TL;DR
The 2026 Top 500 report by Technomic shows that while overall sales growth has decelerated, several top-tier restaurant chains are still achieving double-digit unit and sales expansion. Among the chains ranked No. 51 - No. 100, nine saw at least double-digit sales growth and 34 opened net new units.
Every year, Nation’s Restaurant News provides analysis of Technomic’s annual Top 500 restaurant chains report, which ranks companies by U.S. systemwide sales.
2025 was a mixed bag for the industry. For the second straight year, foodservice inflation outpaced Top 500 sales growth, and it was the fourth consecutive year that sales growth decelerated.
Among the chains ranked No. 51 - No. 100, things were fairly bright. Nine of these 50 chains saw at least double-digit sales growth, and one of those grew by triple digits. Unit growth was similarly positive, with 34 opening net new units. Eight grew that metric by double digits. Only 13 of these chains saw sales dip last year, and none of those losses hit double digits. Only 11 closed net units, with five maintaining their unit counts. Click through the slideshow above to meet the chains ranked No. 51 - No. 100.
In this story
This story was originally published in Nation's Restaurant News on June 30, 2026. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
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