[custom_adv] The Top 500 highest-grossing restaurant chains recorded their best overall performance in five years in 2019. Chicken had a moment, tech made another leap and the biggest chains got bigger. This annual report, in partnership with Technomic, highlights the data, trends and brands that defined the year. [custom_adv] The Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report is a measure of the largest restaurant concepts by U.S. systemwide sales, based on results from the 2019 calendar year. Relevant information is accrued using a combination of public company financial filings, direct operator surveying, franchise disclosure documents and proprietary valuation algorithms. Technomic Inc. [custom_adv] believes that its sources of information are reliable but does not assume any liability for the accuracy or comprehensiveness of the information published. While 2016 was a rough year for chain restaurants, more than half of the industry’s $521.9 billion still comes from the Top 500 chains—and nearly 94% of those dollars and 93% of those units are represented in the Top 250. [custom_adv] Whether it's indulging in a Bloomin' Onion from Outback Steakhouse or digging into a basket of Olive Garden's unlimited breadsticks, Americans love chain restaurants. [custom_adv] Business Insider teamed up with Restaurant Business, a food-service industry expert and media outlet, to compile a definitive ranking of the best chain restaurants in America. [custom_adv] Using proprietary data collected by Restaurant Business and its sister research firm Technomic, we looked at 45 of the largest US chains and rated them on three criteria that we considered the most telling for all-around excellence: financial performance, customer satisfaction, and overall value. [custom_adv] Our calculations accounted for sales growth, average sales at each location, consumer-sentiment ratings, and the average cost of a meal, among other metrics. (For more on how we came up with this ranking, check out our list of the best fast-food chains in America, which uses a similar methodology.)
