The burger game is heating up, and I mean really heating up. While giants like McDonald's and Burger King continue to hold their ground, a new wave of chains is charging forward with aggressive expansion plans that could reshape the entire landscape. Some of these names might already be familiar to you. Others, honestly, you've probably never even heard of. What's wild is that a few of them went from single locations to nationwide operations in less than a decade. That kind of growth doesn't happen by accident. Let's be real, the burger business has always been cutthroat, yet somehow these chains found their edge and they're not slowing down anytime soon.
Shake Shack
For the third quarter of 2025, Shake Shack reported being up nearly sixteen percent in revenue from the previous year, along with growth in both sales and traffic for the same period. That's not just solid performance, it's the kind of momentum most chains dream about. The chain expects to add somewhere between 45 and 50 new restaurants in 2025, the most the brand has ever opened in one year, and that number is expected to reach up to 60 in 2026.
The really ambitious part comes next. Shake Shack plans to reach at least 1,500 company-operated units compared to the previous goal of 450 set during its initial public offering back in 2015. We're talking about tripling down on expansion here. The brand has been spreading beyond its urban roots, moving aggressively into suburban markets with drive-thru formats. Two recent openings were among the highest initial sales days in the company's history, both drive-thru formats in suburban markets. Texas, Florida, Arizona and the Midwest are responding incredibly well to the brand's approach, which honestly makes sense given the combination of quality and convenience they're bringing to these markets.
In-N-Out Burger
In-N-Out had a busy 2025, during which it announced a push into Washington state and simultaneously stated that it was creating a new corporate hub in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2026, with development coinciding with its opening of several new locations in Nashville, the first of which took place in December 2025. The West Coast icon is finally heading east, and that's huge news for burger fans who've been waiting decades. More locations are set to come, and the chain is simultaneously building on its already established presence in Las Vegas, with an enormous location right on the Strip due to open next year.
What makes In-N-Out's expansion so noteworthy is the deliberate pace. This isn't a brand chasing quick growth for the sake of it. They're methodically ensuring their supply chain can support each new market. In-N-Out is building a distribution center in Tennessee, estimated to be completed in early 2026, and will consider opening stores further east once it has a patty-making facility within 300 miles of any new restaurant. That's the kind of commitment to quality that built the brand's cult following in the first place. Let's be honest, when a chain moves this carefully while still expanding, it usually means they're playing the long game, and they plan to win it.
Culver's
People don't just like Culver's, they genuinely love it. In 2025, Culver's revealed that its total number of new openings for the year would add up to between 50 and 60 restaurants in total, and that pace is expected to continue in 2026. What makes this expansion noteworthy is its strategic focus on untouched markets in the South and Midwest rather than stepping into already saturated territories. They're not fighting for scraps in crowded markets. They're creating new fans in places that haven't experienced the brand yet.
Future locations with plans already in place will be in Arizona, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas, plus Culver's will grow further in the Southern states it prioritized in 2025, and significant expansion through the Midwest is in the works as well. The secret sauce here, if you will, is quality. The chain uses fresh, never frozen beef, cooks food to order, and makes frozen custard fresh in small batches throughout the day, making it feel like stepping back to a time when fast food was genuinely soulful. That nostalgic authenticity is exactly what's driving people to seek them out, and honestly, in an era of cookie-cutter chains, it's refreshing.
Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
Here's something that might surprise you. Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers has only been in operation since 2002, and in the last few decades, it's shown astonishing growth and success, as people drift towards its old-school vibe and good grub. At the start of 2025, it reached a unit size of roughly 400. That growth trajectory is impressive for a concept that's barely two decades old.
The brand is deep in the midst of developing more than 130 locations, which started in 2025 and is expected to continue throughout 2026, with Nebraska, North Dakota, and Maryland being key targets for the chain, which announced a few years back that it hoped to reach 800 restaurants by the end of 2026. They might not hit that exact target, but the momentum is undeniable. The brand is now targeting over 800 total locations by 2026, according to recent reports. The retro aesthetic combined with legitimately good steakburgers and fresh-made custard is resonating with customers who want something different from the typical fast-food experience.
Smashburger
Let me tell you about a comeback story that nobody saw coming. The burger chain had managed to grow to 370 locations in the late 2010s, but it then went into serious decline, having to close approximately 160 units and losing its foothold in the market somewhat as the restaurant was one of the casualties of the pandemic and of some executive-level decisions that didn't gel with operators and franchisees. It looked brutal for a while there.
Then something shifted. Under the new leadership of Jim Sullivan, Smashburger's done a 180, and the wind's now back behind this brand, and after a solid 2025 during which it heavily promoted its "Summer of Smash" designed to get people talking again, it's now looking forward to healthier growth in 2026. Smashburger's hoping to open somewhere between 12 to 15 restaurants over the next 12 months, targeting key locations like Charlotte and Salt Lake City, and with a focus on nontraditional locations like naval bases, it may well be finding a niche to expand into without competition. I think that's smart positioning, honestly. Going where others aren't looking could be exactly what brings this brand back to relevance.
7th Street Burger
7th Street Burger is building on its success with lightning-fast expansion, with the brand hoping to reach 60 units by the end of 2026, and add 40 more to that number by the end of 2027. That's aggressive growth for a relatively young chain. Its operations are, at present, concentrated on New York and the areas and states surrounding it, and so far, folks have caught wind of new units for 2026 in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Stamford, Connecticut.
What's exciting about this chain is the potential. It's just the start for this chain, which could well be the talk of the whole country in a few years, according to industry watchers. They're staying regional for now, but the speed of expansion suggests bigger ambitions. When a brand can scale this quickly in competitive markets like New York and New Jersey, it usually means they've figured something out about operations, quality, or both. The next couple of years will reveal whether they can maintain that momentum as they push into new territories.
Smalls Sliders
The slider category has always been interesting, and Smalls Sliders is making serious noise. When this restaurant debuted in October 2019, nobody could have predicted how quickly it would move, but its nimble business model, with burgers made in "cans" which are essentially portable shipping containers that can be erected in no time at all, means that it's exploded. Now, Smalls Sliders has more than 375 cans either in operation or in development across the country, and its brand covers 30 different states.
The brand has been signing franchising and unit deals left, right, and center, with a five-unit deal in Kentucky struck in December 2025, and expansion is also set to occur across Georgia and South Carolina, as well as in North Carolina, and the slider chain is also gaining a foothold in Oklahoma City. The modular approach to restaurant development is genius. Its approach to expansion, incorporating units ranging from larger restaurants to tiny, 800-square-foot operations, means that it was able to press forward where other chains couldn't. It's hard to say for sure, but this flexibility could be the key advantage that lets them outpace competitors in securing prime real estate quickly.
Fatburger
The chain has been operating for over 70 years, but apparently, it's recently decided that it's time to go hard or go home, with Fatburger announcing a massive development deal in February 2025, which will see it open a whopping 40 additional locations in Florida across the next decade. That's a significant commitment to a single state. This development deal is due to begin seeing results at the end of 2025, and from 2026 onward, the brand hopes to be expanding across the Orlando and Tampa Bay metro areas, staking even more claim on the market.
For a chain that's been around since the early 1950s, this kind of renewed energy is fascinating. They're not resting on decades of brand recognition. They're actively going after market share in one of the most competitive restaurant states in the country. Florida is absolutely saturated with burger options, yet Fatburger clearly sees opportunity there. The big, juicy burgers that the name promises have kept them relevant all these years, and now they're betting that same formula will work in a major expansion push.
Whataburger
Whataburger started life back in 1950, and in the 70-plus years that it's been making burgers, it's managed to make some significant inroads, with the chain now boasting more than 1,000 restaurants, with Texas being by far its biggest market. They're already big, but they're not done growing. The chain is planning on opening eight new locations across North Carolina alone.
What I respect about Whataburger's approach is the intentionality. The brand has a five-year growth plan that they review every year, with fresh-never-frozen beef at the core of who they are, according to company leadership. They're not chasing explosive growth at the expense of quality. They're methodically expanding into markets where they believe they can make the best impact. That measured approach has kept them relevant for over seven decades, and there's no reason to think it won't continue working as they push deeper into the Southeast and beyond.
Dave's Hot Chicken
Okay, technically this is a chicken chain, not a burger chain, yet it's absolutely worth mentioning because the growth story is insane. In 2025, Dave's Hot Chicken was acquired by private equity firm Roark Capital Group in a deal valued at one billion dollars, and the acquisition is anticipated to fuel the expansion plans. Let me repeat that: one billion dollars for a chain that started in a parking lot with folding tables and a portable fryer.
After opening roughly 80 stores each in 2023 and 2024, the plan is to open somewhere between 155 to 165 locations this year and around the same in 2026, with the fast casual working through a pipeline of over 1,000 franchise locations across the U.S., the Middle East, and Canada. Under a new agreement, Azzurri Group will develop 180 Dave's Hot Chicken restaurants across 10 European countries, including France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey. This is global domination-level ambition. From parking lot pop-up to international expansion in less than a decade, it's a case study in how to scale a restaurant concept at breakneck speed.
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