A large Applebee’s franchisee that filed for Chapter 11 protection in March is seeking to close additional restaurants as it works its way through the bankruptcy process and sale of its assets, a new court filing reveals.
NRPF Group Two, which operates roughly 50 Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar locations in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, has asked a federal court for permission to reject the leases on five additional properties.
Most of the Applebee’s restaurants associated with the properties appeared to be still open this week, though a few were marked as temporarily closed on Google as of Wednesday.
Atlanta-based NRPF Group Two said in the court filing that the locations have “proved unprofitable,” and that it wants to close them. Four of the restaurants are in Florida and one is in Georgia.
The planned closures are in addition to the 10 Applebee’s restaurants that NRPF previously closed, including locations near top tourist destinations such as Walt Disney World and SeaWorld, as Fast Company reported in March.
As of December 2025, Applebee’s had roughly 1,520 franchised locations, but the casual dining chain has struggled with declining sales.
The expected timeline for the newly revealed closures is not clear, nor is it clear how many jobs would be lost should the restaurants close permanently.
Fast Company reached out to GGG Partners, the turnaround firm that is overseeing NRPF’s bankruptcy process, for comment.
Which additional Applebee’s locations are expected to close?
According to a May 5 court filing, NRPF (aka Neighborhood Restaurant Partners Florida) is seeking to close the following restaurants. Some of the leases on the properties date back more than 14 years, which is when NRPF first acquired the locations.
- 2823 South Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida
- 808 West 7th Street, Tifton, Georgia
- 2615 SW 19th Ave. Rd., Ocala, Florida
- 10606 Sheldon Road, Tampa, Florida
- 298 Southhall Lane, Maitland, Florida
These planned closures are in addition to 10 restaurants in Florida and Georgia that NRPF reported closed in March.
Why is NRPF bankrupt?
At the time of its bankruptcy petition in March, NRPF said its restaurants had initially been profitable but that business started to fall off at the end of 2015.
The COVID pandemic, inflation, and higher operating costs made things worse in the years to come.
The franchisee then struck a tentative deal with Dine Brands Global, owner of Applebee’s, which would see Applebee’s take over the locations. (Dine Brands also owns IHOP and has been opening co-branded IHOP-Applebee’s restaurants this year.)
But as NRPF’s financial woes escalated, it said it had to file for bankruptcy before the deal was complete.
Applebee’s is acting as a “stalking horse” bidder for NRPF’s restaurants, a deal that was supposed to be finalized by the middle of this month.
It was not immediately clear if the company would potentially save these five restaurants from closure if and when the deal is finalized.
Notably, some of the locations are included in the agreement between Applebee’s and NRPF that was filed in court last month, but other locations are not. In all, that agreement included 50 restaurants.
Fast Company reached out to Dine Brands for comment.
This story is developing . . .
