Pros
Brand recognition, everyone's familiar with or has an opinion about Applebee's. They offer low priced meals which are guaranteed to bring in traffic.
Cons
Chaos at the local levels. Since being purchased by IHOP all Applebee's are for sale to franchisees to get them off the books and get residual income flowing. As a result at the local levels everything is frozen, no improvements and everything has to be approved by multiple layers. You're working for a company that caters to lower demographics, specifically those making less that $50,000 a year, which brings in rough clientele and brings down morale in the restaurant (no money, no tips) Very little opportunity for advancement within the company, no opportunity beyond operations level