20 Most Common Fast Food Chains in Michigan

Stacker compiled a list of the most common chain restaurants in Michigan using data from the Friendly City Lab at Georgia Tech.

MICHIGAN—Fast food restaurants rose to fame during the 1950s and 60s during the advent of the US highway system. The pairing seemed like a match made in heaven: Traversing long open roads for hours on end take a lot of energy, and few options feel better than a fast-food pit stop along the way.

Satiating the US’s on-the-go lifestyle and car-centric infrastructure were the likes of McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and others. In recent years, some Michiganders have grown more conscious of just how unhealthy some fast food options are. Newer options have cropped up to meet new demand for cleaner, healthier fast food. Rather than hoping for people to change their minds and return to their greasy burgers and salty fries, legacy restaurants pivoted to introduce healthier, plant-based options.

Stacker compiled a list of the most common fast food chains in Michigan using data from the Friendly City Lab at Georgia Tech. The chains are ranked by the number of locations in Michigan in 2021. Since many restaurants have shuttered during the pandemic, these figures are expected to differ from the current count. Fast food, fast casual, and coffee chains were considered for the list. Data was available for 19,528 restaurants in Michigan, of which 8,586 are chain restaurants.

20. Panera Bread

— 82 Locations

19. Biggby Coffee

— 87 Locations

18. Dunkin

— 94 Locations

17. Tropical Smoothie Cafe

— 109 Locations

16. Jimmy John’s

— 133 Locations

15/14. Tie: Pizza Hut & Domino’s Pizza

— 143 Locations

13. Hungry Howie’s Pizza

— 145 Locations

12/11. Tie: Dairy Queen & Jets Pizza

— 148 Locations

10. Starbucks

— 155 Locations

9. KFC

— 157 Locations

8. Arby’s

— 173 Locations

7. Tim Hortons

— 201 Locations

6. Wendy’s

— 239 Locations

5. Little Caesars

— 248 Locations

4. Burger King

— 275 Locations

3. Taco Bell

— 298 Locations

2. McDonald’s

— 537 Locations

1. Subway

— 887 Locations

This article has been re-published pursuant to a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.