Most dominant fast food chains in the US

[Sctvhound]

Subway is definitely the most popular (location-wise) in our area. They used to have more locations, but a few of them closed over the past few years.

James Island (a population of maybe 40K or so) had 2 of them for several years. The island only has 1 of every other fast food place. One of them closed a couple years ago. There are over 40 in the Charleston area now. They go into gas stations in this market.

Chick-fil-A has less than half the amount of locations of Subway but do seven days of business in six days. You can go to most locations in the area from 10am or 10:30-2pm + 5-8pm and they are packed.

Burger King has a terrible local franchisee, and many of their locations have closed over the past several years. None of their locations rate over 3.0 on Google Maps, and most are in the 2s. 

The hours also differ in our area. Most of the fast food locations on James Island (a more residential/suburban area) close at 10 or 11 every night except for Wendy's. In other parts of town (like Summerville), many are open 24 hours.

[kevinb1994]

Subway is definitely the most popular (location-wise) in our area. They used to have more locations, but a few of them closed over the past few years.

James Island (a population of maybe 40K or so) had 2 of them for several years. The island only has 1 of every other fast food place. One of them closed a couple years ago. There are over 40 in the Charleston area now. They go into gas stations in this market.

Chick-fil-A has less than half the amount of locations of Subway but do seven days of business in six days. You can go to most locations in the area from 10am or 10:30-2pm + 5-8pm and they are packed.

Burger King has a terrible local franchisee, and many of their locations have closed over the past several years. None of their locations rate over 3.0 on Google Maps, and most are in the 2s. 

The hours also differ in our area. Most of the fast food locations on James Island (a more residential/suburban area) close at 10 or 11 every night except for Wendy's. In other parts of town (like Summerville), many are open 24 hours.

What about McD's and Wendy's? How are they faring up there?

[Sctvhound]

Here McDonald's and Wendy's are popular like the rest of the country, but Chick-fil-A is the dominant like most of the southeast.

McDonald's and Wendy's both have local operators franchising them here. Culver's just opened a location here 3-4 months ago (up in Summerville). It has been popular up there.

Krystal is not in this market at all. They barely have any locations in most of South Carolina. Only 3. One in Aiken, one in North Augusta, one in Gaffney. The closest are in Savannah. They only have 1 location in NC, in Murphy (up in the mountains).

[Sctvhound]

Nine Subways in our area just closed within the past week (mostly inland in Moncks Corner, Summerville and Goose Creek). The operator went bankrupt. Subway still has the most stores in the Lowcountry, but not by as dominant a number.

Jersey Mike's and Jimmy John's (along with other sub shops) are cutting into Subway's business. Plus more people are eating healthy and not getting Subway every day.

[JKRhodes]

My little town (Market population around 45k) somehow supports three Subway restaurants: One in a strip mall, one in a gas station, and one inside Walmart.

McDonald's is by far the king of burger restaurants in this town, in terms of business. They just tore down and completely rebuilt their restaurant here a couple years ago. Even with dual drive-thru lanes, the traffic at lunch hour routinely queues up all the way back to the road. They used to have a second store in the Walmart, which is now occupied by Subway. I have no idea why they closed it; both locations were always busy.

We have a Burger King. Its drive-thru isn't setup very well; room for maybe two cars behind the order board before the cars back up into the driveway the store shares with the strip mall it's in. It's seldom super busy

We also have a Carl's Jr that opened up about six years ago. Service is mostly friendly, sometimes slow.

Lastly Jack In The Box is getting ready to open up here in about a year. A lot of people are excited about it; if nothing else I think it will attract people who see the big lines at McDonald's and want a faster option.

[jp the roadgeek]

My town of about 45k has:

8 Dunkins (once was 9 when most Stop & Shops had them)
6 Subways (was 7 when Walmart had one)
2 McDonalds (used to be 3)
2 Burger Kings
There will be 2 Wendy's in about 6 weeks
2 Taco Bells (1 is in a truck stop)
2 Popeyes (1in the same truck stop)

1 each: KFC, Dairy Queen, Blimpie (was 2) Arby's (was 2), Chick-Fil-A, Panera, Smashburger, Noodles & Company, Mission BBQ, Friendly's, D'Angelo's, Chili's, IHOP, B-Dubs

CT does not have a single Jimmy Johns, Hardee's/Carl's Jr, Jack in the Box, or Cici's.  There are a few Jersey Mike's, a couple Long John Silvers, we're down to 3 Sonics, a single Quiznos, and a single Krispy Kreme inside a casino. Golden Corral (1 location), Checkers (1 location), and Firehouse Subs (2 locations) have all come and gone. 

[TravelingBethelite]

My town of about 45k has:

8 Dunkins (once was 9 when most Stop & Shops had them)
6 Subways (was 7 when Walmart had one)
2 McDonalds (used to be 3)
2 Burger Kings
There will be 2 Wendy's in about 6 weeks
2 Taco Bells (1 is in a truck stop)
2 Popeyes (1in the same truck stop)

1 each: KFC, Dairy Queen, Blimpie (was 2) Arby's (was 2), Chick-Fil-A, Panera, Smashburger, Noodles & Company, Mission BBQ, Friendly's, D'Angelo's, Chili's, IHOP, B-Dubs

CT does not have a single Jimmy Johns, Hardee's/Carl's Jr, Jack in the Box, or Cici's.  There are a few Jersey Mike's, a couple Long John Silvers, we're down to 3 Sonics, a single Quiznos, and a single Krispy Kreme inside a casino. Golden Corral (1 location), Checkers (1 location), and Firehouse Subs (2 locations) have all come and gone.

I heard that the one Golden Corral we had (Milford) was disgusting.