Is there any story behind the name of Applebee's?

Applebee's was originally called "TJ Applebee's Edibles and Elixirs". The name "Appleby's" was taken from the phonebook, but had already been registered as a restaurant in Atlanta, so the spelling was changed and the "TJ" (for TJ Palmer, one of the founders) and "Edibles and Elixirs" were added to avoid trademark infringement.