Ever since Popeyes and Chick-fil-A squared off on social in the summer of 2019, chicken (and particularly chicken sandwiches) have turned into one of fast-food’s most crowded battlegrounds. Eight of the nine brands in this year’s rankings posted positive net growth last year, with three—Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, and Wingstop—all hitting triple-digits.
What’s more intriguing perhaps, however, is there’s a visible logjam in the middle. Raising Cane’s, Wingstop, and Zaxby’s, closed 2021 within $150 million of each other. Meanwhile, Chick-fil-A continues to roll. There are seven restaurant brands in America in the $10 billion-and-above club—Burger King, Dunkin’, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, and McDonald’s. But every chain listed there, sans Chick-fil-A, boasts well over 5,000 locations (Wendy’s had 5,938 last year, while the others were at 7,000 units and higher). Chick-fil-A hasn’t reached 3,000 stores yet. Its $6.1 million average-unit volumes fronted the top-50 grossing chains in America by a good distance; Raising Cane’s was next at $4.9 million. And it was even higher at standalone Chick-fil-A drive-thrus—north of $8 million.
Here’s a look at how the top chicken chains measured up in this year’s QSR 50.
CHECK OUT LAST YEAR’S CHICKEN RANKINGS
READ THE FULL QSR 50 DATA
SEE HOW THE BURGER GIANTS STACKED UP
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Note: If viewing on desktop, click the arrow in the photo to see the next page. All figures are U.S. year-end 2021. * Indicates figure estimated by QSR.
Image credits:Chick-fil-A
