18 SBA loans have financed Applebee's Neighborhood Gril locations since 1990, written by 14 different lenders across 13 states. Half were approved for $474K or less, the mix is a mix of 7(a) and 504, and 39% went to owners whose business was under two years old.
A lender that has already underwritten this brand knows the unit economics, the build-out costs, and the franchisor. That is worth more to you than a bigger bank starting from scratch.