In the USA we have fast food chains like “McDonalds,” “KFC,” “Pizza Hut,” etc that are big in the USA and they are all over the world too.
I was just wondering if there are fast food chains that are big all over the rest of the world but unheard of (or basically unheard of) in the USA?
I’m going to go out on a limb and say “No”. There are some big chains in Canada that aren’t big here, like Tim Horton’s and Harvey’s (hamburgers), but I’ve never seen those outside of Canada. Likewise there is a fish and chips place that seems to have a lot of locations in England, but I’ve not seen even on continental Europe. I can’t think of any European chains that really got much beyond their own borders, much less out of Europe.
You’d think there’d be one, but I’m drawing a blank, and I’ve been to most continents and many countries.
Interesting question. It reminds me of the fact that in my industry, which is carwashing, there are exactly zero national chains in the USA, only regional ones.
Nordsee was pretty big around Germany and the surrounding countries, but it’s not McDonald’s big (Wikipedia says 364 restaurants in Germany and 56 in other countries.) I also remember Quick being popular around France, Beligum, and some other countries (Wikipedia reports over 400 restaurants.) Wimpy Hamburgers used to have over a thousand locations in the 70s, but apparently is a much smaller operation now.
Oh, just thought of one more: Nando’s (peri-peri chicken). Based in South Africa, they have over 700 locations worldwide, with over 50 in London alone.
Tim’s has qute a few outlets in New England now. I go to one in Connecticut quite a lot when I’m down there. They aren’t nearly as good as the ones in Canada though. There’s something different about the coffee and the sizes are ridiculous; I ordered a large and it came in a cup the size of a small bucket.
Two points:
Yes, there are quite a few Tim Horton’s in the U.S. They are in the northeast, more or less.
Nando’s is a chain that does peri-peri chicken. There is one of their restaurants in the U.S. (in Washington, D.C.). This is the restaurant that I have been telling people for years now should expand into the U.S.
I figure if there is one it would be an Indian or Middle Eastern food chain. Curry and Kabab/Shawarma joints are huge around the world, especially in Anglo places like the UK, Australia and Canada. In the US they are pretty rare and the market is generally confined to small family owned Gyro joints in cities with big Greek populations.
Abra Kebabra out of Ireland is the only example that comes to mind though. Having had it many times after drinking at the Pubs in Dublin it would be a pretty solid addition to a city like Boston, San Fransisco, Miami or San Diego if you were a entrepreneur.
Pollo Camperos are starting to pop up around the valley. Foods not that great though.
It is when you’re stuck in the San Salvador airport. 
I also see that they’ve signed a deal to start showing up inside Wal-Mart stores in the US…interesting…
To go off topic… The ones I’ve been to in the Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun area of CT are old Bess Eatons and yes, they’re bad.
This was the first one that came to mind for me. The Wiki site suggests that Nando’s has a presence in 32 countries.
Came in here to say Nando’s as well. Australia has Oporto and Red Rooster.
Dico’s chicken is a lot like KFC, and can be found in just about any city in China.
This what I came in to say.
Diko’s is huge in China(and it’s fantastic by the way). I wish we had that here.
Also, I’m surprised to learn that Tim Hornton’s is not a nationwide chain in the U.S. I live in Michigan and didn’t realize it’s not common. What…is it just Starbucks, McDonalds, and Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee everywhere?
I wish there were one in Chicago because, man, I love me a peri-peri chicken. That’s pretty much all I ate (though I don’t think I actually went to a Nando’s) while I was in South Africa.
There are lots of other coffee shops all around the U.S. Many of them are parts of chains, although except for Starbucks they are only moderate-sized chains. Incidentally, Pollo Campero doesn’t belong in this thread any more than Tim Horton’s does, since both Pollo Campero and Tim Horton’s have a fair amount of restaurants in the U.S., although they have many more outside the U.S.
Apparently Oporto does more or less the same sort of thing as Nando’s, which is peri-peri chicken. That’s chicken cooked in the style of the Portuguese colonists in Mozambique. Nando’s opened up its first restaurant in the U.S. last year. Oporto is opening up its first restaurant in the U.S. next year.
Isn’t there a fried chicken chain that’s popular in the Middle East? I’m going off a half-remembered episode of No Reservations, so maybe it was just a localized KFC, but I thought it was something unique to the region.
Mmmmmm, Quick… must get to Belgium again soon 
When we were in Barcelona we noticed a lot of Pans & Company sandwich shops - ate their once, it was quite good for fast food. I have no idea how large an area the chain covers, though, although there seemed to be about 5000 in Barcelona alone…
Here in Troll Country we have a few chains, like Jafs (burgers, chicken nuggets, etc) and Big Bite (subs), but McDonald’s and Burger King are more visible.
Peppe’s and Dolly Dimple’s are the big pizza chains, in that order, but I don’t know if you want to call them “fast food” - they’re casual sit-down restaurants, like Pizza Hut, but on the other hand the OP specifically mentions Pizza Hut. Here’s a hint: if you’re eating in the restaurant, DD is better, but if you’re getting take-out, go for Peppe’s. This is because a hot fresh DD pizza is sublime, but it rapidly loses its appeal as it cools. On the other hand, a Peppe’s pizza is pretty damn mediocre no matter what temperature it is 
Pret a Manger is a British chain of sandwich shops. In terms of entering the American market, they’re ahead of Nando’s, since they have more than one restaurant in the U.S., but they aren’t at the level of Pollo Campero or Tim Horton’s yet, since they are only in a very limited region.