Longtime Applebee’s franchise owner Zane Tankel sold off the majority of his New York City restaurant portfolio to a longtime rival.
The 83-year-old Tankel — who owned 23 Applebee’s Grill & Bar eateries across the New York metro area that generate annual revenues of $140 million — has sold 21 of them to New Jersey-based Doherty Enterprises.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Doherty Enterprises operates some 160 chain restaurants, including Applebee’s, Panera Bread and Chevys Fresh Mex.
“I’m not retiring,” Tankel told The Post on Monday. “I have a fair amount of cash and have the ability to do something else.”
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Tankel, who bought his first Applebee’s 30 years ago, will retain his flagship Times Square restaurant on West 42nd St . and one at the Staten Island mall to resolve landlord disputes that arose during the pandemic.
Ed Doherty, 77, has known Tankel for three decades and now manages the Times Square and Staten Island outposts through his family-run business.