The Top 500 highest-grossing restaurant chains recorded their best overall performance in five years in 2019. Chicken had a moment, tech made another leap and the biggest chains got bigger. This annual report, in partnership with Technomic, highlights the data, trends and brands that defined the year.
A Restaurant Business and Technomic Special Report
A Restaurant Business and Technomic Special Report
Top 250: The Ranking
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Source: Technomic's Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report
Methodology
The Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report is a measure of the largest restaurant concepts by U.S. systemwide sales, based on results from the 2019 calendar year. Relevant information is accrued using a combination of public company financial filings, direct operator surveying, franchise disclosure documents and proprietary valuation algorithms. Technomic Inc. believes that its sources of information are reliable but does not assume any liability for the accuracy or comprehensiveness of the information published.
GAME OF
CHICKEN
See who’s winning
THE BIG
GET BIGGER
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Insights from the top 500
Behind the Brands
LOOKING AHEAD
“Everyone is going to slow down [due to the coronavirus pandemic]. But pizza and the operators that people know deliver and have all the logistics in place … those guys will do relatively well. It’s the people who are now fighting uphill to say 'Hey, we do delivery,' ... it's going to be very hard for them to get the word out”Kevin Schimpf, manager of industry insights, Technomic
See Technomic's forecast
Menu Segments
“It looks like we were going to have a pretty good year in 2020 that even exceeded 2019. Coronavirus really came at a bad time … given that the industry was showing some very positive numbers.”Joe Pawlak, managing principal, Technomic
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