Fast Food & Quick Service (QSR)
Quick service restaurant operators providing value-oriented, drive-through, and counter-service meals to consumers.
- 3
- Verticals
Overview
Fast Food & Quick Service (QSR) covers value-oriented, drive-through, and counter-service restaurants — the franchise-dominated heart of the industry, led by global brands (McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Burger King) operated largely through franchisees. It is the largest and most consolidation-friendly restaurant format.
Economics favor franchising, throughput, and drive-through efficiency, and the format has proven resilient and digitally adaptive. Private equity is highly active in multi-unit franchisee platforms, and the Census category also captures fast-casual operators.
Market snapshot
- Market size
- ~$362B
- Growth
- ~7.3%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
- Companies
- ~174,353 firms
79.1% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 137,978 micro-businesses, below most mandates.
- 20–99
- 30,47884%
- 100–499
- 4,73613%
- 500+
- 1,1613%
The largest and most roll-up-friendly restaurant format — franchise-dominated, drive-through-driven, and resilient through downturns because it sells value. Private equity is heavily active in multi-unit franchisee platforms, which acquire the right to operate a brand's units rather than the brand itself. Fast-casual (Chipotle, Cava, Sweetgreen) is folded in here — the federal data files it under limited-service and does not break it out — so this figure runs a touch hot for 'traditional' QSR alone.
NAICS 722330, 722513. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.
Business model & economics
Revenue model
Unit food sales; franchise royalties for franchisors
Key economics
- Revenue per firm
- $2,075,579
- Revenue per employee
- $74,825
- Employees per firm
- 27.2
- Recurring revenue
- Moderate
- EBITDA margin
- Unit-level thin; high and capital-light for franchisors
- Capex intensity
- High
recurring local demand
Characteristics
- Balanced cost base — payroll is 26% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
- Deep strategic-buyer pool — 1,161 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has trade buyers
- Franchise-dominated, throughput- and drive-through-driven.
- Resilient and digitally adaptive demand.
- Multi-unit franchisee platforms are highly PE-active.
NAICS 722330, 722513. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.
M&A deal context
Who’s acquiring
- Multi-unit franchisee consolidators
- PE-backed QSR platforms
- Brand & franchisor acquirers
What’s driving deals
- Aggressive roll-up of multi-unit franchisee operations.
- Brand-portfolio M&A among franchisors.
- Drive-through and digital efficiency favoring scale.
Verticals in this segment
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