Every year, Nation’s Restaurant News partners with Datassential to present the Top 500 restaurants in America based on domestic systemwide sales, then breaks down all the data. This week, we’re looking at the 10 restaurant chains that had the highest net unit growth in 2022.
Nine brands on this list added at least 100 locations last year, so unsurprisingly, they are mainly giant restaurant companies that can easily triple-digit units in a year. But still, there are emerging chains peppered throughout as well, including one that began 2022 with just 400 restaurants total.
Half of this list is the same as last year’s, representing brands that have been on a long-term growth tear. While most of those five that fell off still opened a number of units last year, Starbucks actually saw a net loss of 54.
Every chain on this list is limited service — three each from the chicken and coffee segments — and they all saw sales growth in addition to their unit growth. The No. 1 chain on this list more than doubled its footprint.
Click through to see which 10 restaurant chains added the most net locations in 2022.
Read more:
- Restaurants ranked No. 50 – No. 1
- See the largest restaurant chains in America ranked by sales, units and more
- 12 things to be learned from the 2023 Top 500 report
- How these 9 restaurant chains thrived in 2022
