After climbing to the loftiest heights of the chain-restaurant business, former IHOP and Applebee’s chief Julia Stewart is back in an entrepreneurial role. The 2005 Silver Plate winner (Chain-Full Service) has founded a healthcare technology business called Alurx Inc. that's focused on three dynamics of well-being: sleep, nutrition and stress management. It’s a self-help guide that’s based on an app. Stewart launched the venture five years ago. 

 

The new endeavor follows a multi-decade restaurant career that began with waiting tables at IHOP when Stewart was 16. She rose through the marketing departments of Carl’s Jr. and Burger King before drawing industrywide attention for her marketing work at Stuart Anderson’s Black Angus, a hot chain in the 1980s. 

 

A long stint at Taco Bell, with oversight for its Western operations, would follow. She became one of the few women to lead a major restaurant chain in the 1990s when she was named president of Applebee’s domestic operations.  

 

Stewart would move from the casual dining chain to family dining stalwart IHOP in 2001, a critical time for the pancake specialist and family dining in general. The segment was rapidly losing customers to an alluring new generation of full-service restaurants that focused almost as much on the bar as on the menu.  

 

Stewart stunned the industry by engineering a purchase of Applebee’s, her former charge, at what insiders described as a steal of a price. The nation’s largest casual chain became part of the industry’s largest franchisors of full-service restaurants, a company called DineEquity. It survives today as Dine Brands Global, with a third concept, the fast-casual brand Fuzzy’s Tacos, included in the fold. 

 

Stewart exited DineEquity after Applebee’s tried to shift upmarket and many fans of the brand’s everyday value failed to follow. Shareholders grew impatient, and Stewart resigned to pursue other opportunities. 

 

In addition to entering the tech field, the California native has maintained a connection to the restaurant business. Stewart has served on the board of the Bojangles fried chicken chain since 2023.

 

As Managing Editor for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, Romeo is responsible for generating the group's news and feature content. He brings more than 40 years of experience in covering restaurants to the position.