Restaurant Enterprise Index Publishes Its First 10 Enterprise Profiles
The first 10 companies are now live in the Restaurant Enterprise Index™. We’re beginning to map major restaurant enterprises behind the brands consumers see every day. 10 today. More being added.
Enterprise rankings: 1–10
The 10 profiles are ranked from largest to smallest using RestaurantData’s estimated U.S. and Canadian location totals. Figures may aggregate connected concepts where appropriate.
The index does not treat every familiar brand as a standalone company. It connects restaurant concepts with the parent organizations, franchise systems, multi-concept operators and ownership groups that help determine how those businesses operate.
The profiles are available to browse publicly. They identify the enterprise entities represented in the index and provide estimated U.S. and Canadian location totals, system sales, concept relationships, headquarters information, geographic reach and portions of the ownership hierarchy.
How restaurant enterprises are structured
A restaurant concept or brand may be a child of an immediate parent company, with grandparent and ultimate-parent organizations above it. It may also sit within a franchisor, an operating company or a multi-concept or multi-brand operator. The same company can act as a franchisee, a franchisor and a multi-concept operator. One organization may control several concepts, while another may combine company-owned restaurants with franchised locations. Looking only at a restaurant name can obscure ownership, purchasing authority, executive responsibility and growth strategy.
The Restaurant Enterprise Index is designed to make those relationships visible. The index generally begins near the 100-location level, when an organization often requires a more specialized structure for operations, technology, purchasing, franchising, real estate, finance and development. It ranks enterprise entities rather than individual chains, so an entry may represent one major brand or a larger organization containing several restaurant businesses.
What the profiles are built to show
Each public profile introduces the profiled entity, not merely the consumer-facing brand. Depending on the organization, the page may include associated concepts, estimated restaurant count, system sales, operating markets and a summary of the company’s role in the industry. It also explains how RestaurantData builds and verifies the record using company disclosures, franchise documents, public filings, company websites, location research and continuing human review.
For restaurant suppliers, technology providers, enterprise sales teams, investors, advisers, commercial real estate firms, recruiters and researchers, this structure helps answer a practical question: which organization is most relevant to the decision? Identifying the applicable entity can improve account planning, market analysis, prospecting and outreach.
Connecting growth research with enterprise research
The two indexes cover connected stages of RestaurantData’s company research. The Expansion Pressure Index™ shows companies growing over compressed periods of time, often through new markets or entries into multiple states. It follows verified development activity as operators move through earlier growth cohorts. When an organization reaches enterprise scale, the Restaurant Enterprise Index becomes the next research layer. It follows the enterprise entity as location totals, concepts, leadership and company structure change.
The public profiles provide an introduction. The Atlas restaurant database and intelligence platform contains the broader connected network of restaurant locations, companies, ownership relationships, concepts and executive contacts. The Restaurant Data Dictionary provides standard definitions for the entities, hierarchy relationships, unit counts and research terms used across Atlas, the Expansion Pressure Index and the Restaurant Enterprise Index. Additional analysis of openings, ownership, franchising and operating change is available through the Restaurant Research Center.
New Weekly Alerts: 2026 Emerging Restaurant Growth Report
New Weekly Alerts | 2026 Emerging Restaurant Growth
How New Weekly Alerts document emerging restaurant brands as independent restaurants become small chains, placing each planned location within the company’s growth cycle.
First expansions lead the 2026 file, with the planned 1-to-2 move accounting for 1,369 records and 41.0% of measured growth transitions.
New Weekly Alerts record planned locations at specific points in a company’s growth cycle, from the first move beyond one unit through later multi-unit expansion. Many of these emerging restaurant brands still operate independently at this scale; others are franchise organizations, multi-concept operators or child brands within larger parent companies.
3,381Growth-stage location records
41.0%Transitions that are first expansions (1-to-2)
51.4%Records in Texas, California, Florida and New York
Key Findings
The New Weekly Alerts source file contains 3,381 growth-stage location records tied to 3,143 unique concepts or brands after name standardization. The analysis identifies 200 concepts or brands with more than one planned-location record.
The 1-to-2 transition is the largest growth step, accounting for 1,369 records and 41.0% of the records that fit the stated unit ranges.
The 200 recurring concepts or brands account for 438 records. Of these, 110 appear at multiple unit milestones and 55 show at least one consecutive milestone.
Companies in the report-defined 2-to-4-unit cohort account for 2,245 records and 66.4% of the file; the 5-to-19-unit cohort accounts for 1,136 records and 33.6%.
Among records with a specific month from January through August, 976 fall in the January-April cohort and 927 in the May-August cohort. The 2-to-4-unit group records 652 in each period.
The Southeast contains 1,036 records and represents 30.6% of the file, followed by the Southwest with 803 and West/Northwest with 653.
Texas, California, Florida and New York together account for 1,739 records and 51.4% of the file. Harris County, Texas, leads the county table with 153 mapped records, followed by Los Angeles County with 147.
Selected Emerging Restaurant Brands in the 2026 File
These five examples show how the source file follows companies across the report’s full growth sequence, from a first expansion through later regional multi-unit development.
These selected companies illustrate the range of growth transitions analyzed in the report. Full address, county, restaurant-format and planned-opening details appear in Tables 16 and 17.
Scope: Every valid record carries a planned open year of 2026. Research-period descriptions run from September 2025 through July 2026, so this is a New Weekly Alerts growth-cycle analysis rather than a strict January-to-June opening count. Unit transitions in this report are calculated from individual New Weekly Alerts location records. Qualifying records feed the Expansion Pressure Index™, which measures opening activity across selectable three-month periods. Signals found in late 2025 remain included because they were attached to planned 2026 locations within a company’s growth cycle.
What the New Weekly Alerts Reveal
The New Weekly Alerts module is the original, location-level research behind this report. Each record identifies a planned location and its expected timing. Once the location is matched to the restaurant company and its expected unit count, the record places that location at a specific point in the company’s growth cycle.
One alert provides one point in that company’s expansion history. Repeated alerts show the company adding locations across addresses and unit milestones. The EPI uses those qualifying records to measure how many openings occur within selectable three-month periods. A company with three or four openings in one period therefore appears as compressed expansion activity rather than as a single unit transition.
This is the restaurant intelligence function behind the report: early opening signals are connected to the company, concept, address, ownership structure and expected unit milestone. The result is not simply a list of proposed openings; it shows where each planned location sits within the company’s expansion cycle.
New Weekly AlertsOriginal location-level research
→
Individual Growth Steps1-to-2, 2-to-3, through 18-to-19
→
Expansion Pressure Index™Multiple openings in selectable three-month periods
→
Short-Term Expansion ArcRepeated opening activity across the rolling nine-month period
Growth Transitions Recorded in New Weekly Alerts: 1-to-2 Through 18-to-19
Every transition in Table 1 is calculated from a location record in the New Weekly Alerts module and the expected post-opening unit count attached to that record. The table places each individual planned location at its corresponding growth step, such as 1-to-2, 4-to-5 or 18-to-19.
A growth transition could be calculated for 3,342 records, representing 98.8% of the valid population. A recorded post-opening count of 10 is shown as a 9-to-10 transition, while a count of 19 is shown as an 18-to-19 transition. Table 1 uses the report-defined micro-regional and regional multi-unit labels explained in the next section.
Table 1. Growth-cycle transitions
Growth transition
Report cohort
Growth-stage records
Share of conforming transitions
1→2
Micro-regional
1,369
41.0%
2→3
Micro-regional
529
15.8%
3→4
Micro-regional
325
9.7%
4→5
Regional multi-unit
213
6.4%
5→6
Regional multi-unit
159
4.8%
6→7
Regional multi-unit
127
3.8%
7→8
Regional multi-unit
120
3.6%
8→9
Regional multi-unit
88
2.6%
9→10
Regional multi-unit
59
1.8%
10→11
Regional multi-unit
58
1.7%
11→12
Regional multi-unit
51
1.5%
12→13
Regional multi-unit
53
1.6%
13→14
Regional multi-unit
46
1.4%
14→15
Regional multi-unit
36
1.1%
15→16
Regional multi-unit
26
0.8%
16→17
Regional multi-unit
29
0.9%
17→18
Regional multi-unit
23
0.7%
18→19
Regional multi-unit
31
0.9%
A total of 39 records remain in the report cohort totals but are excluded from this table because the unit-count field is blank or outside the stated 2-to-19 range.
Emerging Restaurant Brands: Independent Restaurants Becoming Small Chains
The New Weekly Alerts source records place each planned location at an expected unit milestone in the company’s growth cycle. A company recorded at 2 units represents a 1-to-2 transition. A company recorded at 5 units represents a 4-to-5 transition. The same calculation continues through the 18-to-19 transition.
In this report, emerging restaurant concepts and emerging restaurant brands refer to companies moving through recorded early and regional multi-unit growth steps. The terms describe their position in the expansion sequence. They do not add a subjective judgment about which concepts or brands will continue growing.
At this scale, many companies still operate in an independent manner even as they add locations. Some are independent restaurants becoming small chains. Others are expanding one concept, developing a multi-concept organization or operating as a child of a larger parent company. The 2-to-19-unit range therefore describes the company’s operating scale and emerging growth stage; it does not mean that every company lacks a franchise, brand or parent-company affiliation.
This report focuses on companies moving through the 2-to-19-unit range, while the Expansion Pressure Index™ extends across broader company sizes. As of August 2026, one EPI cohort includes 548 actively expanding restaurant companies with 10 to 50 units, while a separate cohort includes 111 actively expanding companies with 51 to 100 units. The index also follows earlier-stage companies below 10 units and larger organizations above 100 units.
Micro-regional and regional multi-unit are analytical labels used for this report, not universal industry definitions. Within the EPI tool, clients can select or create unit cohorts that reflect how they define an emerging, growth, regional, expanding or larger company.
The file contains 3,387 physical CSV rows. Six rows contain no company, cohort or address and are continuation fragments created by malformed quoted contact text, leaving 3,381 valid growth-stage location records. Contact-person names, titles, telephone numbers and email addresses are excluded from this report.
Table 2. Report-defined cohort composition
Report cohort
Growth-stage records
Share
Distinct concepts or brands
Records matching the stated unit range
Match rate
Micro-regional (2–4 units)
2,245
66.4%
2,164
2,223
99.0%
Regional multi-unit (5–19 units)
1,136
33.6%
1,005
1,119
98.5%
The cohort columns contain 2,164 and 1,005 distinct concepts or brands, totaling 3,169 against 3,143 unique names in the full file. The difference exists because 26 concepts or brands have records on both sides of the 4-to-5-unit boundary and therefore appear in both cohorts.
Companies Captured More Than Once
A growth-stage location record does not mean that a company has only one additional location in the New Weekly Alerts source file. The analysis identifies 200 recurring concepts or brands, accounting for 438 records and 13.0% of the source population. Of these, 189 appear in more than one research period and 188 are attached to more than one address.
The recurring records also show movement through the unit sequence. Of the 200 recurring concepts or brands, 110 appear at more than one unit milestone and 55 show at least one consecutive milestone, such as two followed by three or 10 followed by 11. A company can also have several planned addresses at the same recorded unit stage, so recurrence is not automatically treated as a completed sequential transition.
These recurring appearances provide the source records used by the EPI’s time structure: when the same company has multiple qualifying alerts within the same or adjacent three-month periods, the index shows that compressed opening activity as a short-term expansion arc. The 55 concepts or brands with at least one consecutive milestone provide the clearest evidence of sequential growth in the file: documented movement from one recorded unit count directly to the next within the research period.
Table 3. Repeat-company expansion evidence
Measure
Count
Context
Concepts or brands appearing more than once
200
6.4% of 3,143 unique concepts or brands
Growth-stage records tied to recurring concepts or brands
438
13.0% of all records
Recurring concepts or brands found in multiple research periods
189
94.5% of the recurring group
Recurring concepts or brands with multiple addresses
188
94.0% of the recurring group
Recurring concepts or brands with multiple unit milestones
110
55.0% of the recurring group
Recurring concepts or brands with a consecutive milestone
55
27.5% of the recurring group
Two Four-Month Planned-Opening Cohorts
The two four-month cohorts use the specific planned-opening month, not the date when the research signal was found. January through April contains 976 growth-stage location records, while May through August contains 927. Among the 1,903 records with a specific month in those eight months, the split is 51.3% and 48.7%, respectively.
Micro-regional activity is identical across the two periods at 652 records each. Regional growth-stage location records decline from 324 in January–April to 275 in May–August. Another 1,368 records use a seasonal label, 84 specify September through December and 26 have unknown timing; those records are not forced into either four-month cohort.
Table 4. Two four-month planned-opening cohorts
Planned-opening cohort
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share of Jan–Aug exact-month records
Share of source file
January–April 2026
976
652
324
51.3%
28.9%
May–August 2026
927
652
275
48.7%
27.4%
Growth-Stage Locations by U.S. Region
The Southeast contains 1,036 growth-stage location records and represents 30.6% of the New Weekly Alerts records analyzed here. The Southwest follows with 803 records, West/Northwest with 653, the Northeast with 487 and the Midwest with 402. The Southeast also has the largest regional multi-unit count at 383.
Table 5. Growth-stage locations by analytical U.S. region
Rank
Region
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
1
Southeast
1,036
653
383
30.6%
2
Southwest
803
532
271
23.8%
3
West / Northwest
653
456
197
19.3%
4
Northeast
487
318
169
14.4%
5
Midwest
402
286
116
11.9%
Region definitions: Northeast: ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ and PA. Southeast: DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, KY, TN, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, AR and LA. Midwest: OH, MI, IN, IL, WI, MN, IA, MO, KS, NE, SD and ND. Southwest: TX, OK, NM, AZ, NV, CO and UT. West/Northwest: CA, OR, WA, ID, MT, WY, AK and HI. These are analytical groupings for this report, not official Census divisions.
States, Counties and Cities Receiving Growth-Stage Locations
Texas has 606 growth-stage location records, California 514, Florida 372 and New York 247. These four states account for just over half of the New Weekly Alerts records analyzed in this report, while no other state exceeds 103 records.
Table 6. Top 15 states by growth-stage location records
Rank
State
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
1
TX
606
409
197
17.9%
2
CA
514
364
150
15.2%
3
FL
372
219
153
11.0%
4
NY
247
172
75
7.3%
5
GA
103
67
36
3.0%
6
NC
97
61
36
2.9%
7
IL
82
55
27
2.4%
8
OH
75
53
22
2.2%
9
TN
71
44
27
2.1%
9
VA
71
34
37
2.1%
11
MA
70
48
22
2.1%
12
SC
64
40
24
1.9%
13
AZ
62
33
29
1.8%
14
PA
61
30
31
1.8%
15
NV
52
32
20
1.5%
County matching was completed for 3,357 records, representing 99.3% of the file, using city and ZIP code. Harris County, Texas, leads with 153 growth-stage location records, followed by Los Angeles County, California, with 147 and Dallas County, Texas, with 69. New York County, New York, has 66, and San Diego County, California, has 60.
Table 7. Top 15 counties receiving growth-stage locations
Rank
County
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
1
Harris, TX
153
97
56
4.5%
2
Los Angeles, CA
147
102
45
4.3%
3
Dallas, TX
69
43
26
2.0%
4
New York, NY
66
34
32
2.0%
5
San Diego, CA
60
35
25
1.8%
6
Orange, CA
59
40
19
1.7%
7
Fulton, GA
58
40
18
1.7%
8
Tarrant, TX
57
42
15
1.7%
9
Orange, FL
55
32
23
1.6%
9
Maricopa, AZ
55
27
28
1.6%
11
Miami-Dade, FL
52
32
20
1.5%
12
Cook, IL
49
31
18
1.4%
12
San Francisco, CA
49
44
5
1.4%
14
Bexar, TX
48
33
15
1.4%
15
Travis, TX
47
30
17
1.4%
Houston has 103 growth-stage location records, New York 65 and San Francisco 51. Atlanta, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio each have between 43 and 50, showing that expansion pressure in Texas is distributed across several major markets.
Table 8. Top 15 cities receiving growth-stage locations
Rank
City
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
1
Houston
103
71
32
3.0%
2
New York
65
34
31
1.9%
3
San Francisco
51
46
5
1.5%
4
Atlanta
50
38
12
1.5%
5
Dallas
46
28
18
1.4%
6
Austin
45
29
16
1.3%
7
San Antonio
43
29
14
1.3%
8
Los Angeles
40
28
12
1.2%
9
Orlando
39
22
17
1.2%
10
Brooklyn
36
27
9
1.1%
10
San Diego
36
21
15
1.1%
12
Las Vegas
32
23
9
0.9%
13
Chicago
31
18
13
0.9%
14
Miami
30
20
10
0.9%
15
Arlington
29
14
15
0.9%
Service Type, Check Average and Cuisine
Casual/family restaurants form the largest service category in both report cohorts, with 1,232 micro-regional and 544 regional growth-stage location records. Fast casual is second with 754 records, followed by quick serve with 464 and upscale dining with 320. Service type is unknown for 50 records.
Table 9. Service type by report cohort
Service type
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
Casual/Family
1,776
1,232
544
52.5%
Fast Casual
754
473
281
22.3%
Quick Serve
464
304
160
13.7%
Upscale Dining
320
189
131
9.5%
Unknown
50
35
15
1.5%
Buffet
17
12
5
0.5%
The check-average field is organized into source-defined bands rather than a continuous dollar estimate. The $10-30+ band contains 1,714 growth-stage location records, followed by $15-40+ with 655, $4-15+ with 637 and $25-75+ with 316. Check-average band is unknown for 58 records.
Table 10. Check-average band by report cohort
Check-average band
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
$10-30+
1,714
1,170
544
50.7%
$15-40+
655
440
215
19.4%
$4-15+
637
406
231
18.8%
$25-75+
316
188
128
9.3%
Unknown
58
41
17
1.7%
$8-20+
1
0
1
0.0%
American cuisine is the largest category with 695 growth-stage location records, followed by Mexican/Latin with 428. Pizza and coffee/tea are nearly equal at 185 and 183. Italian, bakery/cafe, Japanese, chicken and Asian concepts each contribute more than 100 records.
Table 11. Top 15 cuisines attached to growth-stage activity
Rank
Cuisine
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
1
American
695
441
254
20.6%
2
Mexican/Latin
428
301
127
12.7%
3
Pizza
185
121
64
5.5%
4
Coffee/Tea
183
113
70
5.4%
5
Italian
145
94
51
4.3%
6
Bakery/Cafe
123
90
33
3.6%
7
Japanese
114
76
38
3.4%
8
Chicken
111
61
50
3.3%
9
Asian
105
63
42
3.1%
10
Bar Food
102
69
33
3.0%
11
Sushi
83
63
20
2.5%
12
Burger
79
50
29
2.3%
12
Cafe
79
58
21
2.3%
14
Ice Cream/Yogurt
73
45
28
2.2%
15
Seafood
70
43
27
2.1%
Table 11 presents the 15 most frequently recorded cuisines. A source record without a cuisine classification is treated as Unknown rather than as a separate cuisine category.
Meal Period and Alcohol Service
Lunch and dinner is the recorded meal-period combination for 2,443 growth-stage locations, representing 72.3% of the file. Breakfast, lunch and dinner appears in 368 records, while breakfast and lunch appears in 303. Dinner-only operations account for 180.
Table 12. Meal period by report cohort
Meal period
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
L/D
2,443
1,631
812
72.3%
B/L/D
368
247
121
10.9%
B/L
303
192
111
9.0%
D
180
113
67
5.3%
Unknown
77
56
21
2.3%
L
6
4
2
0.2%
B
3
1
2
0.1%
Other
1
1
0
0.0%
Meal-period key: B means breakfast only, L means lunch only and D means dinner only. Combined codes identify multiple recorded meal periods: B/L is breakfast and lunch, L/D is lunch and dinner, and B/L/D is breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unknown means the meal period cannot be determined from the source record; it does not mean the restaurant does not serve a meal period. Meal period is unknown for 77 growth-stage locations. The Other row holds one record with a recorded combination outside the listed categories, bringing the table to the full 3,381 records.
A full bar is recorded for 1,343 growth-stage locations, representing 39.7% of the file. Beer and wine service is recorded for 335, while 458 are recorded as serving no alcohol. Alcohol service is unknown for 1,190 locations. The table describes what is recorded and should not be read as a complete alcohol-licensing count.
Table 13. Alcohol-service classification by report cohort
Alcohol classification
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
Full Bar
1,343
849
494
39.7%
Unknown
1,190
847
343
35.2%
None
458
288
170
13.5%
Beer/Wine
335
223
112
9.9%
Beer
34
21
13
1.0%
Wine
15
12
3
0.4%
Other
6
5
1
0.2%
Unknown means alcohol service cannot be determined from the source record. A location in this row may ultimately have no alcohol service, beer or wine service, or a full bar; the row should not be interpreted as “None.” The Other row holds six records with recorded values outside the listed classifications, bringing the table to the full 3,381 records.
Real Estate Settings Across Growth-Stage Locations
Mixed-use settings account for 1,268 growth-stage location records and 37.5% of the file, while shopping centers account for 813 records and 24.0%. Freestanding locations contribute 631 records and 18.7%. Together, those three site settings represent 80.2% of the source population.
Table 14. General-area classification for growth-stage locations
General area
Growth-stage records
Micro
Regional
Share
Mixed Use
1,268
851
417
37.5%
Shopping Center
813
528
285
24.0%
Free Standing
631
446
185
18.7%
Mixed Residential
289
186
103
8.5%
Mall
111
62
49
3.3%
Hotel
92
57
35
2.7%
Business/Office Park
75
51
24
2.2%
Airport
41
22
19
1.2%
Unknown
40
22
18
1.2%
Other
12
11
1
0.4%
Conference Center
9
9
0
0.3%
Unknown means the general-area setting of the planned growth-stage location cannot be determined from the source record. It does not assign the location to a separate real-estate category. The Other row holds 12 records with recorded settings outside the listed categories, bringing the table to the full 3,381 records.
Square footage is available for 294 records, representing 8.7% of the file. The median is 3,000 square feet, and the middle half of recorded locations ranges from 2,000 to 5,000 square feet. Seat counts are available for 166 records, representing 4.9%. The median is 90 seats, and the middle half ranges from 50 to 175.
How New Weekly Alerts Growth Signals Were Identified
DBA, fictitious-name and incorporation records are the largest principal source, accounting for 1,519 growth-stage location records. Regional publication and regional news records are combined because they describe the same source type; together they account for 1,209. Alcohol filings account for 424 and building permits for 217, with 12 records assigned to other principal sources. The table shows the principal source assigned to each New Weekly Alerts record, not every source consulted during verification.
RestaurantData reviews more potential opening signals than are ultimately included in New Weekly Alerts. The research is designed to identify planned openings at the earliest lawful, verifiable stage and then connect each location to the concept or company and its recorded position in the growth cycle.
A signal is not included simply because it mentions a restaurant location. Records may be excluded when they cannot be sufficiently verified, duplicate an existing record or are identified after the useful pre-opening period. A late record may still confirm that a company added another location, but it no longer provides the same advance restaurant intelligence or meaningful pre-opening timing for a sales team.
Table 15. Principal research source for New Weekly Alerts records
Principal source
Growth-stage records
2–4 units
5–19 units
Share
DBA/Fictitious Name/Incorporation
1,519
1,072
447
44.9%
Regional Publication / News
1,209
752
457
35.8%
Alcohol Filing
424
289
135
12.5%
Building Permit
217
127
90
6.4%
Other
12
5
7
0.4%
The Other row holds 12 records assigned a principal source outside the four listed types, bringing the table to the full 3,381 records.
The Restaurant Opening Analysis explains how public records and regional reporting are checked, de-duplicated, evaluated for timing and connected to the company behind each location. The records that meet the research and timing standards are delivered through New Weekly Alerts, the original source population analyzed in this report.
RestaurantPipeline.com applies this early-stage research to restaurant development activity, including independent openings, emerging operators and locations progressing through planning, permitting, construction and pre-opening stages.
10 Micro-Regional Companies at Recorded Growth Stages
These examples show emerging restaurant brands moving through the 1-to-2, 2-to-3 or 3-to-4 transitions. Each row identifies the planned location that marks the recorded growth stage, along with its address, matched county and operating characteristics.
Table 16. 10 micro-regional growth-stage examples with addresses and counties
Company
Growth transition
Cuisine / format
Planned location
County
Timing
& Cheese
1→2
Sandwich Fast Casual | $10-30+
620 Peachtree St NE, Unit CU1 Atlanta, GA 30308
Fulton, GA
Winter
A Pasta Bar
1→2
Italian Upscale Dining | $25-75+
1784 W Ave Miami Beach, FL 33139
Miami-Dade, FL
March
Acre Pizza
3→4
Pizza Casual/Family | $10-30+
44 Mill St, Unit C Healdsburg, CA 95448
Sonoma, CA
Spring
2M Smokehouse
1→2
BBQ Fast Casual | $10-30+
9800 Airport Blvd San Antonio, TX 78216
Bexar, TX
Summer
Air Cafe
2→3
Cafe Fast Casual | $10-30+
1 W 67th St New York, NY 10023
New York, NY
August
Antique Taco
2→3
Mexican/Latin Fast Casual | $10-30+
1 W New York St Aurora, IL 60506
Kane, IL
Spring
Boon Boona Coffee
3→4
Coffee/Tea Quick Serve | $4-15+
1515 Western Ave Seattle, WA 98101
King, WA
Winter
A Tavolo Italian Eatery
1→2
Italian Casual/Family | $15-40+
367 Freedom Parkway, Ste 130 Pittsboro, NC 27312
Chatham, NC
June
Barcuterie
1→2
American Casual/Family | $10-30+
9719 W Coal Mine Ave, Unit D Littleton, CO 80123
Jefferson, CO
April
Bellecour
2→3
Bakery/Cafe Casual/Family | $15-40+
90 S 7th St Minneapolis, MN 55402
Hennepin, MN
Fall
Five Regional Multi-Unit Companies at Recorded Growth Stages
These examples show emerging restaurant brands moving through the 5-to-19-unit report cohort. The specific growth transition is stated for each company, from 7→8 through 18→19, alongside the planned location address and county.
Table 17. Five regional multi-unit growth-stage examples with addresses and counties
Company
Growth transition
Cuisine / format
Planned location
County
Timing
Hattie B’s
18→19
Chicken Fast Casual | $4-15+
2001 Cumberland Ave Knoxville, TN 37916
Knox, TN
Summer
Birdcall
15→16
Chicken Fast Casual | $10-30+
2001 Blake St Denver, CO 80205
Denver, CO
April
Daily Provisions
12→13
American Casual/Family | $10-30+
501 Boylston St Boston, MA 02116
Suffolk, MA
Fall
Afuri Ramen
9→10
Japanese Casual/Family | $10-30+
3033 Bristol St, Ste 131 Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Orange, CA
Winter
1928 Cuban Bistro
7→8
Cuban Casual/Family | $15-40+
501 Riverside Ave Jacksonville, FL 32202
Duval, FL
February
The Top 10 Upscale Dining Brands by Expansion Pressure follows companies that began the tracking period within the 10-to-30-unit range. That analysis overlaps the upper part of this report’s regional cohort and extends the sequence beyond its 19-unit ceiling.
Methodology and Data Treatment
Growth transitions could be calculated for 3,342 records, representing 98.8% of the valid population. The remaining 39 records are included in the broader cohort totals but excluded from the transition analysis because the recorded unit count was blank or outside the 2-to-19-unit range examined in this report.
Company and concept names were standardized for capitalization, spacing and punctuation when calculating unique-name counts. Individual location records were not removed simply because the same company appeared more than once, since one company can have several planned locations in the source file. Cuisine, service type, research source and real-estate classifications were standardized for capitalization and clear naming variations before the tables were prepared. Categorical tables include an Other row where a small number of records carry values outside the listed categories, so each of those tables accounts for the full 3,381 records.
The January–April and May–August cohorts use the planned-opening month. They are report-specific four-month comparisons and are distinct from the EPI interface’s selectable three-month cohorts within its rolling nine-month tracking period. Seasonal timing records are not assigned to either report cohort. Geographic regions are custom analytical groupings disclosed beneath Table 5.
County was derived from city and five-digit ZIP code because the source file does not contain a standalone county field. A county match was produced for 3,357 records, representing 99.3% of the file. Because some ZIP codes cross county boundaries, the county totals should be understood as matched assignments rather than address-level government geocoding.
Planned growth-stage locations may be delayed, changed or canceled after the research date. This analysis measures expansion records and attributes from the supplied New Weekly Alerts source file after they are organized into the stated report cohorts; it does not claim that every location had opened by publication.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do New Weekly Alerts and the EPI work together?
New Weekly Alerts captures individual planned locations and connects them to the restaurant company and expected unit count. Those records produce the 1-to-2, 2-to-3 and later transitions shown in this report. Qualifying records then feed the EPI, which measures the number and pattern of openings within selectable three-month periods.
Are these independent restaurants or restaurant chains?
They can be either. The 2-to-19-unit range includes independent restaurants becoming small chains, franchise organizations, multi-concept operators and child brands connected to larger parent companies. The report cohort is based on the recorded unit transition, not an assumption about ownership.
What does a growth-stage location mean?
It means a planned location is viewed as a point in the company’s expansion cycle. A 1-to-2 transition marks the first move beyond 1 location; later transitions, such as 10-to-11 or 18-to-19, mark continued expansion by an established multi-unit company.
What is a micro-regional operator?
For this report, the micro-regional cohort covers the 2-to-4-unit range: 1-to-2, 2-to-3 and 3-to-4. The label is an analytical definition used here, not a universal industry standard.
What is a regional multi-unit operator?
For this report, the regional multi-unit cohort covers the 5-to-19-unit range, beginning with 4-to-5 and ending with 18-to-19. Within the EPI, clients can create their own unit cohorts and definitions of emerging, growth, regional or expanding companies.
How are the two four-month cohorts defined?
They are report-specific comparisons based on the planned-opening month: January through April 2026 and May through August 2026. They are separate from the EPI’s selectable three-month tracking periods. Seasonal records remain outside the comparison because a season cannot be assigned to one month without an unsupported assumption.
Is this a first-half 2026 report, and why are late-2025 records included?
No. Every valid record carries a planned open year of 2026, but the research dates run from September 2025 through July 2026. Late-2025 signals remain because they were tied to planned 2026 locations; excluding them would remove part of the identified 2026 pipeline.
Does every record represent a different company or only one additional location?
No. The file contains 3,381 records and 3,143 unique concepts or brands after name standardization. A company can appear more than once as RestaurantData identifies another address, research-period signal or unit milestone.
What is a short-term expansion arc?
It is the sequence of qualifying planned-location signals captured within the EPI’s rolling nine-month window, scheduled to extend to 12 months in November 2026. Multiple openings within one or adjacent three-month periods show compressed activity; a long-term arc would follow the company across several years.
Does the Expansion Pressure Index stop at 19 units?
No. The 19-unit ceiling applies only to this report. The broader EPI follows opening activity through companies approaching and crossing 100 units, and approximately 95% of its data involves companies with 100 units or fewer.
How are regions and counties assigned?
The five regions are report-specific analytical groupings disclosed beneath Table 5. Counties are derived from city and ZIP code because the source file does not contain a dedicated county field. The process matched 3,357 records, representing 99.3% of the file; 24 remained unmapped.
How are brands connected to headquarters and parent companies?
When a brand has a headquarters record, its New Weekly Alerts locations are connected to that brand-level record. Parent-company or ownership-group relationships are preserved, allowing expansion to be followed at both the operating-brand and parent-company levels without creating a second location record.
Are contact people included?
No. Contact names, titles, telephone numbers and email addresses are excluded from the analysis and example tables.
Does a record mean the restaurant definitely opened?
No. It reflects planned 2026 activity identified at the research date. Projects can change, so the report is not a completed-opening audit.
