Me and a friend got into a debate as to which ones are the most profitable throughout the entire U.S.

Neither of us have gone outside the east coast, so we aren't completely sure nationwide, but it's probably pretty similar.

I said:
1) Mcdonald's
2) Taco Bell
3) Wendy's
4) Burger King
5) Chick-fil-A

He said:
1) Mcdonald's
2) Burger King
3) Hardee's (?!?!)
4) Taco Bell
5) Wendy's


What do you guys think? I think its pretty obvious that McDonald's is the most popular/profitable

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 3:44 PM. Reason : .]

12/3/2006 3:43:40 PM

I dont know about top 5 but in the small and I mean small ass town I live in in south Florida they have a McD's, BK, and wendys

12/3/2006 3:45:06 PM

popular does not always mean profitable

12/3/2006 3:45:30 PM

Being that McD's has >90% stake in Chipotle, I say Mc'Ds will take the cake if it already hasnt.

12/3/2006 3:51:27 PM

List Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fast-food_restaurants#United_States

And are we talking a single restaurant, or a corporation which owns several restaurants, or what? And on a guess, you could probably look up each company's profits (for those that are public) on the SEC's website if you were curious/had some time to kill.

12/3/2006 3:53:37 PM

but make sure to normalize the profit number by the amount of locations

12/3/2006 3:54:40 PM

^ bingo.. thats what I was thinking

because you see McDonald's on every exit

12/3/2006 3:55:51 PM

i heard KFC was lighting up China

12/3/2006 4:05:21 PM

burger king and mcdonalds is so gross

12/3/2006 4:09:40 PM

heres a start:

McD's

Quote :

" Financials (In millions of USD) Income Statement Quarterly Annual Annual (Sep '06) (2005) (2004) Total Revenue 5,882.50 20,460.20 19,064.70 Gross Profit 1,916.80 6,324.20 5,961.70 Operating Income 1,303.50 4,021.60 3,540.50 Net Income 843.30 2,602.20 2,278.50 "

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 4:10 PM. Reason : d]

12/3/2006 4:10:12 PM

Quote :

"i heard KFC was lighting up China"

I saw more KFC's than Mcdonalds when I was there.

12/3/2006 4:18:33 PM

every Chinese place ive been has had fried chicken of some sort.

they dig it.

12/3/2006 4:25:08 PM

http://www.qsrmagazine.com/qsr50/2006/charts/qsr50.html

1 McDonald’s
2 Burger King
3 Wendy’s
4 Subway
5 Taco Bell
6 Pizza Hut
7 Starbucks
8 KFC
9 Dunkin’ Donuts
10 Domino’s Pizza
11 Arby’s
12 Sonic Drive-In
13 Jack in the Box
14 Dairy Queen
15 Chick-fil-A


[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 4:56 PM. Reason : .]

12/3/2006 4:55:00 PM

1. McDonalds
2. Yum Brands


328377. everyone else

12/3/2006 4:57:46 PM

what does that chart mean?

sales?

12/3/2006 4:59:00 PM

Figures: http://www.qsrmagazine.com/qsr50/2006/charts/qsr50detail.html

2005 Systemwide Sales ($Mil)
1 McDonald’s $25,643.00
2 Burger King $7,900.00
3 Wendy’s $7,715.00
4 Subway $7,170.00
5 Taco Bell $6,129.00
6 Pizza Hut $5,325.00
7 Starbucks $5,300.00
8 KFC $5,237.00
9 Dunkin’ Donuts $3,853.60
10 Domino’s Pizza $3,316.20
11 Arby’s $3,086.80
12 Sonic Drive-In $3,000.10
13 Jack in the Box $2,630.00
14 Dairy Queen $2,500.00
15 Chick-fil-A $1,975.30

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 5:03 PM. Reason : .]

12/3/2006 5:03:31 PM

^^ is yum the taco bell/kfc/whatever else conglomorate?

you guys are quoting sales totals, and that means bunk in this argument.

its profit, not total sales that matters

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 5:04 PM. Reason : e]

12/3/2006 5:03:44 PM

yeh i think its taco bell/kfc/pizzahut

12/3/2006 5:21:30 PM

according to that chart, Burger King is 2???

wow, I wouldn't have thought they would have been that high.

I think you need to divide those numbers by # of locations and that would show volume to the restaurants (which was sort of what our argument was about). And thats why McDonald's is so high because there are so many.

Or like pilgrim said, lets talk profits.

12/3/2006 5:37:17 PM

fwiw, over here in Prague there are several McDonald's and KFCs (one KFC has a Pizza Hut in it) and there are at least two Subways. That's it for American fast food here... but there is a fucking T.G.I. Friday's here. There is a Wendy's in Budapest...

12/3/2006 6:25:30 PM

Jack in the Box is the shit...we need to get some of those over here

12/3/2006 6:26:53 PM

^^ Here in sweden there are McDonald's and Burger Kings everywhere.

And you will see TGI Fridays in most European countries, eastern and western alike

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 7:08 PM. Reason : o]

12/3/2006 6:53:37 PM

Sligo, Ireland is a small city in extreme northwestern Ireland with no good transport routes to it. They have 2 McDonald's, a Pizza Hut/KFC, and 2 Subways.

I actually think Subway might have just as many stores as McD's, at least in Western nations.

12/3/2006 6:59:21 PM

someone got pwned.

12/3/2006 7:01:58 PM

^^^ Yeah, I know. There isn't one in Slovakia, but Kiev has one... and Mosow has a ton of them. It is just odd to have a TGI Friday's here and be so limited with other "American" food. There are no Burger Kings, Wendy's, Taco Bells, etc here like in other places. I've never been to the TGI Friday's here though, because it seems like such a waste when I can walk down the street from my apartment and get a steak dinner for $3.

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 7:33 PM. Reason : ^]

12/3/2006 7:32:08 PM

Anyone else ever notice that in some small towns, they might not have anything except for a goddamn Dairy Queen?

12/3/2006 7:35:14 PM

i knew chikfila wasnt high on the list. hardly any up north where i used to live.

12/3/2006 7:42:19 PM

I knew KFC and Pizza Hut had to be on that list because I've seen them in the most bumfuck towns of Europe and Japan.

As for Chick-fil-a, they don't really have any outside of the south east.

12/3/2006 7:56:37 PM

Quote :

"1971: The first McDonald's in Germany (Munich) opens in December. It is the first McDonald's to sell alcohol, as it offers beer. Other European countries follow in the early 1970s. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_McDonald%27s

Anyone been to one like this? I have yet to see one.

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 8:58 PM. Reason : .]

12/3/2006 8:58:29 PM

^ You mean to one that sells beer? I try to avoid McDs like the plague but the ones that Ive been to in Europe have all sold beer.

Yeah there is def a TGI Fridays in Kiev, but American guys really should not be caught dead there. Most 'mail order dating services' setup their dates there and most locals know this. Although in Belarus, McDonalds is considered a really hot date spot.

12/3/2006 9:04:42 PM

cookout

12/3/2006 9:26:12 PM

The most successful would be McD's because it has market presence and brand recognition outside of the US that far exceedds the others.

It may not be the most profitable, however.

12/3/2006 9:28:27 PM

papa lou's

12/3/2006 9:32:47 PM

Quote :

"You mean to one that sells beer? I try to avoid McDs like the plague but the ones that Ive been to in Europe have all sold beer. "

I know for certain they don't throughout the Republic of Ireland b/c I would eat there most mornings when I studied there (cheap hotcakes and a banana from the corner store=delicious)...huh.

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 9:44 PM. Reason : .]

12/3/2006 9:43:13 PM