That last half-dozen years have been among the most challenging for the restaurant business with staffing issues and rising food costs. However, there are many food chains in Missouri that have experienced explosive growth. There are 10 whose presence is now growing faster than any others in the state.<\/p>\n
I decided to explore the food places in Missouri that are currently experiencing big growth. Based on new locations opening this year and the percentage of growth experienced, here are the 10 fastest-growing in Missouri at this moment:<\/p>\n
1 – Cracker Barrel – +15.2% growth rate – 17 new locations opening this year<\/p>\n
Strong Missouri performance; no major new-store announcement found, but the company continues investing in its existing footprint.<\/p>\n
2 –\u00a0Zaxby’s +14.2% growth rate –\u00a0many new locations opening this year<\/p>\n
Biggest confirmed Missouri expansion: a 7-store development agreement covering St. Louis and Columbia.<\/p>\n
3 –\u00a0Nothing Bundt Cakes +13.9% growth rate –\u00a018 new locations opening this year<\/p>\n
Continues aggressive national franchise development; Missouri remains an important market.<\/p>\n
4 –\u00a0Braum’s +13.3% growth rate –\u00a012+ new locations opening this year<\/p>\n
Continuing systemwide expansion, although its biggest 2026 openings so far are outside Missouri.<\/p>\n
5 –\u00a0Golden Corral +12.1% growth rate –\u00a09 new locations opening this year<\/p>\n
National franchise expansion continues, but Missouri’s footprint appears relatively stable.<\/p>\n
6 –\u00a0Shake Shack – +11.8% growth rate –\u00a09 new locations opening this year<\/p>\n
New St. Louis location planned: River City Casino area, with construction planned for 2026.<\/p>\n
7 –\u00a0Jersey Mike’s +10.9% growth rate –\u00a035\u201337 new locations opening this year<\/p>\n
Two Missouri locations are currently listed as in development: Fort Leonard Wood and Maplewood.<\/p>\n
8 –\u00a0Red Lobster +10.6% growth rate –\u00a013 new locations opening this year<\/p>\n
Growth is primarily consumer-spending performance rather than a Missouri expansion story; no major new Missouri development identified.<\/p>\n
9 –\u00a0Whataburger +9.1% growth rate –\u00a019 new locations opening this year<\/p>\n
Still one of Missouri’s more aggressive burger expansions, with a long-term Kansas City\/Missouri development pipeline thanks in part to the support of Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes.<\/p>\n
10 –\u00a0Charleys Cheesesteaks – +9.1% growth rate –\u00a0 At least 1 new location opening this year<\/p>\n
Growing nationally through franchise development; Missouri footprint remains relatively small.<\/p>\n
5 Times Guy Fieri Filmed Triple D Nation in Missouri<\/p>\n
Gallery Credit: Google Maps Street View<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
That last half-dozen years have been among the most challenging for the restaurant business with staffing issues and rising food costs. However, there are many food chains in Missouri that have experienced explosive growth. There are 10 whose presence is now growing faster than any others in the state. I decided to explore the food<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[3642,3640,3638,3641,3639,192],"class_list":["post-18825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-missouri","tag-missouri","tag-missouri-dining","tag-missouri-food","tag-missouri-grocery-stores","tag-missouri-restaurants","tag-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117294315897559725","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}