This story was originally published on QSR. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily QSR AM Jolt. In a preview of August’s upcoming QSR 50, it was not Starbucks (as was the case in recent years), Chipotle, 7 Brew, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Dutch Bros, or any other buzzing restaurant brand clocking in as the fastest-growing in the U.S.—it was Wingstop, by nearly 100 locations. Despite a 2025 that didn’t lack for challenges, the brand lifted by 382 stores domestically to reach 2,586 restaurants, 2,529 of which were franchised. The Top 5 (year-over-year net domestic growth, year-end 2025) Wingstop: 382 Chipotle: 294 7 Brew: 281 Jersey Mike’s: 238 Dunkin’: 231 When Wingstop declared after its IPO in Q2 2015, there 785 systemwide units divided between 714 domestic and 52 international. Wingstop ended fiscal 2025 with 3,056 total units (470 of them international). Systemwide sales over this close-to-a-decade span have climbed to $5.3 billion. The brand went from 2,000 to 3,000 restaurants in just more than two years and, when it opened its 3,000th in fall 2025, had debuted roughly 800 in 24 months to reach 47 U.S. states and 15 countries. More than 70 brand partners expanded their Wingstop footprint in one quarter that year. Stretching to 2014—the calendar before Wingstop went public—average-unit volumes were a shade over $1 million at $1.073 million through 693 stores. That’s hiked to $2 million domestically. And the wide goal for the 1994-founded brand, which is about 98 percent franchised, is…
