Jersey Mike’s Subs was the fastest growing chain in the Limited-Service segment.

This year’s lineup of the 10 fastest-growing restaurant chains in the Top 100 was dominated by Limited-Service brands, with Jersey Mike’s Subs taking the lead with a 21.2-percent increase in domestic sales growth.

Four more of the top 10 sales growth chains were LSR concepts, including Chipotle Mexican Grill at No. 4 with a sales increase of 17.3 percent, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches at No. 6 with 16.1-percent sales growth, pasta-focused Noodles & Company at No. 7 with 15.1-percent sales growth and Firehouse Subs at No. 8 with an increase of 14.8 percent.

Missing once again from this year’s ranking, however, was a traditional quick-service chain.

“It’s a changing of the guard,” said Larry Miller, founder and chief executive of the monthly MillerPulse report that tracks industry sales metrics across segments.

Data

• Top 100 Rankings and Results

“[The top LSR performers] are the contemporary versions of the concepts they are replacing,” he said. “As a result, their unit economics are vastly superior, justifying their faster unit growth rates.”

McDonald’s remains the nation’s largest restaurant chain, with systemwide U.S. sales of $35.9 billion and 14,278 locations in the Latest Year. However, the chain’s sales grew by a more modest 0.7 percent.

Among players within the LSR/Burger category specifically, Burger King held onto its No. 2 system sales position, with estimated domestic sales of $8.5 billion in the Latest Year, down 1 percent over the Preceding Year, and 7,155 domestic locations, a decline of 0.4 percent.

Wendy’s continued to nip at Burger King’s heels, with estimated U.S. sales of $8.4 billion in the Latest Year, up 1.4 percent, and 5,791 U.S. locations, a decline of 0.5 percent.

That pecking order may soon change.

Wendy’s is doubling the pace of its reimaging program in 2014 to reach at least 410 restaurants, compared with 200 last year. The Dublin, Ohio-based chain also expects to build 15 company-owned and 45 franchised units with the new design, which has contributed to same-store sales increases. Wendy’s estimated sales per unit, or ESPU, of $1.4 million in the Latest Year were up 2.1 percent.

On the other hand, Miami-based Burger King, which is also remodeling, saw ESPU of $1.2 million, down 0.6 percent in the Latest Year — though Wall Street analysts have said they are encouraged by more recent improvements in domestic trends and the brand’s potential for growth in emerging international markets.

“I believe the Burger King/Wendy’s gap will continue to narrow,” said John Gordon, a principal at Pacific Management Consulting Group in San Diego. “The QSR burger space is generally seeing little organic growth of the big three operators’ sales, other than price increases.”

Culver’s led the LSR/Burger pack in terms of sales growth. The chain recorded sales of $905.6 million in the Latest Year, an 8- percent increase over the Preceding Year. Culver’s also grew its unit count by 4.9 percent, ending the year with 495 U.S. locations.

The LSR/Sandwich category was again dominated by Subway, which had $12.2 billion in systemwide U.S. sales in the Latest Year, up 0.8 percent from the Preceding Year. Subway’s ESPU, however, declined 2.3 percent in the Latest Year, though its unit count grew by 3.1 percent to 26,334 U.S. locations.

Firehouse was No. 1 in unit-count growth. The mostly franchised chain ended the year with 712 U.S. locations, up more than 25 percent from the Preceding Year. That growth rate may have hurt Firehouse’s ESPU, however, which dipped 6.3 percent year-over-year, sliding in that ranking from the No. 1 slot last year to No. 8 within the LSR/Sandwich category.

Taco Bell remained the No. 1 LSR/Mexican chain by systemwide sales, with $7.8 billion in the Latest Year, up 4 percent over the Preceding Year, and 5,769 U.S. locations, a 1.3-percent increase.

The Irvine, Calif.-based chain has pledged to double its sales in the next decade to $14 billion and add another 2,000 units.

Wall Street analysts were also bullish on Taco Bell’s recent rollout of breakfast. Andy Barish of Jefferies Equity Research estimated the chain was capturing about 22 percent of the QSR morning meal market just weeks after the March rollout nationwide.

Chipotle maintained its distant No. 2 slot in the LSR/Mexican category with $3.2 billion in sales, a 17.3-percent increase, and 1,572 U.S. units, up 12.5 percent.

By the numbers

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Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout