The 50 QSR Contenders for 2023

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2022 ranking	company	category	2022 us systemwide sales millions	2022 average sales per unit thousands	2022 franchisedlicensed units	2022 company units	2022 total units	total change in units from 2021
1	Auntie Anne's	Snack	667	707	1168	11	1179	34
2	The Habit	Burger	657	2006	52	286	338	31
3	Smoothie King	Snack	619	592	1048	55	1103	52
4	Portillo's	Snack	587	8500	0	73	73	4
5	Steak 'n Shake	Burger	573	1670	306	173	479	-18
6	Captain D's	Seafood	553	1084	224	309	533	-2
7	Sweetgreen*	Salad	539	2900	0	186	186	36
8	Einstein Bros.	Snack	520	1065	370	323	693	8
9	Potbelly	Sandwich	499	1159	45	384	429	-14
10	Hungry Howie's	Pizza	479	894	536	0	536	2
11	Taco John's	Global	424	1800	361	7	368	-5
12	Schlotzsky’s	Sandwich	346	1102	299	27	326	-21
13	Cicis Pizza	Pizza	340	1200	265	14	279	-12
14	Slim Chickens	Chicken	314	2430	134	9	143	32
15	Krystal	Burger	309	1400	110	182	292	2
16	Chicken Salad Chick	Chicken	307	1406	157	63	220	15
17	Mountain Mike's	Pizza	279	1098	265	0	265	19
18	Penn Station	Sandwich	264	844	318	1	319	8
19	Smashburger	Burger	262	1239	82	135	217	-2
20	Cinnabon	Snack	260	699	958	0	958	-8
21	Wetzel's Pretzels	Snack	231	856	322	38	360	17
22	Sbarro	Pizza	226	689	202	149	351	36
23	Kona Ice	Snack	225	125	1491	19	1150	133
24	Newk's Eatery	Sandwich	215	2175	72	27	99	6
25	L&L Hawaiian Barbecue	Global	199	928	215	0	215	6
26	Bonchon	Chicken	194	1680	117	5	122	7
27	Waba Grill	Global	175	915	186	5	191	0
28	Playa Bowls	Snack	156	1190	136	27	163	35
29	bb.q Chicken	Chicken	150	1140	124	2	126	38
30	TOUS les JOURS	Snack	131	1700	84	2	86	14
31	Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory	Snack	118	577	159	1	160	-1
32	Velvet Taco	Global	100	4117	2	32	34	6
33	Gong cha	Snack	83	447	186	3	189	48
34	Handel’s	Snack	82	976	89	5	94	20
35	Toppers Pizza	Pizza	82	1183	46	27	73	3
36	Bubbakoo's Burritos	Global	80	1078	86	12	98	35
37	Dog Haus	Snack	70	1576	50	1	51	2
38	Pokeworks	Global	56	1049	47	7	54	5
39	PJ's Coffee	Snack	56	657	134	13	147	16
40	HTeaO	Snack	49	1131	44	3	47	26
41	Jeremiah's Italian Ice	Snack	42	576	78	19	97	37
42	Rusty Taco	Global	39	1124	33	1	34	-2
43	Pickleman's	Sandwich	35	1442	24	0	24	3
44	Great Greek	Global	34	1589	22	6	28	6
45	Dunn Brothers Coffee	Snack	30	520	53	4	57	-5
46	Killer Burger	Burger	21	1300	7	12	19	3
47	Wing Snob	Chicken	20	900	25	0	25	7
48	Rise Southern Biscuits	Snack	14	955	12	3	15	3
49	Pepper Lunch	Global	8	1600	6	0	6	0
50	Smalls Sliders	Burger	7	2582	4	2	6	4

About the QSR 50/

The QSR 50 is an annual ranking of limited-service restaurant companies by U.S. system-wide sales. QSR magazine collected information directly from restaurant companies from March to May 2023, and also partnered with Circana, a leading adviser on the complexity of consumer behavior. Circana leveraged multiple data products and services from its research product portfolio, combined with experienced analyst estimates. Sales estimates represent each chain’s total U.S. system for the year ending December 2022, and were anchored on CREST, Circana’s flagship syndicated study of consumer purchases of restaurant prepared meals, snacks, and beverages. Unit counts source to the fall 2022 release of Circana’s ReCount service, a census of chains and independent restaurant locations regularly updated since 1988. Today, ReCount provides unit counts and trends for over 1.2 million foodservice operators. These primary sources, combined with other proprietary Circana data, public reporting, and analysis, generate this new, industry-standard restaurant ranking.

* indicates figures estimated by QSR and Circana.

The Contenders

From legacy chains to rising upstarts, here’s a look at 50 brands ready to break through in the coming years. All information in this chart, except for where * is indicated, was submitted directly to QSR magazine. The list was ranked by total systemwide sales from the pool of submissions.