Two of America's biggest dine-in brands, Applebee's and IHOP, are coming together to serve diners morning, noon, and night. The first dual IHOP-Applebee's location is set to open outside of San Antonio, TX in early 2025. This union of quesadilla hamburgers and pancake stacks is possible because the two restaurant chains share a parent company: Dine Brands.
and announced plans earlier this year to bring it to America after finding success abroad. While having these two specific restaurants under one roof is new to American diners, the concept of the two-in-one dining destination is familiar to anyone who's visited a truck stop on their travels. Most famously, for about a decade in an effort to compete with McDonald's in variety of menu choices.
Equally famously, this hybrid format was quietly phased out, but it is fondly remembered to this day. The smart business behind joining two restaurant brands The decision to merge two restaurant brands that share a parent owner makes good business sense on paper. By combining brands, the locations are able to share costly restaurant equipment as well as servers and kitchen staff, resulting in lower overhead costs per location.
Additionally, having IHOP's breakfast and brunch offerings combined with means that diners have a reason to visit the combo spaces no matter when they choose to dine — with or without family. This merger fits in well with . In full, Dine Brands has closed down dozens of standalone Applebee's locations throughout.