First IHOP-Applebee's joint restaurant coming to US: where and when it opens
The joint IHOP-Applebee’s concept that Dine Brands has been developing will arrive in America in early 2025.
The corporate parent of the two chains said its inaugural U.S. dual-branded restaurant will be in Seguin, Texas. It is expected to open its doors in the first quarter of 2025.
Seguin is about 40 minutes northeast of San Antonio and home to over 30,000 people.
Seguin, Texas, where the first U.S. joint IHOP-Applebee’s restaurant will be, is about 40 minutes northeast of San Antonio. (Dine Brands)
Dine Brands is bringing the joint IHOP-Applebee’s concept to the city by renovating an IHOP restaurant in the area run by franchisee R. Hakim Corp.
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This news comes as Dine Brands CEO John Peyton told analysts and investors this week that the company is eyeing 15 sites in the U.S. for joint IHOP-Applebee’s restaurants and "continue[d] to remain on-track to open our first U.S. domestic location" in the Texas city.
Diners can expect the joint IHOP-Applebee’s restaurant in Seguin to feature a shared kitchen and a combined menu. Its dining area will offer both IHOP and Applebee’s sections side-by-side, according to an image of the planned dual-branded restaurant.
The dual-branded restaurant is expected to offer both IHOP and Applebee's seating sections inside. (Dine Brands)
Peyton said in a statement that the dual restaurant design "allows IHOP to shine in the morning and Applebee’s to thrive in afternoons and evenings."
"The menu leverages each brand’s unique offerings to maximize dayparts and provide more choices, variety, and value to guests," he said.
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R. Hakim Corp Vice President Danny Hakim said guests "can enjoy the best of both brands any time of the day within one great restaurant experience" once the concept debuts in Seguin.
Dine Brands’ joint IHOP-Applebee’s concept has been in the works for some time. The company first tested it in non-U.S. markets, having opened 13 internationally to date, including three in the third quarter.
Those dual-branded restaurants "have performed well" and bring in "on average approximately 1.5 times to 2 times the revenue of a single-branded restaurant," Peyton told analysts and investors this week.
"We’re pleased with the growth of the dual brands concept internationally and we’re excited about the potential of this opportunity domestically," he said.
"It’s important to note on the dual brand that the driver for it is not necessarily the consumer proposition, it’s really the economics for our owners and developers," he also said. "It’s really a B2B product, in the sense that it’s got complementary dayparts, a shared kitchen, a common menu, cross-train staff."
The international joint IHOP-Applebee’s restaurants are in Mexico, Canada, the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Honduras, according to Dine Brands.
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The domestic sites interested in the dual-branded restaurant concept are largely "existing IHOPs that are adding an Applebee’s," according to the Dine Brands CEO.
The company believes the concept can help drive economic improvement and growth across its system, Peyton said.
Dine Brands said its global restaurant count for the Applebee’s and IHOP brands were 1,618 and 1,809, respectively, at the end of the third quarter, including its 13 current dual-branded locations.
The company has also owned Fuzzy’s Taco Shop since late 2022. There are 119 of those across the country.