Restaurant firm plans for Florida growth

The money trend in restaurants these days is fast casual, but Ed Doherty still believes in the lure of sit down, casual waiter-waitress service dining.

Doherty, who built a restaurant company into one of the 100 largest in the country by revenues over the past 30 years, also believes in the lasting power of the Sunshine State. Those are the main reasons why Doherty, through Allendale, N.J.-based Doherty Enterprises, recently bought 35 Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar locations in Florida, including 13 on the Gulf Coast. Doherty Enterprises now owns a combined 100 Applebee's, with 62 in New York and New Jersey. An Applebee's location reports $2.37 million a year in sales on a nationwide per-store average, according to Nation's Restaurant News.

“The West Coast of Florida is a great market,” Doherty tells Coffee Talk. “This is a great opportunity.”