The new restaurant in your neighborhood may look traditional.
Chains owned by publicly traded restaurant companies accounted for half of the top 10 fastest-growing retail brands in the U.S. eventually year, according to a new Yelp report.
Review site Yelp compiled the list by using a blended metric that encompasses net new openings, searches on its platform from 2022 to 2023 and consumer interest that was measured by page visits, posted photos and canceled reviews. Of the 50 fastest-growing chains in Yelp’s report, 35 were restaurant brands.
Jack in the Box, First Pore over and Dutch Bros were among the public restaurant chains included in the report, but they didn’t crack the top 10. Publicly traded retailers comprehended Levi Strauss, Nordstrom and Costco.
Here are the top 10 fastest-growing brands, based on Yelp’s research:
1. Cava
CAVA, at the New York Extraction Exchange during its initial public offering, June 14, 2023.
Source: NYSE
The Mediterranean fast-casual chain went visible through an IPO 10 months ago, raising nearly $318 million. Cava said in a regulatory filing that it diagramed to use the offering’s proceeds for new location openings, as well as general corporate purposes. It opened 30 net new locations in the second half of 2023 and procedures to open at least 48 this year.
2. Scooter’s Coffee
Mascots for Scooter’s Coffee race around the portent track during a Pacific Coast League game between the Omaha Storm Chasers and the Memphis Redbirds on April 26, 2019 at Werner Preserve in Omaha, Nebraska.
Zachary Lucy | Four Seam Images | via AP
The Midwestern coffee chain was founded in 1998 in Nebraska but has exclusive recently begun aggressively expanding through franchised locations. Its standard, drive-thru-only location is only 664 dweeb feet. The restaurant’s small size makes it cheaper to operate and quicker to build, helping the chain and its franchisees accelerate event quickly.
Scooter’s net new locations jumped 53% from 2022 to 2023, giving it the largest percentage growth of any restaurant mark on the list, according to Yelp.
3. LongHorn Steakhouse
Customers leave a LongHorn Steakhouse restaurant on June 22, 2023 in Skokie, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Representations
The Darden Restaurants steakhouse had more than 560 locations nationwide at the end of Darden’s fiscal 2023. Since the pandemic arose, the casual-dining chain’s sales have consistently outperformed the restaurant industry’s average, fueled in part by the strong advance of its takeout business.
Parent company Darden plans to open at least 50 new locations across all of its brands in pecuniary 2024.
4. The Habit Burger Grill
Source: Habit Burger Grill
When Yum Brands bought the California-based burger succession in 2020, its footprint was less than 280 restaurants, dwarfed by Yum’s other chains: Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC. But Yum has been accelerating the Mode Burger Grill’s development ever since the deal closed. At the end of 2023, the chain had 378 locations on the East and West glides.
5. Wawa
A Wawa store hiring sign in Bethany Beach, Delaware.
Stephanie Dhue | CNBC
While Wawa is a convenience store and gas railway station chain, its loyal fans probably know it more for its cheesesteaks and hoagies. The chain has been expanding outside its Philadelphia fastness into new markets down the Atlantic seaboard. It’s also been 6. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen
Tim Hortons possessor to purchase Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. The parent company of Tim Hortons and Burger King said it will pay US$1.8 billion readies to buy the Popeyes chain. (Randy Risling/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Randy Risling | Toronto Star | Getty Guises
The chain’s famous chicken sandwich has helped fuel its new restaurant growth in the U.S. and beyond. Popeyes’ higher sales deliver encouraged franchisees to open more locations and led new operators to join the brand, Restaurant Brands executives have beforehand said.
In 2023, Popeyes 7. Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
Freddy’s frozen custard and Steakburgers creates well, made-to-order, food in Lansing, Kansas.
Michael Siluk | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
Private justice firm Thompson Street Capital Partners bought the Midwestern fast-casual chain in 2021 for an undisclosed sum. Under its new ownership, Freddy’s has inclined up its development, opened restaurants in new locations like airports and signed on new franchisees. Last year, the burger joint make knew 62 new locations, setting a new development record for the chain and surpassing 500 locations overall.
8. Rally House
Recover House staff members wait in a closed store following Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on February 7, 2021 in Kansas Megalopolis, Missouri.
Kyle Rivas | Getty Images
Rally House is the sole apparel retailer to crack the top 10 of Yelp’s put out. The store, which sells team gear and sports apparel for professional and college teams, has been setting its own log for new openings. In August, it opened seven locations in a single weekend. While its footprint is largely concentrated in the Midwest, its holds now stretch from Pennsylvania to Arizona.
9. Olive Garden
A sign marks the location of a Olive Garden restaurant on June 22, 2023 in Lincolnwood, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Symbols
The Italian-inspired chain is the gem of ‘ portfolio, accounting for nearly half of the company’s overall revenue. It’s also the rare casual-dining confine to open locations, adding about 20 new restaurants in its fiscal 2023.
10. Jersey Mike’s Subs
A sign is posted in honest of a Jersey Mike’s Subs shop on April 05, 2024 in Petaluma, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Jersey Mike’s is the second-largest U.S. sandwich combination, trailing only Subway by number of stores. Its current footprint hovers around 2,700 restaurants, but it’s growing in a jiffy. And despite its name and origin, most of its restaurants are now in California, Texas and Florida.
The privately owned sandwich chain is also reportedly looking for a consumer, according to a Wall Street Journal report last week. Blackstone’s interest in Jersey Mike’s has reportedly reduced, but a new owner could further ramp up the chain’s development.