The bankruptcy problems facing a major Applebee's franchisee just deepened again. Court filings submitted this month show that NRPF Group Two—also known as Neighborhood Restaurant Partners Florida—is now seeking permission to close five additional restaurants across Florida and Georgia, expanding a wave of shutdowns that had already affected 10 locations earlier this year.
According to INC, the newly targeted restaurants are located in Orlando, Tampa, Maitland, Ocala, and Tifton, Georgia. In the filing, the Atlanta-based franchisee said the stores had “proved unprofitable” and asked the bankruptcy court to allow the company to reject the leases tied to those properties. Some of the restaurants appeared to remain open this week, though several were listed online as temporarily closed.
The latest closures add another layer to the financial unraveling that began in March, when NRPF filed for Chapter 11 protection after years of declining performance. At the time, the company operated roughly 50 Applebee’s locations across Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.
Bankruptcy documents showed liabilities ranging between $10 million and $50 million, including more than $13 million owed to Equity Bank. The company blamed falling customer traffic, inflation, and rising operational costs for the downturn.
Parent company Dine Brands, which also owns IHOP, had already been preparing to step in before the bankruptcy filing accelerated the process. Earlier this year, Dine Brands agreed to act as the “stalking horse” bidder for the franchisee’s assets, giving it the first opportunity to take control of the restaurants as part of the restructuring.
Applebee’s president and Dine Brands CEO John Peyton previously said the company viewed the portfolio as historically strong despite the operator’s financial issues, adding that Dine Brands was focused on “stability, growth, and doing what’s right for our guests, team members, and franchise partners.”
The bankruptcy also reflects broader problems inside the casual dining business. Applebee’s has spent the last several years dealing with declining sales and changing consumer habits, even as Dine Brands experimented with company-owned locations and dual-branded IHOP-Applebee’s restaurants to improve profitability.
As of late 2025, Applebee’s still had roughly 1,520 franchised restaurants nationwide, but franchise operators have increasingly struggled with higher labor costs, inflation, and softer discretionary spending.
The latest filing suggests the situation may be more unstable than initially expected. What started as a 10-store closure tied to a regional bankruptcy has now expanded, with additional restaurants potentially on the chopping block as the sale process continues.
