Good' reimaging program, a multi-year effort aiming to make the look and feel of locations meet customer expectations. Applebee's is implementing the plan to help the chain climb out of its longtime financial struggles. Before the plan was initiated, around 300 Applebee's were closed between 2016 and 2023. The restaurant chain went on to shutter up to 35 restaurants closed in 2024. Applebee's employees and customers have also been adjusting to Toast Go handhelds and its kitchen display systems. Despite the changes, the brand suffered a 4.7 percent decline in sales during last year's fourth quarter. When not enjoying scrumptious AYCE food and Toast Go technology, customers can enjoy Strawberry Daq-A-Rita, Rum Breeze, or Part on the Beach Bacardi Buckets. The buckets feature $6 Watermelon Mana Margaritas containing Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's Teremana Tequila Blanco. Guests can also enjoy the restaurant chain's new dirty fountain sodas. Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Visit our profile page and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Applebee's fan favorite deal returns... with a tasty twist
Applebee's All You Can Eat (AYCE) specials are back in restaurants nationwide today. The restaurant chain is allowing customers to enjoy Riblets, Double Crunch Shrimp, and Chicken Tenders with endless fries. This marks Chicken Tenders' AYCE debut, and it comes with the choice of 8 delectable sauces, including Classic Buffalo, Honey BBQ, and Spicy Honey Mustard. 'Every combination is a win when it comes to our All You Can Eat Riblets, Double Crunch Shrimp, and Chicken Tenders,' said Reid Leslie, vice president of marketing. 'Whether starting with Riblets or Chicken Tenders paired with your favorite two sauces, followed by Double Crunch Shrimp, or sticking with your favorite - the combinations are endless.' The popular deal is running for a limited time and starts at $15.99 per person. The special comes in the midst of the restaurant chain's 'Lookin' Good' reimaging program, a multi-year effort aiming to make the look and feel of locations meet customer expectations. Applebee's is implementing the plan to help the chain climb out of its longtime financial struggles. Before the plan was initiated, around 300 Applebee's were closed between 2016 and 2023. The restaurant chain went on to shutter up to up to 35 restaurants closed in 2024. The program kicked off with 30 of the 47 Applebee's locations Dine Brands took over from franchisees last November. Dine Brands CEO John Peyton confirmed that 5 of those units would become dual-branded Applebee's and IHOP restaurants. At least 30 of those restaurants will then be refranchised after the revamps. In total, the company plans to open 12 to 14 of the dual-branded restaurants in the US this year. Applebee's employees and customers have also been adjusting to Toast Go handhelds and its kitchen display systems. Despite the changes, the brand suffered a 4.7 percent decline in sales during last year's fourth quarter. When not enjoying scrumptious AYCE food and Toast Go technology, customers can enjoy Strawberry Daq-A-Rita, Rum Breeze, or Part on the Beach Bacardi Buckets. The buckets feature $6 Watermelon Mana Margaritas containing Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's Teremana Tequila Blanco. Guests can also enjoy the restaurant chain's new dirty fountain sodas.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nate Bargatze Reveals His Wife's Reaction to Being Mocked in His Stand Up (Exclusive)
Nate Bargatze has been married to Laura Bargatze for 19 years He often jokes about her (and her hyper organizational skills!) onstage during his stand-up routines He explains the difference between making fun of someone, and it coming from a place of loveStand-up comedian Nate Bargatze often talks about his wife Laura Bargatze during his sets — especially when he's talking about how she manages their household and finances. The good news? She's fully in on the joke. "She's been fine with it," Nate tells PEOPLE with a laugh. "She's got a great sense of humor, and she likes it when we're making fun of each other. But you have to show love." He admits that when he was first starting, he was less adept at the gentle mocking, and it didn't come off very well. "At the beginning, when I first started, this was something I didn't know how to do very well," he says. "You have to show that it's coming from a place of love for the audience to go along with you. And at the beginning, I was not showing that very well, and you could feel the crowd be like, 'Man, just be divorced,' Which was not the point. So yeah, you have to learn how to do it." He adds that if he's teasing his wife onstage — whom he met while they were both waiting tables at Applebee's in Nashville when they were in their early 20s — he needs to make sure he's making fun of himself twice as hard. "The jokes are mostly on me," he says. "I want to make fun of her, I have to make fun of me times two. But I'm very fortunate in that she's been very good about it. And she still keeps providing me with material." Bargateze, who just released his first book, Big Dumb Eyes: Stories From a Simpler Mind, just two weeks after being tapped to host this year's Emmy Awards, says his recent rise to global fame has been a wild ride. (He shot to a new level of stardom when he hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time in 2023.) 'I've been doing comedy for 20 years, but it does feel like it happened overnight," he say of fame after hosting. "To reach the mainstream has just been a whole other level." Now, he's about to film his first movie (The Breadwinner, costarring Mandy Moore) and through his Nateland Entertainment company, he hopes to keep churning out the kind of fare the whole family can watch together. "Life is still pretty normal," he says, noting that he and Laura and their daughter Harper still live in the same house and neighborhood in Nashville, and mostly hang out with their neighbors and old friends. "We live in a very normal neighborhood and not really around show business, so it's as normal as it can be," he says. "But yeah, I mean it's changing‚ if anyone sees my brother or sister's last name, now they're like "Are you [related] to...?' But everybody's taking it in stride and is super supportive." He does admit his contact list is loaded with fellow famous comedian pals these days. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "Sometimes I'll show my buddy my text threads, and it will be like him and then it's Jerry Seinfeld and Jimmy Fallon and Chris Rock, and then him again, and I'll just show him like, 'Look at where you're at! Good company." Big Dumb Eyes: Stories From a Simpler Mind is available now wherever books are sold. Read the original article on People
