The pizza industry is one of the most competitive restaurant sectors in the US, with two pizza giants ranked among the top 8 fast food chains based on location in 2025.
Domino’s had the sixth-most locations with 7,014, behind Subway (19,502), Starbucks (16,935), McDonald’s (13,559), Dunkin’ (9,768) and Taco Bell (7,604). Pizza Hut ranked eighth for most locations with 6,557, behind seventh-most Burger King (6,701), according to QSR magazine’s QSR 50 2025 published in August.
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Metro, 19,502
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Starbucks, 16,935
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McDonald’s, 13,559
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Dunkin’, 9,768
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Taco Bell, 7,604
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Dominoes, 7,014
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Burger King, 6,701
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Pizza Hut, 6,557
Domino’s expects to continue its dominance and add a total of 175 new franchise units, according to its third-quarter 2025 earnings call.
“I think franchisee appetite is still very strong, so the pipeline visibility this year, frankly, is a little bit better than last year at the same time, and we’re very confident in the 175 stores that we’re talking about for this year,” Domino’s CFO Sandeep Reddy said on the earnings conference call.
Pizzerias have faced severe economic difficulties this year, as several chains have faced fierce competition, as well as rising labor and food costs and high rental rates that forced several companies to launch out-of-court restructurings, close locations and, in some cases, file for bankruptcy.
The Seattle-based Mod Pizza chain had about 500 locations as of 2024 and closed 27 stores before the company was sold to Chatsworth, California-based Elite Restaurant Group. The company has continued to close locations in 2025 and currently lists 450 stores on its website.
Franchisees of major pizza chains have faced financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy, including Domino’s operator People First Pizza Inc., which filed Chapter 11 on March 26, 2025, and Little Caesars franchisee Red Door Pizza LLC, which filed on July 15, 2025.
Smaller pizza chains often file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection when they face financial difficulties.
Among the small pizza chains that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025 were Zeppe’s Tavern, with 13 locations, on March 31, 2025; and Bertucci’s Restaurants with 15 locations on April 24, 2025.
Fired Pie, a Phoenix-based pizza chain, launched in 2013 and grew to 20 locations in 2019 before the Covid pandemic hit the restaurant industry in 2020 and the company began closing stores.