These Are The Fastest-Growing Chain Restaurants In 2025 - Tasting Table

"The American restaurant scene is shifting faster than you can pull up into a drive-thru. While legacy chains like McDonald's (founded in 1940), Chick-fil-A (founded in 1946), and Starbucks (founded in 1971) continue to dominate the market, ambitious restaurant chains are racing to claim real estate across the country. From celebrity-backed hot chicken joints and Southern comfort food shops to Korean barbecue restaurants and submarine sandwich stores, 2025 is shaping up to be a banner year for rapid expansion in the fast-food industry."

"But what's driving this growth? A perfect soup of factors. Private equity firms are buying up chains that have mastered the franchise model. Pandemic-era shifts in dining habits have created opportunities for brands to refine takeout, delivery, and drive-thru services. And consumers, heavily influenced by social media and always hungry for the next big thing, are embracing both nostalgic comfort food and bold new flavors."

"The chains expanding fastest aren't the popular ones you'd most expect. Sure, there are chicken shops galore - and you might be familiar with a few of these - but you'll also find coffee shops leaving tiny but impactful footprints in the market, sub makers going international, and Asian specialists carving their own path. Here are ten chains that are growing the fastest and why you should keep an eye out for them."

Legacy brands such as McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, and Starbucks still hold dominant market positions while newer chains aggressively pursue national real estate. Expansion covers a wide range of concepts, from celebrity-backed hot chicken and Southern comfort to Korean barbecue, submarine sandwiches, and compact coffee shops. Growth is propelled by private equity acquisitions, pandemic-driven improvements to takeout, delivery, and drive-thru operations, and social-media-fueled consumer appetites for nostalgic and novel flavors. Several brands are opening dozens of locations monthly and planning hundreds more. Dave's Hot Chicken scaled from an East Hollywood parking-lot start to nearly 1,000 locations in development and is pursuing global expansion.

Read at Tasting Table