Applebee’s Is Closing Locations and the Reason They Just Gave Should Make You Furious

Red Lobster went bankrupt. TGI Fridays went bankrupt. Hooters went bankrupt.

Those weren't random corporate failures – they were the receipts from four years of Bidenomics hitting middle-class Americans right where they live.

Now another American institution is paying the price, and the numbers Applebee's just released tell a story Democrats don't want you to hear.

Applebee's Restaurant Closings Hit Indiana, New York and Missouri

Applebee's opened its first restaurant in Decatur, Georgia in 1980 – the same year Ronald Reagan was elected president.

For 45 years, that neighborhood grill was where your family went for birthdays, where couples had date nights, where Little League teams celebrated wins.

Two Applebee's locations in Evansville, Indiana – both open for more than 30 years – just went dark, workers removing signage while a note on the door thanked customers for their loyalty.

A Glenville, New York location is closing April 12.

Columbia, Missouri lost its Applebee's last week after 30 years of serving that community.

In 2025, Applebee's and IHOP franchisees opened 73 locations and closed 110.

The company's own guidance now projects between 5 and 15 net fewer domestic restaurants in 2026.

Those aren't business statistics. Those are communities losing something they built over three decades.

How Rising Food and Labor Costs Closed 110 Restaurants in One Year

Applebee's doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Since 2019, restaurant prices have climbed 34% – a price tag that landed hardest on the middle-class families who made casual dining chains into American institutions.

The families who used to celebrate at Red Lobster couldn't afford to go back after Biden's inflation hit.

The couples who counted on Applebee's for a night out started doing the math – and staying home.

According to the National Restaurant Association, the combined weight of food, labor, rent, and supply costs pushed the average restaurant's operating expenses up roughly 35% between 2020 and 2025.

Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and shuttered hundreds of locations.

TGI Fridays filed for Chapter 11 that same year – falling from 269 U.S. locations to fewer than 100.

Hooters, Buca di Beppo, and Romano's Macaroni Grill all joined the casualty list.

The full-service restaurant segment is nearly 18% smaller today than it was in 2019.

That's not a trend. That's a collapse.

What Applebee's President Said About the Closings – and Why It's Insulting

Applebee's president John Peyton went on record this week and told America not to worry.

"Restaurant closures are a normal part of running a mature national system," he said.

Normal.

Tell that to the families in Evansville who watched workers pull the sign off a restaurant that had served their community for more than 30 years.

Tell that to the employees in Glenville, New York, who got notified their location is shutting down April 12 because rising food, utility, and labor costs made it impossible to keep the lights on.

A corporate executive calling 110 closures in a single year "normal" is a suit telling your neighborhood it doesn't matter.

Texas Roadhouse kept prices reasonable and posted 7.7% sales growth.

Chili's maintained value for customers and saw three straight quarters of double-digit growth.

The chains that treated their customers' wallets with respect are thriving.

The chains that followed the inflationary playbook – raise prices, cut quality, hope nobody notices – are locking their doors after 30 years.

Sources:

• Brittany Miller, "Applebee's is closing restaurants across three US states," The Independent via Yahoo Finance, February 25, 2026.
• Caroline Blair, "Why Is Applebee's Closing Some Restaurants in Indiana and New York?" People via Yahoo Finance, February 25, 2026.
• Joe Guszkowski, "Bankruptcies wiped out a lot of full-service restaurant locations last year," Restaurant Business Online, July 9, 2025.
• CNN Business, "America has lost its appetite for casual dining chains," CNN, April 4, 2025.
• W. Denver, "Applebee's Closures Explained," CDT News, February 24, 2026.