EXHIBIT 31.1

                                 CERTIFICATION

I, Lloyd L. Hill, certify that:
1.       I have  reviewed  this  quarterly  report  on Form  10-Q of  Applebee's
         International, Inc.;
2.       Based  on my  knowledge,  this  report  does  not  contain  any  untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances  under which
         such  statements  were made, not misleading  with respect to the period
         covered by this report;
3.       Based on my knowledge,  the financial  statements,  and other financial
         information  included in this  report,  fairly  present in all material
         respects the financial condition,  results of operations and cash flows
         of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.       The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer and I are responsible for
         establishing  and  maintaining  disclosure  controls and procedures (as
         defined  in  Exchange  Act  Rules  13a-15(e)  and  15d-15(e))  for  the
         registrant and have:
              a)   Designed such disclosure  controls and procedures,  or caused
                   such disclosure  controls and procedures to be designed under
                   our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                   to the registrant,  including its consolidated  subsidiaries,
                   is  made  known  to  us  by  others  within  those  entities,
                   particularly  during the period in which this report is being
                   prepared;
              b)   Evaluated the  effectiveness of the  registrant's  disclosure
                   controls  and  procedures  and  presented  in this report our
                   conclusions   about  the   effectiveness  of  the  disclosure
                   controls and procedures,  as of the end of the period covered
                   by this report based on such evaluation; and
              c)   Disclosed  in this  report  any  change  in the  registrant's
                   internal  control  over  financial  reporting  that  occurred
                   during the  registrant's  most  recent  fiscal  quarter  (the
                   registrant's  fourth fiscal  quarter in the case of an annual
                   report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
                   to materially affect, the registrant's  internal control over
                   financial reporting; and
5.       The registrant's other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based
         on our most  recent  evaluation  of  internal  control  over  financial
         reporting,  to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
         registrant's  board of directors (or persons  performing the equivalent
         function):
              a)   All significant  deficiencies and material  weaknesses in the
                   design  or  operation  of  internal  control  over  financial
                   reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                   registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                   financial information; and
              b)   Any fraud, whether or not material,  that involves management
                   or  other  employees  who  have  a  significant  role  in the
                   registrant's internal control over financial reporting.


Date:    October 27, 2004          By:   /s/ Lloyd L. Hill
                                       -----------------------------------------
                                       Lloyd L. Hill
                                       Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                       (principal executive officer)