Random Hypothesis ™: Perhaps it is just the case that it takes 20-30 years for a small chain to become a national franchise. The other chains cited that are younger are also less spread out. If one had the data (and I don’t), it would be interesting to track how long the chain has been around with how far they have spread. (Would you track this by number of franchises? Furthest apart they are? Number of different cities/states they are in?)
I think there is still room for a good fast food barbecue place. That’s one market niche yet to be tapped.
Sonny’s Barbecue almost qualifies, except that it’s a sit-down place. (Is Sonny’s just a Southern phenomenon, BTW?) I can easily see Sonny’s transmogrified into a chain of fast food franchises.
Hereabouts, we’ve lost the only A&W in the region (on I-35 near New Braunfels), and the one Checkers in town bit the dust. I expect we’ll see A&W again, since it was bought by the Tri-whatever company that owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC.
How about Wing Works? It seems to be slowly spinning off of KFC…
…oh, and is Sonic national? I recently read David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day, and he seems to never have heard of it. They also have an expanding rival, calling itself Bumper’s.
I don’t think Sonic is national–we hear about them occasionally here in northern California, but I’ve never actually seen one. Maybe there are some in southern CA, though.
The one that I haven’t seen mentioned here that I like is Port of Subs–they showed up in my college town (San Luis Obispo, CA) around 1986 or so and I became addicted to them (I think they’re better than Subway, Blimpie, or Togo’s, another sub chain that might be regional). However, up here the closest Port of Subs are in Santa Rosa and Vacaville, both of which are about a 2-hour drive from San Jose. A little far to go for a sub, even an excellent one.
I wish it were so.
They wear funny hats.
One problem with ‘good food’ places expanding nationally is that they have a harder time maintaining that quality over all of their restaurants. The big selling point of McDs and the like is that it may not be great, but I can expect to go to one anywhere (even in another country) and get a particular sort of food. IIRC, Cecil did a column on that at one point.
Of course, what is ‘Barbecue’? If it ain’t pork with a vinegar based sauce it may be good food, but it ain’t BBQ! What consitutes BBQ varies a lot from region to region; from eastern to western NC, for example, there’s a big divide over tomato versus vinegar based sauces, and other regions only call it ‘Barbecue’ if it’s based on Beef. IIRC there’s somewhere that bases their Barbeque on lamb with a vinegar-and-tomato sauce. That may be a problem for a BBQ chain trying to catch on.
Fast-food barbecue will never work – the sauce will make a major mess of the steering wheel and the upholstery.
I’m of the opinion that for any fast-food franchise to really take off in the United States, it has to let people drive up to a window, buy something to eat, and let them nosh on it while doing 65 mph down the interstate.
“Togo’s, another sub chain that might be regional”
There are Togo’s here in Chicago, most co-located with existing Dunkin Donuts.
Along the same lines, is Corner Bakery a national chain? The food is somewhat fancier than the usual fast food, but it sells hot food like soups, sandwiches, pasta, and pizza and it’s not a full service (sit down, served by a waitress) restaurant. They’re all over metropolitan Chicago, but I don’t recall seeing one elsewhere. And I think they started within the last 10 years.
Luther’s is a chain that serves barbecue (various smoked meats, with sides, and BBQ sauce). It’s definitely in Texas and Louisiana, I think it’s in Oklahoma, but I’m not sure how far it’s spread. It has a drive through, and it isn’t terribly expensive for sandwiches (to compare it to fast food) - the dinners do cost more than other fast food.
Riboflavin may have a good point about acceptance, but I think that’s true of all restaurants - you have to have a taste for it.
Personally, I liked Luther’s. I miss Luther’s, now that I’m not in Texas. And winterhawk11, another vote for Sonic not being national - it’s not in New England. Period. Closest one is Ohio. My wife misses Sonic. It’s probably not up here because it is a drive-in, with the climate up here, I guess.