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Australian 
UK Restaurant Statistics in 2026: America's Favorite Bites
We take a close look at how the US restaurant sector is performing in 2026, exploring the top likes and dislikes of American diners.
A quick overview of the US restaurant sector:
- US restaurant and foodservice sales are forecast to reach $1.55 trillion in 2026, with the industry expected to add more than 100,000 jobs over the year.
- Value menus, smashed burgers, and global comfort foods top the National Restaurant Association's What's Hot culinary forecast for 2026, alongside local sourcing and allergen-friendly menus.
- Two in three Americans buy fast food at least once a month, according to YouGov research from April 2026.
- YouGov's Q1 2026 ratings name Dairy Queen (73%), Wendy's (71%), and Baskin-Robbins (68%) as the most popular dining brands in America.
- In the battle of the categories, Five Guys wins burgers (15.5%), Pizza Hut wins pizza (19.1%), and Taco Bell dominates tacos with 30.3% of the vote.
- The average fast-food meal now costs $11.56 across major US cities, peaking at $13.88 in San Francisco.
- Food delivery is a three-horse race that one horse is winning: DoorDash holds 60.7% of US delivery sales, ahead of Uber Eats (26.1%) and Grubhub (6.3%).
- Overall, the US has the second biggest online food delivery market in the world, behind only China.
How many restaurants are there in the US?
According to the National Restaurant Association, there are more than 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets in the United States, employing a workforce forecast to hit 15.8 million people in 2026. Based on US Census Bureau population estimates, that works out to roughly 1 food outlet for every 267 American adults.
Growth is steady rather than spectacular: the National Restaurant Association forecasts real sales growth of 1.3% for 2026, and 7 in 10 consumers say they would use restaurants more often if they had more disposable income.
What are America's favorite and biggest restaurant chains?
Dairy Queen, Wendy's, and Baskin-Robbins top YouGov's Q1 2026 popularity ratings for US dining brands.
As for the largest food chains, Subway is the biggest by number of US locations, followed by Starbucks and McDonald's. Between them, the top three account for almost half of all locations among the country's ten largest chains.
| Name | Number of US locations 2026 |
|---|---|
| Subway | 20,052 |
| Starbucks | 16,816 |
| McDonald's | 13,851 |
| Dunkin' | 10,069 |
| Taco Bell | 8,238 |
| Domino's | 7,240 |
| Pizza Hut | 6,739 |
| Burger King | 6,588 |
| Wendy's | 5,790 |
| Dairy Queen | 4,176 |
| KFC | 4,047 |
What are the most popular cuisines in the US?
It is a close contest at the top. In CivicScience polling, 35% of US adults named Italian as their preferred cuisine, with Mexican just behind on 33%.
The generational split is fascinating: Baby Boomers lean Italian, Gen Z overwhelmingly picks Mexican, and for Gen Z, Japanese and Chinese combined actually outrank Italian altogether.
The USA's top 10 cuisines by search
When looking at online search figures, Mexican food takes the top spot by a wide margin, with more than double the searches of second-placed Chinese.
Italian, the survey favorite, comes in third.
| Type of restaurant | US Average Monthly searches (Data from July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Mexican | 135,000 |
| Chinese | 60,500 |
| Italian | 40,500 |
| Indian | 33,100 |
| Thai | 33,100 |
| Japanese | 33,100 |
| Korean | 27,100 |
| Vietnamese | 22,200 |
| Greek | 14,800 |
| Spanish | 9,900 |
The most searched-for cuisines in the US, based on average monthly search volumes for "[cuisine] restaurant" from Semrush, July 2026.
Hungry for more? Find out your city's favorite cuisine
If we look at the top 10 most populous cities in the US, Mexican restaurants come out on top in most cases. There are some notable exceptions: Chinese food takes the top spot in New York, Italian edges ahead in San Diego, and Japanese leads in San Jose.
In Texas, the result is emphatic. San Antonio's searches for Mexican restaurants outnumber those for every other cuisine by more than 3 to 1.
| City | 1st most popular | 2nd most popular | 3rd most popular |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Chinese 2,400 | Japanese 1,000 | Italian 880 |
| Los Angeles | Mexican 2,400 | Italian 1,000 | Chinese 1,000 |
| Chicago | Mexican 2,900 | Japanese 1,600 | Italian 1,300 |
| Houston | Mexican 5,400 | Japanese 2,400 | Italian 1,600 |
| Phoenix | Italian 1,000 | Mexican 1,000 | Japanese 720 |
| Philadelphia | Mexican 1,900 | Japanese 1,600 | Italian 1,000 |
| San Antonio | Mexican 6,600 | Italian 1,900 | Chinese 1,900 |
| San Diego | Italian 1,600 | Chinese 1,300 | Mexican 1,000 |
| Dallas | Mexican 1,900 | Italian 1,000 | Japanese 1,000 |
| San Jose | Japanese 1,000 | Italian 880 | Chinese 590 |
The most searched-for cuisines in major US cities, based on average monthly search volumes for "[cuisine] restaurant [city]" from Semrush, July 2026.
Korean and Filipino restaurants gaining popularity
Korean food is having a moment in the US. Korean restaurant locations grew 10% year over year in 2024, with venues selling Korean fried chicken and Korean corn dogs each up around 15%.
Filipino food is the one to watch. Datassential's 2025 Asian food trends research found it on just 10% of US menus, making it the fastest-growing Asian cuisine segment in the country.
Vegan dining remains strong too. New York City ranked sixth in HappyCow's 2025 list of the world's most vegan-friendly cities with 153 fully vegan venues, and Portland, Oregon also made the global top 25.
What about good old burgers and pizza?
Pizza Hut's 2025 Pizza Trends Report, based on a survey of 5,000 Americans, estimates the country puts away around 95 billion pizza slices a year. Friday is the most popular pizza night (43%), and 57% of Americans happily eat leftover pizza cold.
Burgers are not going anywhere either, with smashed burgers ranked the fourth hottest menu trend for 2026 by the National Restaurant Association. The catch is the price: fast-food prices rose between 39% and 100% over the past decade, and the average fast-food meal now costs $11.56.
Takeout and food delivery trends
Food delivery companies continue to grow in popularity following the boom of 2020 and 2021. The latest search data shows the following ranking (based on average monthly search volumes from Semrush, July 2026):
- DoorDash receives approximately 7,480,000 average online searches every month.
- Uber Eats also gets a significant search volume, with approximately 1,830,000 searches.
- Third in the list is Grubhub with 1,500,000 searches every month.
Ordering habits keep shifting toward apps. 28.2% of Americans use food delivery apps at least weekly, rising to nearly 2 in 5 among Gen Z and Millennials. DoorDash's 2025 Delivery Trends Report found 46% of Americans prefer ordering through third-party apps or websites, with app users placing an average of 4.6 orders per month.
If you own a restaurant, cafe, pub, food truck or street food stall, now is the perfect time to update your indoor and outdoor signage and make sure your business gets all the attention with a Custom Neon® sign.
Take a moment to see the customised LED signage and wall art we made for restaurants, gastro pubs, and fast food chains throughout the US.
To find out more about our research or request an interview:
Get in touch with our Media & Outreach team now by contacting
Clare Jones
Global Outreach Manager
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: Clare Jones
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