Top 100 Food Chains to Try

1.Eat at Subway

The most ubiquitous restaurant chain in America, with nearly 18,800 US shops assembling made-to-order subs on bread baked in the store each morning.

2.Grab coffee at Starbucks

The Seattle company that made espresso drinks an American default, with 16,864 US stores and the Pike Place original still pouring.

3.Eat at McDonald's

The Golden Arches industrialized the hamburger with the 1948 Speedee Service System, and still run roughly 13,700 US restaurants — more than any rival.

4.Grab coffee at Dunkin'

New England's coffee habit turned national institution — 10,000 US stores as of 2025, built on iced coffee, Munchkins, and a name that dropped "Donuts" in 2019.

5.Eat at Taco Bell

America's largest Mexican-inspired chain at more than 8,000 restaurants, and the industry's most relentless menu experimenter since the Doritos Locos Taco.

6.Eat at Domino's

America's largest pizza chain by store count, with 7,186 US shops built around 30-minute delivery and a famously self-critical 2009 recipe overhaul.

7.Eat at Burger King

Home of the flame-grilled Whopper and the have-it-your-way custom order, the second-largest US burger chain at about 6,600 restaurants.

8.Eat at Pizza Hut

The pan-pizza chain that put Book It! stickers on a generation of report cards, still roughly 6,300 US restaurants strong despite recent closures.

9.Eat at Wendy's

Square never-frozen beef patties, the chocolate Frosty, and a famously sharp-tongued social media voice, spread across 5,969 US restaurants.

10.Eat at Little Caesars

Detroit's $5 Hot-N-Ready pioneer, where pizzas wait under the warmer instead of being ordered ahead, across 4,374 fast-growing domestic stores.

11.Grab a treat at Dairy Queen

The original soft-serve chain, with roughly 4,100 US restaurants and the Blizzard, a candy-blended cup handed over upside down to prove its thickness.

12.Eat at Chipotle Mexican Grill

The chain that made the assembly-line burrito a national default, running a deliberately short ingredient list with no freezers or microwaves in its kitchens.

13.Eat at KFC

Colonel Sanders's pressure-fried Original Recipe and its guarded eleven herbs and spices, still sold at roughly 3,800 US locations despite a shrinking domestic footprint.

14.Eat at Papa John's

The Louisville chain that made a garlic-butter dipping cup part of the pizza ritual, with about 3,500 restaurants across North America.

15.Eat at Chick-fil-A

A pressure-fried chicken sandwich on a buttered bun that outsells every fast-food rival per store, from roughly 3,400 locations that all close Sundays.

16.Eat at Arby's

Roast beef sliced in-house, curly fries, and Horsey Sauce at some 3,265 locations — the rare fast-food chain not built on a ground-beef patty.

17.Eat at Jersey Mike's Subs

New Jersey shore original where subs are sliced to order at the counter and finished Mike's Way with onions, lettuce, oil and red wine vinegar.

18.Eat at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

New Orleans-style fried chicken, red beans, and buttermilk biscuits from about 3,200 US kitchens; its 2019 sandwich launch touched off the chicken-sandwich wars.

19.Eat at Sonic Drive-In

Carhops on roller skates deliver to numbered parking stalls at about 3,100 US drive-ins, an Oklahoma chain famous for tater tots and cherry limeades.

20.Eat at Jimmy John's

Illinois-born sandwich shop built on Freaky Fast delivery, bread baked every morning, and a deliberately short menu of cold subs and club sandwiches.

21.Eat at Wingstop

America's fastest-growing restaurant chain in 2025, cooking wings to order and tossing them in a dozen-plus flavors from lemon pepper to atomic.

22.Grab a treat at Baskin-Robbins

The 1945 chain that invented the 31-flavor promise and has since created more than 1,400 flavors, including Pralines 'n Cream and Jamoca Almond Fudge.

23.Eat at Panda Express

America's largest Asian-segment restaurant chain, built on the orange chicken a company chef devised in 1987 and a mall-food-court steam line.

24.Eat at Panera Bread

Grown out of a St. Louis bread bakery, its sourdough bread bowls, seasonal soups and open Wi-Fi turned the suburban cafe into a workspace.

25.Eat at Jack in the Box

A late-night western staple whose all-day menu mixes burgers, curly fries, and cheap tacos across roughly 2,100 restaurants, nearly half of them in California.

26.Eat at Waffle House

A 24-hour Southern institution with 2,021 restaurants in 25 states, its own hash-brown vocabulary, and a disaster index FEMA actually uses.

27.Grab a smoothie at Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Florida-born smoothie chain that splits sales evenly between real-fruit blends like the Detox Island Green and a full wrap-and-flatbread kitchen.

28.Eat at IHOP

America's largest full-service breakfast chain since 1958, defined by buttermilk pancakes, a four-flavor syrup caddy on every table and 24-hour dining rooms.

29.Eat at Hardee's

CKE's Southeast and Midwest counterpart to Carl's Jr., built on charbroiled Thickburgers and Made From Scratch Biscuits across roughly 1,565 US restaurants.

30.Eat at Five Guys

Made-to-order burgers with unlimited free toppings, free boiled peanuts in the lobby, and fries scooped well past the cup line at 1,500-plus shops.

31.Eat at Applebee's

The neighborhood grill-and-bar template that 1,472 US restaurants still run on — riblets, $1 Dollaritas, and the Oreo shake a country hit made famous.

32.Grab a treat at Cinnabon

A single-product bakery built on Indonesian Makara cinnamon and warm cream cheese frosting, now at about 1,338 US stores after a 30 percent growth year.

33.Eat at Denny's

America's all-night diner, roughly 1,300 US restaurants strong, where the Grand Slam breakfast has been served around the clock since 1977.

34.Eat at Firehouse Subs

Started by two Jacksonville firefighter brothers; meats and cheeses are steamed hot, and a portion of every sub funds first-responder equipment grants.

35.Eat at Chili's

America's largest Tex-Mex casual chain and casual dining's biggest comeback story, home of skillet fajitas, baby back ribs and the viral Triple Dipper.

36.Eat at Marco's Pizza

Founded by an Italian immigrant in Ohio, Marco's tops its pies with a three-cheese blend and has grown past 1,200 US stores.

37.Eat at Buffalo Wild Wings

The largest sports bar chain in America, roughly 1,178 restaurants deep, defined by bone-in wings, a 20-sauce board and wall-to-wall game screens.

38.Grab coffee at Dutch Bros Coffee

Oregon drive-thru chain built by two dairy-farming brothers, now 1,136 stands known for Blue Rebel energy drinks and famously loud broista service.

39.Eat at Whataburger

A Texas institution since 1950, marked by orange-and-white A-frames, numbered table tents, overnight hours and a five-inch burger built to order.

40.Eat at Culver's

Wisconsin family chain serving butter-toasted ButterBurgers, fresh frozen custard with a rotating Flavor of the Day, and deep-fried Wisconsin cheese curds.

41.Eat at Carl's Jr.

The West Coast's charbroiled-burger chain, grown from a 1941 Los Angeles hot dog cart to more than 1,000 US restaurants and home of the Western Bacon Cheeseburger.

42.Eat at Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers

Baton Rouge chicken-finger specialist with essentially one meal on the menu: fingers, crinkle fries, Texas toast, coleslaw and the secret Cane's Sauce.

43.Eat at Zaxby's

Georgia-born chicken-finger chain known for Zalads, Texas toast and a sauce range running from tangy Zax Sauce to eye-watering Nuclear.

44.Grab a treat at Cold Stone Creamery

The Arizona chain that folds mix-ins into 14-percent-butterfat ice cream on a frozen granite slab, then sings when you tip.

45.Eat at Olive Garden

America's largest Italian chain at 949 restaurants, where unlimited garden salad and warm garlic breadsticks are the entire point before the entree arrives.

46.Eat at Church's Texas Chicken

Opened across from the Alamo in 1952, this San Antonio fried-chicken chain is defined by its jalapenos and its honey-butter biscuits.

47.Eat at Bojangles

Charlotte's Cajun-seasoned fried chicken chain, where buttermilk biscuits are rolled by hand throughout the day and the Bo-Berry biscuit arrives glazed like dessert.

48.Eat at Qdoba Mexican Eats

A Denver-born burrito line that folded queso and guacamole into the base price in 2014, pricing an order purely by the protein chosen.

49.Eat at Checkers

Roughly 734 dining-room-free double drive-thrus known for heavily seasoned fries and the Big Buford, operating as Checkers in the East and Rally's in the Midwest and California.

50.Grab a smoothie at Jamba

The chain that turned the fruit smoothie into a fast-food category in 1990, now roughly 727 US stores selling blended drinks, juices and acai bowls.

51.Eat at Outback Steakhouse

The Tampa-invented Australian steakhouse behind the Bloomin' Onion, still 666 US restaurants strong and the definitive American casual steak dinner.

52.Eat at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

Rocking-chair porches, a working gift store and all-day Southern country cooking at 657 highway-exit locations across 43 states, unchanged since 1969.

53.Eat at Texas Roadhouse

America's biggest casual-dining chain by sales since 2025, with in-house butchers hand-cutting every steak, free peanuts on the table and line-dancing servers.

54.Eat at First Watch

The largest daytime-only breakfast-and-brunch chain, 633 restaurants across 32 states, closing at 2:30 p.m. and rewriting its menu five times a year.

55.Eat at LongHorn Steakhouse

Darden's 608-restaurant casual steakhouse, born in Atlanta in 1981, where hand-cut steaks like Flo's Filet and the bone-in Outlaw Ribeye come off an open grill.

56.Eat at Moe's Southwest Grill

The Atlanta-founded burrito chain that shouts "Welcome to Moe's!" at every entrance and sends the Homewrecker out with free chips and salsa.

57.Grab a treat at Rita's Italian Ice

Philadelphia water ice turned into a national franchise, layering Italian ice with frozen custard and giving a million cups away free every first day of spring.

58.Eat at Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Named for a World War II veteran, this Wichita chain griddles thin steakburgers with lacy crisp edges and finishes with real frozen custard.

59.Eat at Del Taco

California drive-thru chain that grills carne asada over open flame and makes guacamole in house, pairing Mexican-style tacos and burritos with crinkle-cut fries.

60.Eat at McAlister's Deli

A Mississippi-born sandwich-and-spud deli famous for its sweet tea by the gallon, now 550-plus restaurants across the South and Midwest.

61.Eat at Jet's Pizza

Michigan's square Detroit-style deep dish with caramelized cheese edges and trademarked eight-corner pies, served at 474 stores clustered around the Midwest.

62.Eat at Red Robin

A 1940 Seattle tavern grown into a burger chain of about 475 restaurants, built on tall garnished burgers and unlimited Bottomless Steak Fries.

63.Eat at Shake Shack

Grew from one Madison Square Park hot dog cart into 450-plus American Shacks serving griddled smash burgers, crinkle-cut fries, and frozen custard concretes.

64.Eat at MOD Pizza

Seattle-born individually sized pizzas with unlimited toppings at one flat price, from a chain known for hiring people facing barriers to employment.

65.Eat at In-N-Out Burger

A West Coast cult with a four-item menu, an off-menu Animal Style order, and only 437 locations across ten states.

66.Eat at Noodles & Company

Wisconsin mac and cheese, Pad Thai and Penne Rosa share one menu here - a rare chain organized around noodle dishes from several cuisines at once.

67.Eat at Bob Evans

Ohio's farmhouse-breakfast institution, grown from a 1948 sausage business into roughly 420 company-owned restaurants across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic.

68.Eat at Steak 'n Shake

The 1934 Illinois original that invented the Steakburger, still hand-dipping milkshakes and now frying every fry in 100 percent beef tallow across roughly 404 restaurants.

69.Eat at Round Table Pizza

A West Coast institution since 1959, known for the King Arthur combination pizza and Camelot-themed dining rooms across roughly 390 franchised stores.

70.Eat at Cook Out

Greensboro-born drive-thru whose tray combo pairs a sandwich with two sides and a shake, drawn from more than forty flavors, usually well past midnight.

71.Eat at Golden Corral

The country's largest grill-buffet chain, running since 1973 on 150-plus items, grilled-to-order steak, endless yeast rolls and the Chocolate Wonderfall.

72.Grab a treat at Krispy Kreme

The Winston-Salem doughnut institution founded in 1937, where a lit Hot Light in the window means Original Glazed are coming off the line right now.

73.Eat at White Castle

The 1921 Wichita original credited with inventing the fast-food hamburger, still selling square steam-grilled sliders by the sackful from company-owned locations.

74.Eat at Braum's Ice Cream & Dairy Store

A vertically integrated Oklahoma dairy where every store sits within 330 miles of the family farm and doubles as a small grocery market.

75.Eat at Sweetgreen

Started by three Georgetown seniors in 2007, it turned the made-to-order salad and warm grain bowl into a 281-restaurant, digital-first operation.

76.Eat at Cicis Pizza

One of the last national all-you-can-eat pizza buffets, home of macaroni-and-cheese pizza and cinnamon rolls, rebuilt after a 2021 bankruptcy.

77.Eat at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery

An Upper-Midwest family-diner staple since 1958, roughly 265 locations, where the in-store bakery and its Mammoth Muffins sit right by the exit.

78.Eat at Blaze Pizza

Fast-casual pizza built assembly-line style and fired in under three minutes, a LeBron James-backed chain now down to about 250 locations.

79.Grab a treat at Marble Slab Creamery

The 1983 Houston original of the frozen-stone mix-in shop, churning superpremium ice cream in-store and serving it in waffle cones baked that day.

80.Eat at Jason's Deli

A Beaumont, Texas deli chain since 1976, remembered for an unusually generous salad bar, a New Orleans-style muffuletta, and free soft-serve on the way out.