Merchant Services supplied this really awesome image. While we don’t have any affiliation with MS, they have a lot of cool info on their website about franchising.
It’s very interesting being a frog. I find out a lot of things working in this industry, but one of the most surprising things for me was just how many of my favorite chain restaurants are actually franchise restaurants! And not only that, but it takes a lot of money to open a franchise restaurant. I’ll have to get into that more later, but for right now, I want to spit this list out at you. I feel like you will be scratching your head as you read it, just like I was. So come on Frog-heads. Let’s explore!
And hey, maybe you’re thinking of joining a franchise restaurant. There are a lot of pros and cons to joining a franchise restaurant vs starting up your own restaurant.
So let’s start with the hamburger franchise restaurants:
- Jack in the Box
- McDonald’s
- Hardee’s & Carl’s Jr.
- Sonic
- Checker’s & Rally’s
- Johnny Rockets
- Five Guys
Some of these probably didn’t surprise you, but this frog was amazed at the quality control throughout. You can swing into any McDonalds, order a mcdouble, and get the same sandwich no matter where in the US you are.
Do you like sandwiches? Did you know these popular chain sandwich restaurants are franchises?
- Jimmy Johns
- Subway
- Firehouse Subs
- Jersey Mike’s
- Blimpie Subs
How do Jimmy John’s sandwiches get made so fast and so consistently, no matter where you are?
And who doesn’t go crazy about pizza?
- Pizza Hut
- Papa John’s
- Hungry Howie’s Pizza and Subs
- CiCi’s Pizza
Find out who owns some franchise pizza chain restaurants in our earlier blog!
And I can’t believe how many ice cream/desert restaurants made the list!
- Planet Smoothie
- Menchies
- Cold Stone Dairy Queen
- Baskin Robins
- TCBY and Mrs. Fields
- Smoothie King
- Marble Slab
- Cinnabon
- Auntie Anne’s
- Dunkin’ Donuts
- Krispy Kreme
I don’t care who you are. A donut is a desert because it’s like a delicious breakfast cake. mhmm. So is coffee. Because I said so.
Chicken? Check! I think they’re all franchise restaurants!
- Church’s
- KFC
- Zaxby’s
- Bojangles
- Popeye’s
Seriously. I don’t order chicken from any place not on this list, unless it’s from a supermarket.
And the rest (various other types of restaurant franchises):
- Del Taco
- Taco Bell
- Carmellas Café
- Nathan’s Famous
- Moe’s Southwest Grill
- Captain D’s
The rest? That’s a terrible category for a list, I’m sorry. It makes me think of the first season of Gilligan’s Island where the theme song said, “the movie star, and the rest”. Like the Professor and Mary Ann weren’t important?
Anyway, I was (er…am) still scratching my head. I feel like everything I thought I knew about restaurant franchises – I didn’t. I assumed everyone was like Chipotle (one of the largest non-franchising restaurant chains). But you know what they say about people who assume….
• 2416 Sand Lake Rd, Orlando, FL 32809 • (407) 480 – 3409 •
Filed under: Franchise, Franchising, manager Tagged: franchise, franchising, new restaurant equipment, one fat frog, restaurant equipment, used restaurant equipment 
