Applebee’s and IHOP parent closes 208 restaurants

If you are a parent, you are going to appreciate this. 

Imagine a Saturday morning: you’re driving with your kids and spouse to a sit-down diner, looking forward to hot, strong coffee and a plate of eggs Benedict. Then your kids start whining about wanting a bacon cheeseburger and french fries. 

We’ve all been there, and most of the time, parents are those who choose to make a compromise. Now, with new dual-branded restaurant concepts, this common family friction is less likely to happen.  

For Dine Brands Global, the parent company of Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar and International House of Pancakes (IHOP), resolving this relatable family disagreement is an important part of the new concept. 

Dine Brands closed 208 restaurants across 2025 and 2026, and it just confirmed more closures as it expands its dual-brand concept. 

Applebee’s and IHOP parent closed 208 restaurants in 2025 and 2026 

On November 4, 2026, Dine Brands reported third-quarter total revenue of $248.9 million, compared to $216.1 million for the same quarter of 2025. The company attributed the increase in revenue to restaurants acquired and opened since the third quarter of 2025. 

During the third quarter of 2026, the company also closed 28 restaurants and opened 23 (including seven dual-branded openings). 

Analyzing the company’s official documents, I found that Dine Brands closed more than 200 restaurants in nearly two years. 

In 2025, Dine Brands closed a total of 110 restaurants, while opening 73 new locations, resulting in a net decline of 37 restaurants for the year, according to Dine Brands’ 2025 earnings report. 

In 2026, so far, Dine Brands confirmed that it closed 40 restaurants in the first quarter of the year, 30 locations in the second quarter, and 28 in the third quarter, for a total of 98 restaurants. During this period, Dine Brands also opened 60 restaurants, revealing a net decline of 38 locations in 2026. 

In those seven quarters, Dine Brands’ gross closures across Applebee’s and IHOP amounted to 208, while the net decline was 75 locations.

Why Dine Brands keeps closing restaurants 

While the closure of 208 restaurants might sound like a dramatic retreat, Dine Brands’ management says the closures are part of the normal course of business. 

“We’ve got restaurants that are 20, 30, even 40 years old. Landlords change, markets change, leases change, and so it’s all part of the normal course of business. For a system our size, one can expect up to 2% a year of restaurant closures, and that’s where we are and where we’ve been,” CEO John Peyton told Restaurant Dive in August 2026. 

Dine Brands’ numbers run slightly higher than Peyton’s figure on a gross basis: it closed 110 restaurants in 2025, about 3% of the more than 3,500 it had across its three brands at year-end, and 98 in the first three quarters of 2026. But openings offset much of that, so the net decline was about 1% of the system each year. 

Peyton didn’t say whether his 2% referred to gross or net closures, so the comparison isn’t exact. Either way, the pace is modest.

Peyton also revealed the reasoning behind some location shuttering. 

Some restaurants close because they don’t generate enough revenue, but adding another brand can make it a more viable location, Peyton told Restaurant Dive. 

During the fourth quarter of 2025 earnings call, the management explained that dual-branded restaurants are used to “offset closures of underperforming single-brand units.” 

Why the dual-branded concept might work 

Dine Brands is rapidly scaling its dual-branded Applebee’s and IHOP footprint. By the close of the third quarter on September 27, 2026, Dine Brands officially reached 49 domestic dual-branded locations (plus 41 international units, totaling 90 globally), on its stated march toward 80 domestic units by the end of 2026. 

While earlier restaurant co-branding experiments often flopped, company leadership argues this model works because the two chains do not compete for the same meal hours.

Speaking at the Piper Sandler 5th Annual Growth Frontiers Conference, CEO John Peyton explained that past industry attempts struggled because brands stole each other’s traffic, whereas Dine Brands pairs a breakfast diner with an evening favorite:

“When other brands in the past have tried duals like KFC and things like that, they’re competing day parts. What’s so compelling about this is Dine Brands just happens to own the premier AM and premier PM brand. IHOP, since it was invented in 1967, has been trying to address dinner as its most difficult day part.”

For restaurant operators, this setup eliminates the hours where a standalone dining room sits empty and bleeds money. 

“And so for the IHOP franchisees, this is a solution to dinner that they’ve been looking for, for 60 years,” Peyton continued. “For Applebee’s franchisees, it’s the morning day part, which they’re closed for. So it’s a whole new revenue opportunity they didn’t have.”

Dine Brands’ 15.2% revenue increase to $248.9 million in the third quarter was not driven by dual-brand sales. Instead, the company bought back franchised restaurants, so it records their full sales as revenue rather than only collecting royalties and fees. 

Addressing corporate conversion performance on the company’s third-quarter earnings call, CFO Vance Chang said company-owned dual-branded units are seeing a slightly higher sales lift than franchised ones, partly because they start from a lower base. 

“With our own dual brands, they are all fairly new, but we are seeing slightly higher top-line lift than the franchise units just because the starting point is a little bit lower for these restaurants… All in all, [we are] pleased with the progress, and we are going to continue to refine and improve the operations.”

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