Suburbs are nothing but Applebees (Atlanta, Roswell: real estate, neighborhood, school)

[ATLTJL]

I have noticed in this forum that a lot of people will try to be derogatory towards suburbanites by saying all they do is eat at Applebees.

Applebees has become synonymous with everything that people think is wrong with the suburbes.

That's why I think this line from the Wikipedia entry on Applebees is so hilarious. I hope the irony isn't lost on anyone:

The Applebee's chain was started by Bill and T. J. Palmer who opened their first restaurant, T.J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles & Elixirs, in Decatur, Georgia, on January 1, 1980

[cwkimbro]

haha nice!

My thing has always been two fold. There is some truth to it. The most visible easy to find restaurants are on the busiests roads and are chain restaurants.

However, I've also come to the realization there are tons of small indepdent restaurants. They are just places that aren't always where we are looking or as we drive by. They might not look as cool from the outside, but they are in strip malls, old town centers that are off the main thoroughfares, or in old buildings originally made for other purposes (ie fast food building).

[aries4118]

Wasn't the first Applebee's somewhere on Memorial Drive?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Wasn't the first Applebee's somewhere on Memorial Drive?

Yep, I was right:

The History of Applebees

[aries4118]

More--

Scroll down to "Location:"

http://applebees-founder.com/history1.htm

[aries4118]

Here is the exact location of the first Applebee's here:

4705 Memorial Drive, Decatur, GA - Google Maps


It is the part of Memorial Drive that people typically think is "Stone Mountain" or "Clarkston."

Not to start anything, but that location was/is prime suburbia--especially in the 1970's and 1980's. The area was very "East Cobb-esque" and "Parkview+Brookwood Area-esque" during this time.


I haven't been there in a while, but I know this Applebee's was still up and running (and doing well) as late as the end of the 1990's--maybe even early 2000's. Is it still there and operating?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Here is the exact location of the first Applebee's here:

4705 Memorial Drive, Decatur, GA - Google Maps


It is the part of Memorial Drive that people typically think is "Stone Mountain" or "Clarkston."

Not to start anything, but that location was/is prime suburbia--especially in the 1970's and 1980's. The area was very "East Cobb-esque" and "Parkview+Brookwood Area-esque" during this time.


I haven't been there in a while, but I know this Applebee's was still up and running (and doing well) as late as the end of the 1990's--maybe even early 2000's. Is it still there and operating?

More...

The reason the "Stone Mountain/Clarkston-positioned" first Applebee's has a Decatur address is because it is barely located in the Decatur zip code of 30032.

The zip code 30032 (Decatur) mainly covers the Candler-McAfee, Belvedere Park, and Midway Park areas. A sliver of this zip code crosses I-285 on and along Memorial Drive--where the first Applebee's was/is located.

See here:
Zip Code Finder and Boundary Map. {key in "30032"}

[aries4118]

Remember--The broad area known as "Decatur" (outside of the City of Decatur) is very suburban--especially to the east, southeast, and south.

The "Decatur" area to the north of the City of Decatur (the area around Shamrock Middle, Laurel Ridge Elementary, Medlock/North Decatur, etc.) is fairly suburban as well--even though it is considered prime intown real estate now.

[oldschoolChevy]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Here is the exact location of the first Applebee's here:

4705 Memorial Drive, Decatur, GA - Google Maps


It is the part of Memorial Drive that people typically think is "Stone Mountain" or "Clarkston."

Not start anything, but that location was/is prime suburbia--especially in the 1970's and 1980's. The area was very "East Cobb-esque" and "Parkview+Brookwood Area-esque" during this time.


I haven't been there in a while, but I know this Applebee's was still up and running (and doing well) as late as the late 1990's--maybe even early 2000's. Is it still there and operating?

If it's the one right outside 285 then it's still open, never been inside but it looks crowded whenever I have driven past it. And I didn't know that was the first Appelbee's, it makes sense now though because the one I have seen is kind of random where it is on Memorial compared to the other businesses that are around it. Just not really the type of area where you usually see an Applebee's.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by oldschoolChevy

If it's the one right outside 285 then it's still open, never been inside but it looks crowded whenever I have driven past it. And I didn't know that was the first Appelbee's, it makes sense now though because the one I have seen is kind of random where it is on Memorial compared to the other businesses that are around it. Just not really the type of area where you usually see an Applebee's.

Well, until the mid-1990's, the area was definitely the type of area where you would see an Applebee's.


The development of Memorial Drive outside of I-285 was one of the corridors that became the blueprint for suburban Atlanta development--believe it or not.

The Stone Mountain/Redan Area is really a cousin of East Cobb. Their histories (which would require another thread) went different ways after the mid 1980's.

Hidden Hills (in Stone Mountain/Redan), for example, is the sister neighborhood of Indian Hills (in East Cobb).

Drive along some of the roads off of Memorial Drive (Rockbridge, Hambrick, South Indian Creek, Redan, Rowland, etc.)--it will often feel/look like you are in East Cobb, South Lilburn, North Snellville, Roswell, even Dunwoody, etc.