Casual restaurant chains, such as Applebee’s, are battling industry headwinds, including rising labor and food costs, increased rents, and declining traffic that has led to the closing of underperforming locations.
Applebee’s Restaurants Inc., which has over 1,500 casual dining establishments, closed its 30-year-old location in Ballwin, Mo., on July 24 after the restaurant’s landlord raised the rent by about 30%, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.
The restaurant closed permanently after selling all of its food, according to an employee.
The property where the Applebee’s is located in Ballwin is owned by landlord NNN REIT of Orlando, Fla., according to the Business Journal.
The property owner’s spokesperson was not immediately available for comment on July 27.
Applebee’s location sales declined
In addition to the rent increase, the Ballwin Applebee’s franchise operator said shrinking sales combined with rising costs had made the location unsustainable, according to Hoodline. The franchise owner said that employees would be offered transfers to nearby Applebee’s locations.
The owner did not say how many employee jobs were affected by the closure.
The Applebee’s location at 14830 Manchester Road in Ballwin had been advertised for sale or lease by the landlord prior to the closure.
Restaurant chain has closed 15 locations
The closing of the Ballwin restaurant amounts to at least 15 Applebee’s closings so far in 2026, based on news reports. The restaurant chain‘s owner Dine Brands Global confirmed that it planned to close 20 to 35 locations in 2026, according to CREHQ.
In addition to the Ballwin restaurant closing, Applebee’s shuttered restaurants in Columbia, Mo., on Feb. 18, two in Evansville, Ind. on Feb. 19, Glenville, N.Y. on April 12, and one in Calexico, Calif. on June 16, according to Finance Buzz.
Applebee’s company facts:
- Locations: Over 1,500
- Planned closures: 20-35 in 2026
- Closures so far: About 15
- Parent company Dine Brands Global
- Founded: 1980
Days before the Ballwin closing, Applebee’s closed its location in Houghton, Mich., on July 13, according to The Daily Mining Gazette.
Also, franchisee Neighborhood Restaurant Partners LLC, whose website says it operates 50 Applebee’s in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, has closed seven locations since March 2026 when it had 57 locations, according to its website at the time as TheStreet’s Daniel Kline reported.
Applebee’s franchisee filed for bankruptcy
Neighborhood Restaurant Partners Florida LLC and two affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 24 to reorganize. Applebee’s corporate owner Dine Brands Global did not file for bankruptcy.
The closing of Applebee’s locations follows a recent trend of dining chains shuttering restaurants.
Casual restaurant chains close locations
Casual restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday has closed 771 underperforming locations since its peak of 945 units in 2007, according to Restaurant Business.
The Maryville, Tenn.-based restaurant chain, which listed 174 operating locations on its website as of July 20, closed locations at 2504 Augusta Road and at 7490 Garners Ferry Road, both in Columbia, in the last month, according to The Post and Courier.
The 54-year-old dining chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 7, 2020, according to PacerMonitor, suffering the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which had led to the closing of 185 company-owned restaurants.
The company closed 27 more of its 236 company-owned restaurants during bankruptcy. The company exited bankruptcy on Dec. 16, 2021.
Another Applebee’s competitor, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., said it plans to close 20 restaurants in 2026 as leases expire after closing 23 locations in 2025. Originally, the company said in 2024 that it would close up to 70 locations but removed 20 restaurants from its closing list.
The company is not certain of the total number of restaurants it will close.
“At this time there is no confirmed number for potential closures, as the company is continuing to work on performance and could continue to see that number decrease,” a Red Robin spokesperson told TheStreet in an email.
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