There is much talk of fast-casual concepts enjoying rapid growth, but only four of the 10 fastest growing chains in terms of sales fit in that category.
The fastest-growing chain was 7 Brew Drive Thru Coffee, a quick-service concept that sold $191 million worth of coffee and other items in 2023, up by more than 267%. That was followed by casual-dining Korean barbecue concept KPOT, which saw sales of $297 million, up by almost 252%.
Other quick-service concepts in the top 10 fastest-growing chains are Salad and Go, HTeaO, and Playa Bowls.
Huckleberry’s Breakfast and Lunch, a family-dining concept, saw a healthy growth of nearly 47%. Top performing fast-casual concepts were Dave’s Hot Chicken, Just Salad, CAVA, and Huey Magoo’s.
On the other end, some of the fastest shrinking restaurants were fast-casual, too. In the “Oh yeah, what happened to them?” category are Fuddruckers and Corner Bakery, which saw sales declines of 21% and 22%, respectively. Au Bon Pain’s sales were down by 36%.
Boston Market’s collapse has been more widely reported on, having closed more than two thirds of its restaurants in 2023 — down to 91 units from 280. It saw sales plummet 57% to $149 million.
Quiznos continued its many-years-long descent, as sales fell by 14%.
Rounding out the list of fastest shrinkers are casual-dining concepts Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Grand Lux Cafe, Joe’s Crab Shack, TGI Fridays, and O’Charley’s.
Recently bankrupt Red Lobster saw sales shrink by just over 8% in 2023, to $2.17 billion.
All data courtesy Technomic Ignite Company data. Looking for more data? Click here to access the complete Technomic Top 500.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
