That fast casual/family restaurant sector can be brutal. At least that’s how Applebee’s is finding it. The company has formed a committee of independent directors to look at its options.

The group is looking at a sale but no deal is on the table. And, because it may or it may not find one, the company has withdrawn all profit guidance for 2007.

The Overland Park, Kan.-based company has nearly 2,000 restaurants across 49 states and 17 countries. It’s a real national chain and it has a few establishments in the Las Vegas Valley. The big problem is that despite a carb-free menu and various other changes it has been unable to maintain, let alone improve, same-store sales and that’s a problem.

And, Michelle Leder reported recently on her Web site footnoted.org that the standards of corporate governance weren’t exactly best practice. The company’s jet had been used 29 times in 9 months to fly former CEO Lloyd Hill to his beach house in Galveston, Texas. Not the best use of corporate funds when things aren’t going well.