Wingstop Was the Fastest-Growing Restaurant in America Last Year

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In a preview of August's upcoming QSR 50, it was not Starbucks (as was the lawsuit successful caller years), Chipotle, 7 Brew, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Dutch Bros, oregon immoderate different buzzing edifice marque clocking successful arsenic the fastest-growing successful the U.S.—it was Wingstop, by astir 100 locations.

Despite a 2025 that didn't deficiency for challenges, the marque lifted by 382 stores domestically to scope 2,586 restaurants, 2,529 of which were franchised.

The Top 5 (year-over-year nett home growth, year-end 2025)

• Wingstop: 382

• Chipotle: 294

• 7 Brew: 281

• Jersey Mike's: 238

• Dunkin': 231

When Wingstop declared aft its IPO successful Q2 2015, determination 785 systemwide units divided betwixt 714 home and 52 international.

Wingstop ended fiscal 2025 with 3,056 full units (470 of them international). Systemwide income implicit this close-to-a-decade span person climbed to $5.3 billion.

The marque went from 2,000 to 3,000 restaurants successful conscionable much than 2 years and, erstwhile it opened its 3,000th successful autumn 2025, had debuted astir 800 successful 24 months to scope 47 U.S. states and 15 countries. More than 70 marque partners expanded their Wingstop footprint successful 1 4th that year.

Stretching to 2014—the calendar earlier Wingstop went public—average-unit volumes were a shadiness implicit $1 cardinal astatine $1.073 cardinal done 693 stores. That's hiked to $2 cardinal domestically.

And the wide extremity for the 1994-founded brand, which is astir 98 percent franchised, is to deed 10,000 stores and go a Top 10 planetary chain. In the U.S., it's presently No. 15 by systemwide income ($5.34 billion), looking up astatine Raising Cane's ($5.487 billion), Popeyes ($5.698 billion), Panera ($5.894 billion), Panda Express ($6.472 billion), Subway ($9.2 billion), Domino's ($9.953 billion), Burger King ($11.074 billion), Chipotle ($11.679 billion), Wendys ($11.898 billion), Dunkin' ($13.106 billion), Taco Bell ($17.247 billion), Chick-fil-A ($23.918 billion), Starbucks ($30.250 billion), and McDonald's ($55.061 billion).

Here is simply a look astatine however this each stacked up successful 2024. Wingstop that twelvemonth was the fourth-fastest increasing marque astatine nett 278 units (to note, QSR did not see Krispy Krunchy Chicken successful the latest variation of the QSR 50; by that change, Wingstop would person been third). Starbucks was good up of the tract astatine 589 nett maturation but retracted successful the U.S. by 75 restaurants this past twelvemonth arsenic it continues to retrench.

Wingstop's enlargement of 382 followed lifts of 278 and 205 successful 2024 and 2023, respectively. It has ballooned its home franchised number from 1,678 to 2,529 implicit that span. The company-run fig tallied by 7 successful 2025 to scope 57 and is up from 43 astatine the commencement of 2023.