For decades, Florida has served as a proving ground for restaurant brands. If a concept can succeed here, it often has the foundation to expand almost anywhere.
That dynamic hasn’t changed. If anything, that trend has become even more pronounced in recent years.
One of the clearest examples is the resurgence of the burger. From century-old brands entering new markets to fast-growing regional smash burger concepts, restaurant operators are actively looking for space across Florida and competing for prime locations that can give them the best shot at long-term success.
The strategies may vary from brand to brand, but the fundamentals are largely the same: Florida continues to attract new residents, millions of visitors each year and consumers who are still looking for convenient, familiar and affordable dining options.
Florida Offers Scale Few States Can Match
There are two reasons Florida continues to attract restaurant investment.
First, people continue to move here.
Florida, alongside Texas, remains one of the country’s fastest-growing states. Unlike many markets, however, that growth isn’t concentrated in one metropolitan area. From Miami and Orlando, to Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida, offers multiple large, diverse markets allowing brands to establish regional scale without leaving the state.
For restaurant operators, that’s incredibly attractive.
Rather than learning several different markets, brands can build a Florida strategy that reaches millions of consumers across multiple metropolitan areas with similar demographic tailwinds.
At the same time, Florida remains the country’s premier tourism destination according to VISIT Florida, welcoming over 143.3 million visitors in 2025.
Millions of visitors arrive every year already familiar with brands they know and trust. Others discover new concepts while vacationing and become customers long after returning home. That creates an unusually powerful combination of local demand and built-in brand awareness that few other states can replicate.
From Legacy Brands to Local Favorites
The current burger boom taking over the Sunshine State is not a trend fueled by a single type of restaurant.
Legacy brands are still able to expand throughout the country proving that decades of consumer loyalty still matter. White Castle, for example, returned to Florida in 2021 with its Orlando flagship location after years of consumer demand that was fueled, in part, by a grassroots social media campaign asking the company to return to the state.
At the same time, newer concepts are finding their footing by bringing something different to the table, whether that’s a unique take on the burger, a fresh brand identity or a strong connection with customers online. Florida-based Skinny Louie’s is a good example. The local concept has built a loyal following through its food, personality and social media presence, creating a digital momentum that can help support expansion into new markets.
National brands are active, too. Shake Shack, Five Guys and other growing concepts continue to add locations across Florida, creating even more competition for the best sites.
For consumers, that means more choices than ever. But there’s a reason burgers continue to have such staying power: they’re familiar, relatively affordable and appeal to a wide range of customers from children to seniors. In a market where people are paying closer attention to what they spend on dining out, that broad appeal matters.
Real Estate Strategy Is Evolving with the Customer Base
The way restaurant brands think about real estate has changed, too. Today’s prototypes are designed around how people actually shop, dine and move through a market – not exactly how restaurants operated 10 or 20 years ago.
Drive-thrus remain an important part of the equation, but brands are also looking at factors such as visibility, accessibility, efficient layouts and how easily customers can get in and out of a location.
For many operators, freestanding outparcels along major retail corridors are still some of the most highly desirable locations. Sites near highway interchanges, within mixed-use developments or alongside retailers that generate consistent daily traffic can be especially attractive because they put restaurants directly in the path of consumers.
The competition for those sites, however, is only getting stronger. As more restaurant concepts enter Florida and established brands continue to expand, finding the right piece of real estate is increasingly just as important as having the right menu.
Tourism corridors also remain especially appealing because they offer consistent traffic throughout the year rather than relying solely on surrounding residential density.
For legacy brands entering new markets, modern prototypes can help introduce the brand to a new generation of customers while also refreshing perceptions among longtime fans. White Castle’s Florida restaurants, for example, feature a markedly different design than the look many consumers associate with the brand’s older Midwestern and Northeastern locations, reflecting a broader effort to bring a more modern and inviting experience to today’s customers.
Competition for Quality Sites Continues to Intensify
One of the most notable shifts over the past several years has been the competition for existing restaurant real estate.
Rather than waiting for new developments, many operators are targeting second-generation restaurant locations where infrastructure already exists.
As a result, landlords are often backfilling former restaurant spaces quickly – sometimes at higher rental rates than the previous tenant was paying.
We’re also seeing increased activity around freestanding buildings and triple-net opportunities, particularly in high-growth suburban markets where traffic counts continue climbing.
According to JLL’s latest Retail Market Dynamics report, Orlando, Tampa and Miami all rank among the nation’s top 20 markets for retail rent growth, underscoring the continued demand for well-located restaurant space despite new supply coming online.
Looking Ahead
Florida’s burger boom doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.
The state continues to add residents, tourism remains a major driver of traffic, and landlords are recognizing the value that strong restaurant brands can bring to retail centers and mixed-use developments. That combination creates a lot of opportunity for both established operators and newer concepts.
Consumers are also embracing both sides of the market, from iconic national brands that bring a sense of nostalgia to local concepts that have built passionate followings in their communities. There’s room for both, as long as the brand understands what its customers want.
Ultimately, the brands that succeed in Florida won’t necessarily be the ones that open the most restaurants the fastest. They’ll be the ones that take the time to understand their customers, remain disciplined about where they open and recognize that identifying and securing the right piece of real estate can be a competitive advantage for years to come.
Brandon McCall is the Vice President of JLL.
