Applebee’s restaurant, the the first business to open at French Quarter Square on Richmond Road, on Aug. 8, 1988. This restaurant, operated by Lexington company Thomas and King Inc., was the nation’s leading Applebee’s restaurant for many years, Adam Edelen, a spokesman for Thomas & King, said in 2007. A shortage of parking and the landlocked location prohibited growth after a certain point, so it later moved down Richmond Road on the on the vacant Lexington Mall property, opening a new flagship restaurant on Sept. 2007. Last week, RMH Franchising, which in 2013 bought more than 80 Applebee’s Grill and Bar franchises from Thomas & King, announced that the restaurant on the former Lexington Mall property, now Southland Christian Church, will close. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff