The 15 biggest chain restaurants in the US, ranked

• Technomic data analyzed by Nation's Restaurant News ranks the top 15 US chain restaurants.
• Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, and Applebee's lead in casual-dining chain restaurants.
• Waffle House has the most restaurants on this ranking with 1,985 locations.

While fast-food and fast-casual chains dominate the industry , many casual-dining and family-style chain restaurants are also thriving.

This year, there have been challenges — Red Lobster's recent bankruptcy filing sent shockwaves through the industry — and opportunities for chain restaurants, which are now competing with fast-food chains for value-driven customers.

From Olive Garden to Denny's, you've likely visited at least one of these chains in the past year. But which chains are faring better than others?

The research firm Technomic recently identified the top 500 biggest chain restaurants in the US. The report, which Technomic said is based on "decades of historical data," analyzes trends in the food service industry and includes each chain's annual sales and unit counts for 2023, which were also reported by Nation's Restaurant News.

We looked at the top 15 chains listed as casual dining, midscale, or family-style for this list. Fast-casual or quick-service restaurants like Chipotle and McDonald's are not included. We also listed the year the company was founded, its 2023 sales, and restaurant count, per Technomic's report.

Here are the biggest chain restaurants in the US.

15. Waffle House

Year founded: 1955

Sales (2023): $1.4 billion

Restaurant count (2023): 1,985

14. Red Robin

Year founded: 1969

Sales: $1.6 billion

Restaurant count: 506

13. Golden Corral

Year founded: 1973

Sales: $1.6 billion

Restaurant count: 357

12. Red Lobster

Year founded: 1968

Sales: $2.2 billion

Restaurant count: 649

11. The Cheesecake Factory

Year founded: 1978

Sales: $2.6 billion

Restaurant count: 216

10. Cracker Barrel

Year founded: 1969

Sales: $2.7 billion

Restaurant count: 662

9. Denny's

Year founded: 1953

Sales: $2.7 billion

Restaurant count: 1,407

8. Longhorn Steakhouse

Year founded: 1981

Sales: $2.8 billion

Restaurant count: 580

7. Outback Steakhouse

Year founded: 1988

Sales: $2.8 billion

Restaurant count: 688

6. IHOP

Year founded: 1958

Sales: $3.4 billion

Restaurant count: 1,696

5. Buffalo Wild Wings

Year founded: 1982

Sales: $4 billion

Restaurant count: 1,264

4. Chili's Grill & Bar

Year founded: 1975

Sales: $4 billion

Restaurant count: 1,230

3. Applebee's

Year founded: 1980

Sales: $4.4 billion

Restaurant count: 1,536

2. Texas Roadhouse

Year founded: 1993

Sales: $4.8 billion

Restaurant count: 638

1. Olive Garden

Year founded: 1982

Sales: $5.1 billion

Restaurant count: 908

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