In 1980, Bill and T. J. Palmer opened a restaurant called T. J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles and Elixers in Decatur, Georgia. Applebee’s was a full-service restaurant with consistently good service and moderately priced food. Its interior was filled with local memorabilia, which was chosen to make it appear to be a neighborhood restaurant. Its motto was “Everything a neighbor ought to be.”
The Palmers opened a second restaurant and then sold the Applebee’s concept to W. R. Grace and Company in 1983. At the time, the casual dining scene in America consisted mainly of Red Lobster, Houlihan’s, Bennigan’s, and TGI Friday’s. Grace sold Applebee’s franchises, but it was never an important priority for the company. In 1986, the restaurant name was changed to Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill. Two years later, an Applebee’s franchisee in the Dallas–Ft. Worth area, Abe Gustin, and another investor bought the concept from W. R. Grace and created Applebee’s International.
