What’s Dine Brands’ plan for dual-branded Applebee’s/IHOP locations in 2025? Which restaurant chain is using AI to modernize its kitchens? How have consumers reacted to all the tariff talk? Answers to these questions and more This Week in Foodservice.

Multiconcept operator Dine Brands Global opened its first dual-brand Applebee’s/IHOP restaurant. The menu includes IHOP’s breakfast offerings and such Applebee’s items as boneless wings, burgers and more. Guests can mix and match items throughout the day and the menu includes a few new times, like a buffalo chicken omelet and Ulitmate Breakfast Burger.

This dual-branded location features distinct dining areas for Applebee’s and IHOP. The shared common areas, including the host stand and bathrooms, create an integrated experience. The facility features an “optimized back-of-house and single kitchen” to help drive operational efficiencies.

As of September, Dine Brands franchised 13 international dual-branded locations across Canada, Mexico, Honduras, and the Middle East. The company plans to break ground and open 14 more dual-branded locations in the United States through 2026 by transforming existing single-branded restaurants and building new locations from the ground up.

Foodservice News

• Is Hooters on the brink of bankruptcy? The casual dining chain is working with creditors on a plan to restructure the business through bankruptcy court, per a Bloomberg News report. The chain has faced liquidity issues as foot traffic has declined and it has shuttered several locations, the story adds.
• Robotic food delivery is coming to Miami. Customers will soon be able to have their orders from Shake Shack and Mister 01 Extraordinary Pizza, a local restaurant company, delivered to them via robot that will travel the sidewalks to get to them, per a Restaurant Dive story. The robotics provider and Shake Shack entered into a similar partnership in Los Angeles last year.
• KFC is moving its headquarters to Texas. Parent company Yum! Brands will reunite KFC with sibling concept Pizza Hut, which made the move a few years earlier. This is part of Yum Brands broader plan to have two corporate headquarters: one in Irvine, Calif., and one in Plano, Texas, per a CNBC story.
• Wingstop is using AI to help modernize its kitchens, per a Restaurant Business story. While not offering too many specific details, the chain said it has tested the new kitchen system at 30 restaurants and plans to roll it out over the next 12 months.
• What’s moving the needle on restaurant design projects? “The Classics” according to 42% of readers of restaurant development + design magazine that participated in the publication’s renowned Pulse surveys. This includes classic lines, classic styles and classic furnishings.

Economic News

• Consumer sentiment declined in February, per data from the University of Michigan. Its Index of Consumer Sentiment declined 10% compared to January. All five index components declined this month, led by a 19% plunge in buying conditions for durable goods. This was fueled, in part, by fears that tariff-induced price increases are imminent.
• Initial jobless claims climbed by 5,000 to a total of 219,000 for the week-ending February 15, 2025, per the U.S. Department of Labor. The 4-week moving average was 215,250, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week.
• January building permits increased 0.1% compared to December, per the data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The 1.48 million permits issued in January was 1.7% less than the same month in 2024. Permits for single-family homes totaled 996,000; this is virtually unchanged from the revised December figure of 996,000. Severe winter weather during January is one reason for the decline, per a Reuters story.
• Sales of existing homes declined 4.9% in January compared to one month prior, per data from the National Association of Realtors. Sales increased 2.0% compared to January of 2025. Housing affordability remains a challenge, per the NAR, due to higher mortgage interest rates and elevated home prices.