Media Contact:                                             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Laurie Ellison (913) 967-2718
laurie.ellison@applebees.com

Statement by Dave Goebel, CEO of Applebee's International, Inc.

OVERLAND  PARK,  KAN.,  March  29,  2007  -  Dave  Goebel,   CEO  of  Applebee's
International, Inc. (Nasdaq:APPB), issued the following statement:

The real  issue  here is  improving  our  business  in the midst of a very tough
competitive environment - in fact, it's the toughest environment in 15 years for
casual dining.  We are  aggressively  working to build sales and traffic,  which
will improve our return on  investment  and,  ultimately,  deliver more value to
shareholders.  We also are focused on improving  shareholder  value  through our
strategic alternatives review process.

We  welcome  independent  thinking  on our board,  which is why we  offered  Mr.
Breeden's  business partner in Breeden Capital,  Steve Quamme, an immediate seat
on both the  Applebee's  board of  directors  and on the  Strategy  Committee of
independent  directors.  We  also  offered  Mr.  Quamme  a seat  on the  board's
Governance  Committee.  Mr. Quamme is the only nominee on the Breeden slate with
both restaurant industry and transaction  experience,  so he was the clear first
choice to add to our board.

When Mr. Breeden  rejected this offer, we then offered a second,  immediate seat
on the company's  board of directors for either of Breeden's other two nominees:
Raymond  G.H.  Seitz or  Laurence E.  Harris.  This offer was in addition to the
board  seat and the  seat on the  Strategy  and  Governance  committees  for Mr.
Quamme.  The board  believed  that  offering  the seats to one member of Breeden
Capital who is best qualified and to one of its independent  nominees was a fair
and balanced approach. Unfortunately, Mr. Breeden also declined this offer.

We then offered a  confidentiality  agreement to Mr. Breeden (in addition to the
two board seats),  allowing him to observe  first-hand  the work of the Strategy
Committee. He again declined.

It is difficult for us to understand why Mr. Breeden, who says he wanted to be a
constructive  force,  would  reject  these  offers  in  favor  of an  expensive,
time-consuming  and  distracting  proxy  fight.  For  our  part,  we  intend  to
articulate  our position with our investors  and  aggressively  pursue a process
designed to deliver value to all shareholders.

                                       ###

Applebee's International,  Inc., headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., develops,
franchises and operates  restaurants under the Applebee's  Neighborhood  Grill &
Bar brand,  the largest casual dining concept in the world. As of Feb. 25, 2007,
there  were  1,942   restaurants   operating   system-wide  in  49  states,   16
international  countries,  and one U.S.  territory.  Additional  information  on
Applebee's    International    can   be   found   at   the   company's   website
(www.applebees.com).

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Applebee's  International,  Inc.  ("Applebee's")  plans to file with the SEC and
mail to its  stockholders a Proxy  Statement in connection  with its 2007 Annual
Meeting,  and advises its security holders to read the proxy statement and other
documents  relating  to the 2007  Annual  Meeting  when they  become  available,
because they will contain important  information.  Security holders may obtain a
free copy of the proxy  statement  and other  documents  (when  available)  that
Applebee's  files with the SEC at the SEC's web site at  www.sec.gov.  The proxy
statement  and  these  other  documents  may  also be  obtained  for  free  from
Applebee's  by  directing  a  request  to our  Corporate  Secretary,  Applebee's
International, Inc., 4551 West 107th Street, Overland Park, KS 66207.

CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING PARTICIPANTS

Applebee's,  its  directors  and named  executive  officers  may be deemed to be
participants in the  solicitation of Applebee's  security  holders in connection
with its 2007 Annual Meeting.  Security holders may obtain information regarding
the names,  affiliations and interests of such individuals in Applebee's  Annual
Report  on Form  10-K  for the year  ended  December  31,  2006,  and its  proxy
statement  dated  April 11,  2006,  each of which is filed with the SEC.  To the
extent holders of Applebee's  securities have changed from the amounts disclosed
in the proxy statement, such changes have been reflected on Statements of Change
in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. These documents are available free of
charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.