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Walker Hayes' "Fancy Like" Could Bring an Applebee's Classic Back to Its Menu

The chain restaurant's Oreo milkshake could be returning soon to its menu

Simultaneously this week, country crooner Walker Hayes' "Fancy Like" has reached the top of Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart while surging into top-40 on Billboard's Country Airplay list. The song's runaway success is as much predicated on its viral TikTok dance craze as it could likely be something else: name-brand yet cost-conscious dating habits. And though dipping Wendy's french fries into the fast-food chain's Frosty milkshakes is fun, it's the combination of Applebee's Bourbon Street steak and Oreo milkshake -- topped with whipped cream, plus two straws for sharing -- emerging as the most popular of the options Hayes sings about.

In a recent Billboard interview, the veteran vocalist offered an intriguing note tying the chain restaurant to the song's title, saying, "When I'm on a road trip with my kids and wife, we always come to this point where I say, 'Hey, are we going to fast food it or are we going to do some fancy? Y'all want to sit down and have a waiter or a waitress and just chill out for a second?' And that's always an Applebee's-ish restaurant, you know, something like that. And that's fancy. That's a big deal."

Even more, the song's name drop of the long removed Oreo milkshake from Applebee's menu could yield some fascinating results: "...the Oreo shake actually came off the menu several years back and it's coming back because of the song," Hayes reveals. "You're going to laugh at me, but I can't wait 'till I have grandkids and we're at Applebee's and they're drinking a shake. And I could say, 'You know why's it on the menu? It's because I saved it.' I'm like, 'Dude, I'm going to die and Oreo shakes will go on and on and on.' And I could take credit. It's pretty awesome."

"Fancy Like" is from Hayes' new EP Country Stuff.

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