Drinkin' good in the neighborhood

Any idea which restaurant chain leads the industry in beverage alcohol sales?

A hint: Its name puts the emphasis on the food part of its service rather than on the drinks.

If you guessed Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar, you get a gold star.

Applebee's 1,942 restaurants had total alcoholic beverage sales of $567,864,000 in 2006, accounting for an average of 12.5% of each guest check. That's according to the Technomic Top 500 Report, published in Cheers magazine.

The rest of the top 10:

(2.) T.G.I. Friday's, $499,380,000.
(3.) Chili's Bar & Grill, $475,116,000.
(4.) Outback Steakhouse, $327,375,000.
(5.) Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, $252,024,000.
(6.) Olive Garden, $233,177,000.
(7.) Red Lobster, $210,103,000.
(8.) Hooters, $205,875,000.
(9.) The Cheesecake Factory, $167,310,000.
(10.) Ruby Tuesday, $157,950000.

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