The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON and NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Reporters

BOTH Applebees Bahamas and Fusion Superplex yesterday asserted it is "business as usual" following the restaurant’s temporary closure late last week that sparked much social media commentary.

A spokesman for Applebees and its franchise holder, Caribbean Dining, yesterday confirmed the restaurant had re-opened at the entertainment complex located at the junction of Gladstone Road and JFK Drive. “Applebees is open for business and guests there are having a good time,” they told Tribune Business.

Photographs seen by this newspaper confirmed the restaurant is open and serving guests. A similar reply came from Tecoyo Bridgewater, Fusion Superplex’s co-founder and chief legal officer, who said : "Applebees - business as usual."

Social media was abuzz over the weekend over suggestions that the first-ever Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar in The Bahamas, which opened in January 2025 to offer both traditional restaurant dining and food and beverage service inside the venue's VIP theatres, had abruptly closed its doors. However, any closure appears to have been fleeting and temporary.

Tribune Business had received a tip-off from an anonymous caller last Thursday suggesting that a dispute had arisen between the two companies. It is understood that this sparked a series of meetings between Applebees and Fusion, and may have triggered events leading to a temporary closure on Friday and the subsequent outpouring of social media postings from diners who arrived only to find the doors shut.

However, it is thought that another round of meetings over the weekend has - for the moment - made sufficient progress in resolving the two sides’ differences to enable Applebees to re-open and resume trading.

When the restaurant formally launched at Fusion Suplerplex in January 2025, its director of operations, Rayford Rahming, said the business had hired 165 employees and was recruiting additional staff to meet what he described as unprecedented customer demand.

"Business is great," Mr Rahming said at the time, adding that the Nassau location's sales volumes were second only to the Applebee's restaurant in Times Square, New York. He also announced plans to open two additional dual-branded Applebee's and IHOP restaurants within eight months, as Caribbean Dining also holds the local IHOP franchise

“We are ecstatic about the opportunity to employ hundreds of Bahamians at Applebee’s. Our commitment to invest in the Bahamian economy stands true as we continue to join forces with the best of the best for a prosperous future,” said Caribbean Dining in a statement from that time. 

Executives from Dine Brands Global, Applebee's parent company, previously said Fusion Superplex was chosen because it was already an established entertainment destination, with the restaurant intended to complement the cinema experience while also serving diners visiting solely for a meal.

IHOP has since expanded locally with the recent opening of its second restaurant on Carmichael Road. No additional Applebee's locations have opened.

Applebee’s global franchise operations consisted of 1,618 restaurants in the US, two US territories and 12 countries outside the US. This number does not include one domestic Applebee’s ghost kitchen, which is a small kitchen with no storefront presence that is used to fill off-premise orders, and eight Applebee’s international ghost kitchens.