The 15 biggest chain restaurants in the US, ranked
Technomic data analyzed by Nation's Restaurant News ranks the top 15 US chain restaurants.
Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, and Applebee's lead in casual-dining chain restaurants.
Waffle House has the most restaurants on this ranking with 1,985 locations.
While fast-food and fast-casual chains dominate the industry, many casual-dining and family-style chain restaurants are also thriving.
This year, there have been challenges — Red Lobster's recent bankruptcy filing sent shockwaves through the industry — and opportunities for chain restaurants, which are now competing with fast-food chains for value-driven customers.
From Olive Garden to Denny's, you've likely visited at least one of these chains in the past year. But which chains are faring better than others?
The research firm Technomic recently identified the top 500 biggest chain restaurants in the US. The report, which Technomic said is based on "decades of historical data," analyzes trends in the food service industry and includes each chain's annual sales and unit counts for 2023, which were also reported by Nation's Restaurant News.
We looked at the top 15 chains listed as casual dining, midscale, or family-style for this list. Fast-casual or quick-service restaurants like Chipotle and McDonald's are not included. We also listed the year the company was founded, its 2023 sales, and restaurant count, per Technomic's report.
Here are the biggest chain restaurants in the US.
15. Waffle House
Year founded: 1955
Sales (2023): $1.4 billion
Restaurant count (2023): 1,985
14. Red Robin
Year founded: 1969
Sales: $1.6 billion
Restaurant count: 506
13. Golden Corral
Year founded: 1973
Sales: $1.6 billion
Restaurant count: 357
12. Red Lobster
Year founded: 1968
Sales: $2.2 billion
Restaurant count: 649
11. The Cheesecake Factory
Year founded: 1978
Sales: $2.6 billion
Restaurant count: 216
10. Cracker Barrel
Year founded: 1969
Sales: $2.7 billion
Restaurant count: 662
9. Denny's
Year founded: 1953
Sales: $2.7 billion
Restaurant count: 1,407
8. Longhorn Steakhouse
Year founded: 1981
Sales: $2.8 billion
Restaurant count: 580
7. Outback Steakhouse
Year founded: 1988
Sales: $2.8 billion
Restaurant count: 688
6. IHOP
Year founded: 1958
Sales: $3.4 billion
Restaurant count: 1,696
5. Buffalo Wild Wings
Year founded: 1982
Sales: $4 billion
Restaurant count: 1,264
4. Chili's Grill & Bar
Year founded: 1975
Sales: $4 billion
Restaurant count: 1,230
3. Applebee's
Year founded: 1980
Sales: $4.4 billion
Restaurant count: 1,536
2. Texas Roadhouse
Year founded: 1993
Sales: $4.8 billion
Restaurant count: 638
1. Olive Garden
Year founded: 1982
Sales: $5.1 billion
Restaurant count: 908
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