The 50 QSR Contenders for 2026

2025 Rank	Company	Category	2025 US System-wide Sales (millions)	2025 Average Sales Per Unit (thousands)	2025 Franchised/Licensed Units	2025 Company Units	2025 Total Units	Total Change in Units from 2024
1	Auntie Anne's	Snack	813	792	1267	11	1278	57
2	Checkers/Rally's	Burger	811	1193	497	220	717	–36
3	Tim Hortons	Snack	807	1210	652	31	683	30
4	Smoothie King	Snack	791	664	1200	42	1242	41
5	Portillo's	Sandwich	732	8500	0	102	102	8
6	Baskin-Robbins	Snack	707	334	2186	0	2186	–59
7	Habit Burger & Grill	Burger	706	1843	301	82	383	6
8	Sweetgreen	Global	679	2677	0	281	281	35
9	Moe's Southwest Grill	Global	658	1183	563	5	568	–28
10	Jason's Deli	Sandwich	645	2745	77	163	240	0
11	Potbelly	Sandwich	601	1300	120	346	466	24
12	Noodles & Company	Global	495	1360	83	340	423	–40
13	Slim Chickens	Chicken	469	2351	204	11	215	8
14	Jamba	Snack	462	675	709	1	710	–17
15	Chicken Salad Chick	Chicken	458	1496	252	75	327	38
16	Hungry Howie's	Pizza	413	823	469	33	502	–7
17	Taco John's	Global	391	1173	316	11	327	–13
18	Jollibee	Chicken	389	4990	1	78	79	4
19	Cicis Pizza	Pizza	357	1348	248	19	267	3
20	Shipley Donuts	Snack	345	933	381	12	393	28
21	Schlotzsky's	Sandwich	341	1157	267	27	294	–14
22	Playa Bowls	Snack	332	1100	342	30	372	81
23	Cinnabon	Snack	292	665	1311	28	1339	305
24	Penn Station Sandwiches	Sandwich	264	820	321	1	322	0
25	Sbarro	Pizza	262	700	241	150	391	16
26	Black Rock Coffee Bar	Snack	200	1286	0	181	181	32
27	Donatos	Pizza	199	1252	128	51	179	3
28	Teriyaki Madness	Global	190	1066	198	2	200	42
29	Handel's Ice Cream	Snack	176	1116	166	7	173	20
30	la Madeleine	Global	176	2090	57	27	84	–5
31	Buffalo Wild Wings GO	Chicken	154	887	194	25	219	79
32	Hawaiian Bros Island Grill	Global	149	2400	48	24	72	11
33	Bubbakoo's Burritos	Global	124	939	135	10	145	15
34	Luna Grill Mediterranean Kitchen	Global	120	2300	1	54	55	4
35	Pancheros	Global	116	1666	48	25	73	–3
36	Aroma Joe's	Snack	110	925	130	0	130	10
37	The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill	Global	99	1669	74	9	83	15
38	Urban Plates	Global	94	4460	0	22	22	2
39	PJ's Coffee	Snack	81	996	167	13	180	–2
40	Angry Chickz	Chicken	78	2737	2	32	34	6
41	Pokeworks	Global	65	1100	63	6	69	2
42	Smalls Sliders	Burger	63	2050	43	2	45	24
43	The Melt	Burger	59	3400	0	18	18	3
44	Original ChopShop	American	56	2200	0	27	27	4
45	Pulp Juice and Smoothie Bar	Snack	43	660	69	1	70	8
46	Little Greek	Global	43	841	49	2	51	2
47	Gregorys Coffee	Snack	42	854	0	52	52	–1
48	Vitality Bowls	Snack	36	561	68	4	72	1
49	Zaza Cuban Comfort Food	Global	33	3200	1	14	15	10
50	Detroit Wing Co.	Chicken	20	840	18	4	22	–3

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• Sandwich
• Burger
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• Snack
• The Recap
• The Top 50

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 2026.

* Indicates a number estimated by QSR.

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.