There were more than 1 million restaurants in the U.S. as of 2025, and of that staggering volume of places to get a meal, a snack, and a drink, at least 14% belong to a chain. Despite the many disturbing fast food restaurant secrets and links to negative health effects that are constantly reported and right out in the open, many of us can't resist them. All those all-American chains became household names and billion-dollar companies because their products taste good, providing the delectably perfect amount of salt, sugar, fat, and comfort.

That makes the biggest fast food and casual restaurant chains very wealthy and very powerful, and sometimes they overstep or act dangerously in the name of just doing business. Here are some of the best-known and longest-lasting restaurant chains tha

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