Meet the 2026 Top 500: The biggest restaurant chains in America
For the second straight year, foodservice inflation outpaced Top 500 sales growth.
June 16, 2026
This year’s Technomic Top 500 offers a mixed bag of results for the restaurant industry.
Let’s start with the bad news: This year’s data, which covers 2025 performance, reveals that for the second straight year, foodservice inflation (3.8%) outpaced Top 500 sales growth (3%), while last year was the fourth consecutive year that sales growth decelerated. Anyone looking for a turnaround after years of economic struggles were sorely disappointed.
Dependable stalwarts like burger, pizza, and sandwich chains struggled to keep pace with the rest of the industry. The burger segment grew its sales only by 1.5% last year, while sandwich managed only 0.2% growth and pizza sales actually went backward, falling by 0.3%. Major players like Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, and Papa Johns saw their sales drop perilously, while titans like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Domino’s grew only modestly.
Sales across the Top 500 restaurant chains totaled $451 billion — $13 billion more than the prior year — but that growth is mostly confined to a handful of menu categories and brands.
And that’s where we can find some good news.
The beverage/snack, chicken, and coffee/café categories accounted for a combined 83% of the more than 3,400 new unit openings in 2025 and overall sales growth of 5.9%, 5.3%, and 6.1%, respectively. And on the full-service side of the industry, the three biggest chains — Texas Roadhouse, Chili’s, and Olive Garden — represented $1.7 billion of the $2 billion in growth that full service enjoyed last year.
Glimmers of hope could also be arriving from overseas. Global flavors are on the rise, with the Asian/noodle category enjoying the best sales growth, 7.8%, of any quick-service sector, while Mediterranean inspired chains CAVA, Taziki’s, and Nick the Greek all registered double-digit sales growth. And international brands are some of the biggest chart climbers this year, from Paris Baguette and Tous les Jours to Jollibee and Bb.q Chicken.
The Technomic Top 500 report, presented by Nation’s Restaurant News in partnership with Technomic, offers unrivaled insights into performance across the biggest restaurant chains in America. The sales and unit data in this report provide a powerful tool for restaurant leaders and decision makers as they benchmark their success and guide their businesses into the future.
For complete access to the Top 500 courtesy of Technomic's Ignite Company data, click here.
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The Technomic Top 500: Another tough year for chain restaurants
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