45 Trending Restaurant Businesses [2024]

Updated: July 24th, 2023
Start A Restaurant

If you love cooking and are passionate about entrepreneurship, starting a restaurant can be a fun and lucrative business.

To get started, choose a great location, and hire an excellent support team. You will need a chef to inspect the food and line cooks, waiters, and waitresses to serve the customers. No matter the restaurant type, you need great culinary and business skills to make your dream come true.

If you plan to open a restaurant , gain insight from consumer preferences and focus on serving modern consumers what they need.

Looking for some examples of a restaurant?

Interested in case studies of a successful restaurant? Check out our full list of success stories.

1. Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A is one of the largest American fast food restaurant chains whose specialty is chicken sandwiches, but they also make delicious wraps and nuggets. Its headquarters is in College Park, Georgia. The company operates more than 2,672 restaurants, primarily in the United States with locations in 47 states and the District of Columbia.

Website traffic: 7.34M/month

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2. Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc.

Enjoy all Buffalo Wild Wings® has to offer when you order online or stop by a location near you. Buffalo Wild Wings® is the ultimate place to get together with your friends, watch sports, drink beer, and eat wings.

Where they're located: Buffalo, New York, United States
Website traffic: 4.41M/month

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Learn more about starting a restaurant:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start a restaurant?
-> Pros and cons of a restaurant

Need inspiration?

-> Other restaurant success stories
-> Marketing ideas for a restaurant
-> Restaurant slogans
-> Restaurant names
-> Restaurant Instagram bios
-> Restaurant Instagram captions

Other resources

-> Blog post ideas for a restaurant
-> Restaurant manufacturers
-> Restaurant quotes

4. Chili's

Chili's Grill & Bar is an American casual dining restaurant chain. They offer mouthwatering delicacies like Burgers, Ribs & Steaks, Tacos & Quesadillas, Smokehouse Combos, and more along with chilled beverages & alcohol. The company was founded by Larry Lavine in Texas in 1975 and is currently owned and operated by Brinker International.

Where they're located: Vicuña, Coquimbo Region, Chile
Website traffic: 6.23M/month

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5. Wendy's

Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. They have amazing burgers, croissants, baked goods, and chilled beverages on their menu. The company moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006.

Where they're located: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Website traffic: 8.05M/month

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6. The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 220 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand, 13 under the Grand Lux Cafe brand, and one under the RockSugar Southeast Asian Kitchen brand.

Where they're located: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Website traffic: 2.89M/month

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7. Restaurant Guru

Restaurant Guru is an Indian online portal that helps you find the best restaurants, cafes, and bars around you. You can also list your business on Restaurant Guru to get found by consumers using their website.

Restaurant Guru is a wiki+metasearch for restaurants. They provide ratings by popular agencies (Michelin, Frommer's, Zagat, Zomato, Yelp, Google, Foursquare, Facebook) to help people choose the right restaurant in their city and while traveling.

Website traffic: 8.44M/month

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8. Popeyes

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants known for their fried chicken, founded in 1972 in New Orleans, Louisiana and headquartered in Miami, Florida.

Where they're located: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Website traffic: 4.71M/month

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9. EZLocal

EZlocal is a local search marketing company focused on helping small businesses connect with the people who are actively searching online for products and services in their area. Founded in 2007.

People can list their restaurants and cafes at EZlocal and make their digital presence felt in order to grow and reach more customers.

Where they're located: Aurora, Illinois, USA
Website traffic: 120K/month

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10. QSR Magazine

QSR is the business-to-business magazine for the limited-service restaurant segment, which includes: quick-service (fast food), fast-casual dining, snack shops, and pizza restaurants. For the general public, QSRmagazine.com provides a wealth of information about healthy eating choices, consumer dining preferences, menu options, and upcoming promotions.

Where they're located: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Website traffic: 630K/month

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11. Restaurant Menus Online: Pizza, Chinese, and More

Allmenus.com is the most comprehensive restaurant menu and food delivery guide with over 255,000 menus. View updated menus and order online for fast delivery.

Where they're located: Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Website traffic: 5.14M/month

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12. Menu-Pix

MenuPix.com offers visitors free access to menus and information about nearly every restaurant in the country.

MenuPix.com is one of the leading online menu providers in the US, empowering consumers to find restaurants, menus, reviews & recommendations about the places they're looking to dine.

Website traffic: 8.65M/month

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13. Red Robin

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews, or simply Red Robin, is an American chain of casual dining restaurants founded in September 1969 in Seattle, Washington. In 1979, the first franchised Red Robin restaurant was opened in Yakima, Washington. Red Robin's headquarters are in Greenwood Village, Colorado. They serve an extensive menu comprising of burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, desserts, shakes, and a lot of other delicacies.

Where they're located: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Website traffic: 2.73M/month

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14. Arby's

Arby's is an American fast-food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants system-wide and third in terms of revenue. In October 2017, Food & Wine called Arby's "America's second-largest sandwich chain". Arby's is owned by Inspire Brands, the renamed Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc.

Website traffic: 4.19M/month

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15. Steakhouse

Texas Roadhouse is a Texas-themed American steakhouse chain restaurant that specializes in steaks in a Texan and Southwestern cuisine style, it is a subsidiary of Texas Roadhouse Inc, which is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Other than steaks, they also serve a wide range of starters such buffalo wings, cheese fries, fire pickles, cactus blossom, and much mre.

Website traffic: 3.87M/month

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16. Denny's

Denny's is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,700 restaurants in many countries. Originally opened as a coffee shop under the name Danny's Donuts, Denny's is now known for always being open and serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner around the clock.

Where they're located: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Website traffic: 2.98M/month

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17. Outback Steakhouse

Outback Steakhouse is an Australian-themed American casual dining restaurant chain, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Australia.

Where they're located: Corona, California, United States
Website traffic: 3.12M/month

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18. OpenTable

OpenTable is an online restaurant-reservation service company founded by Sid Gorham, Eric Moe, and Chuck Templeton on 2 July 1998 and is based in San Francisco, California. In 1998, the website began operations offering reservations at a limited selection of restaurants in San Francisco, but now it has its presence in more than 20 locations across the globe.

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19. unknown

P.F. Chang’s offers authentic Chinese food & Asian cuisine in a casual dining atmosphere. Explore our menu, order online, and make reservations.

Website traffic: 780K/month

20. Culver's

Culver’s® is a family-favorite restaurant known for their local ButterBurgers, Fresh Frozen Custard & Wisconsin Cheese Curds. Get to your nearest Culver's location today!

Where they're located: Guarantã do Norte, Mato Grosso, Brazil
Website traffic: 3.44M/month

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21. BJ's Restaurants and Brewhouse

Award-winning craft beer, Southern California Twist on Chicago-style pizza, world-renowned dessert – the Pizookie, and much more.

Where they're located: Henderson, Nevada, USA
Website traffic: 1.27M/month

22. Nation's Restaurant News

Nation's Restaurant News delivers restaurant industry news, data and analysis on menu, marketing, operations and finance trends to foodservice leaders.

Website traffic: 440K/month

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23. Dickey's Barbecue Pit

Home page of Dickey's Barbecue Pit - Order our barbecue trough our online ordering system

Where they're located: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Website traffic: 650K/month

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24. TakeOut » Nobu RestaurantsTakeOut

Website traffic: 290K/month

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25. Ruth's Chris Steak House

Website traffic: 580K/month

26. Yelp Reservations

Yelp Reservations offers restaurants a cost-effective, online reservation management system. Save time, save money, and forget about open tables!

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27. National Restaurant Association

Where they're located: Orlando, Florida, USA
Website traffic: 140K/month

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28. TGI Fridays Restaurant & Bar

Where they're located: Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan
Website traffic: 1.11M/month

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                Restaurant Dive has the latest news in the restaurant industry, covering topics like consumer trends, technology, marketing and branding, operations, mergers & acquisitions, and more.

Website traffic: 150K/month

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30. Maggiano's Little Italy

Maggiano

Where they're located: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Website traffic: 590K/month

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31. Home

Where they're located: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

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32. Menuism

Menus and user reviews for restaurants all over the US and Canada. Rate what you ate in a personal dining guide and read other foodie's journals.

Where they're located: Los Angeles, California, United States
Website traffic: 1.17M/month

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33. Hardee's

Come visit Hardee's and understand why we have Food for Everyone. Between our Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner options, we have your favorites!

Where they're located: Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

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34. The Fork

Where they're located: Saint-Sulpice-les-Champs, New Aquitaine, France
Website traffic: 400K/month

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35. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants

Annually ranking the top 50 best restaurants and bars around the world. The World's 50 Best Restaurants, is owned and run by William Reed Business Media, the same organisation behind The World's 50 Best Bars.

Website traffic: 260K/month

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36. Benihana Welcome

At Benihana, it's not just a meal, it's an experience. Enjoy teppanyaki favorites like Hibachi Steak, Chicken and Shrimp, as well as sushi and sashimi.

Website traffic: 500K/month

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37. Ruby Tuesday

Where they're located: Durham, North Carolina, USA
Website traffic: 460K/month

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38. Home

Website traffic: 180K/month

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39. Ninety Nine Resto and Pub

99 Restaurants. Loved for our hand-breaded Boneless Buffalo Wings, signature Broiled Sirloin Tips and more. Served in a distinctly hearty New England style.

Website traffic: 360K/month

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40. Lazy Dog Restaurants

Where they're located: Oxnard, California, USA

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41. The Melting Pot

The Melting Pot is the original fondue restaurant where guests can enjoy several fondue cooking styles and a variety of unique entrees, salads, and indulgent desserts.

Where they're located: Aurora, Illinois, USA
Website traffic: 320K/month

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42. Shake Shack

How much they make:
Where they're located: New York, NY, USA
Current team size: 3386

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43. Whataburger

Website traffic: 1.64M/month

45. City Winery

Founded by Michael Dorf, City Winery is a unique facility, combining a fully functioning winery with intimate concerts, food & wine classes, private events in a variety of configurations, and fine dining. We have created a compelling mix for our sophisticated clientel of foodies, and active cultural patrons - bringing the wine country experience to the middle of a large city. With locations in New York City and Chicago, we continue to grow and spread our love of good food, wine and company.

Where they're located: Manhattan Community Board 1, New York, USA

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