But among the weakest performers in- clude such legacy brands such as Steak n Shake (2.8% system sales decline in 2025), Hardee’s (-5%), Checkers (-9.9%), Carl’s Jr. (-6%), Sonic (-2.6%), A&W (-3.8%), Rally’s (-6.6%), White Castle (-6.7%), Fatburger (-8.1%), Krystal (-2.9%) and Jack in the Box (-4.3%). Wendy’s, the second-largest burger chain in the U.S., lost its status as a Top 5 restaurant chain after its system sales fell 5.2%. The com- pany almost symbolically was overtaken by the beverage chain Dunkin’.
On the other hand, there are numerous larger, high-growth brands that are taking share. Shake Shack (15.2% system sales growth), Culver’s (14.2%) and In-n-Out (9.6%) have taken considerable share in the burger space along with brands like Freddy’s (5.3%) and Whataburger (4.6%). Smaller brands like Hop- doddy (6.2%), Cookout (8.1%) and Jack’s Fam- ily Restaurants (7.2%) have also thrived. Consider this: Sonic, the drive-in burg- er chain owned by Inspire Brands, is the
fourth-largest burger chain in the U.S. Cul- ver’s is No. 5. At their current rates of growth, Culver’s should overtake Sonic within the next two years. Indeed, if we assume that Culver’s and Shake Shack keep their average rates of growth from the past four years—a decent assumption, given that they’ve generally kept that up for some time now—both will more than double by 2030. And they will take sub- stantial market share.
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2026
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