The Applebee’s chain was founded by Bill and T. J. Palmer in July 1980. The name “Appleby” was their first choice for this concept, but they found that it had already been registered. They opened their first location on November 19, 1980 in Decatur, Georgia, at the time named T.J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles & Elixirs.

I was just curious about the origin of the name, but the full name it originally had is certainly…interesting!