Boston Market

Founded in 1985 in Newton, Mass., when the chain was called Boston Chicken, Boston Market breathed new life into the chicken segment — and helped introduce the industry to the term “home-meal replacement.” During its relatively brief history, the roast chicken chain went public, filed for Chapter 11, was taken private by McDonald’s and eventually sold to Sun Capital Partners Inc. Today, the Golden, Colo.-based company posted U.S. sales of $532.2 million for the year ended Dec. 2011. The chain had 481 at the end of the year.