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Q4 2025 saw little change to the sales weakness that many chains struggled with in the first half of the year. Brands like Chipotle and Sweetgreen extended their same-store sales declines, but other chains, like Starbucks, managed to stop recent sales slides as long-term turnaround efforts finally resulted in traffic increases.

The slowdown at fast casual chains observed in Q2 and Q3 continued into Q4, with Wingstop and Cava — major winners in 2024 — reporting continued sluggish sales. The chicken chain’s negative sales trend worsened, and the Mediterranean brand managed same-store sales growth despite a decline in traffic. Sweetgreen posted some of the worst same-store sales declines of any major chain in Q4, with an 11.5% drop.

In QSR and casual dining, results were bifurcated, with segment leaders like Chili’s, McDonald’s and Domino’s continuing to post significant growth, while many competitors like Wendy’s and Pizza Hut, fell further behind.

Check out how 24 major brands have performed in the past eight quarters. These charts will be updated in subsequent quarters.

McDonald’s posted a 6.8% increase in same-store sales during the fourth quarter, marking its best quarter since Q3 2023, when it tallied an increase of 8%. Marketing initiatives and an ongoing focus on value helped drive improvements in the chain’s baseline momentum, CFO Ian Borden said during an earnings call. These initiatives helped bring low-income consumers back to the brand, particularly in December. From its McValue offerings to its Extra Value Meals, the chain is seeing an improvement in value and affordability scores, executives said. 

Taco Bell and KFC posted same-store sales growth of 7% and 1%, respectively, during the fourth quarter. Taco Bell continues to outperform the overall QSR industry due to its aggressive value strategy, popular limited-time offerings and the dramatic growth of its loyalty program. The brand expanded its new value menu nationwide in January, which will likely extend its momentum into Q1 2026. 

Parent company Yum is employing a similar strategy at KFC, focusing on menu and marketing to modernize the brand. One of its biggest forthcoming moves will be the expansion of its Kwench platform this year to 3,000 locations. Kwench has been successful abroad, and Yum didn’t specify where it planned to deploy the platform next. KFC is also growing its Saucy spinoff concept in the U.S. and continues to open more locations.

Burger King’s U.S. comparable sales were up by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, marking the third-consecutive quarter of comps growth for the chain. Restaurant Brands International CEO Josh Kobza said during an earnings call that Burger King has outperformed the burger QSR category during nine out of the last 12 quarters. Marketing initiatives and value plays like its $5 Duos and $7 Trios continue to drive guest engagement. 

By contrast, Burger King’s sister brand, Popeyes, saw a 4.9% decline in same-store sales during the fourth quarter. The chain is currently working to improve its operations by creating consistent speed, accuracy and reliability. RBI executives said corporate has improved its field engagement and provided additional support to underperforming restaurants. The chain will continue to prioritize its core offerings with a focus on fried bone-in chicken, tenders and its sandwich.

Wendy’s had one of the worst quarters out of any of the major QSR brands, with an 11% decline in same-store sales during the fourth quarter. Sweetgreen was the only other chain to post a worse same-store sales decline among the brands Restaurant Dive monitors. 

Wendy’s is undertaking various strategic shifts as part of its Project Fresh initiative to right the company’s direction. That has so far included allowing franchisees more flexibility to stop serving breakfast to instead focus on the lunch, dinner and late-night dayparts. It’s focusing on menu innovation tied to hamburgers and chicken offerings as well. The chain is in the process of closing underperforming locations that comprise 5% to 6% of its system, with 28 units closed in Q4 and the remainder to be closed in the first half of the year.

After many months and a great expenditure of cash — $500 million in additional labor — Starbucks returned to positive transaction growth in its core market, with 3% traffic growth in Q1 of its fiscal 2026. The chain said this increase was attributable to investments in operations, menu design and its service model, as well as a strong lineup of seasonal LTOs and promotional items.

More growth may follow, as the brand plans to spend up to $150 million in high-priority remodels designed to drive sales lifts this year. CEO Brian Niccol said the chain’s emphasis on in-store experience and remodeling is part of a bet that it can outcompete brands that focus solely on transaction speed and tech touchpoints, though Starbucks maintains an emphasis on those too.

Dutch Bros has seen consistent sales growth over the last few years, and opened 55 new shops in Q4, according to its earnings release. It also surpassed the 1,000-store mark in 2025.

CEO Christine Barone said Dutch Bros was uniquely positioned to take advantage of many of the trends shaping coffee consumption. 

“We're also right in the sweet spot of where the growth in this market is. It's about convenience. It's about energy. It's about iced innovation, and we have the best teams and service in this industry,” Barone said on the brand’s Q4 earnings call. 

Black Rock Coffee also posted strong results, with more than a 9% increase in same-store sales. Mark Davis, Black Rock’s CEO, attributed that success to the chain’s “differentiated guest experience, people-first culture and disciplined expansion strategy,” in the chain’s earnings release.

Pizza Hut suffered another attritional quarter in its market share battle with Domino’s. The Yum Brands subsidiary saw its same-store sales fall 5% in the whole of 2025, capped off with a 3% drop in Q4. Its period of underperformance pushed Yum to evaluate Pizza Hut’s positioning and strategy, and the chain will close about 4% of its U.S. locations — roughly 250 units — over the next year. 

Yum Brands is considering a sale of the ailing pizza giant, which is heavily concentrated in the U.S. and would require significant time and resources for a major turnaround. The effort involved could be taxing for a publicly traded firm, like Yum. A sale to a private buyer would insulate the chain from quarter-to-quarter market pressures. However, the list of companies with the cash and the willingness to overhaul a system of Pizza Hut’s size might be limited.

Papa Johns faced another difficult quarter, with a 5% decline in same-store sales in North America. The chain is closing 300 underperforming restaurants in a bid to help boost the health of the overall system. Papa Johns is cutting Papadias and Papa Bites from the menu to improve operational efficiencies. It laid off 7% of its corporate workforce to better align its corporate and field resources with its ongoing transformation plan. 

Domino’s, by contrast, is aiming high with plans to more than double its U.S. pizza QSR market share from roughly 23% to about 50% in the long term, CEO Russell Weiner said. Domino’s has emerged as the clear winner in the QSR pizza segment in recent quarters, as new value plays like its Best Deal Ever, and fresh menu additions, like its Parmesan Stuffed Crust Pizza, have helped it drive buzz and remain relevant.

The fast casual segment, after a strong 2024, saw a notable slowdown last year, which continued into the end of the year. Wingstop’s 5.8% drop was its third-consecutive troubled sales quarter, but new openings offset the sales slide on a systemwide basis. 

The brand’s dramatic store count growth offset the systemwide sales contraction in absolute terms, and Wingstop has cards left to play. The brand’s investment in its Smart Kitchen system has cut ticket times dramatically and improved speed of service; this could make consumers more favorably disposed towards Wingstop going forward. The chain is also planning to launch a new loyalty system later in 2026 that could help it drive sales growth and bring consumers back.

Sweetgreen’s 11.7% same-store sales decline in Q4, driven by a 13% traffic drop, was one of the worst performances by a publicly traded restaurant brand all year. The brand’s inability to find traction in a challenging consumer environment is pushing it to rethink its core menu pricing architecture and to add new menu items — like wraps — that it hopes will open up new dayparts for the chain. 

Sweetgreen closed its $186 million sale of Spyce, the maker of its Infinite Kitchen System, to Wonder in Q4, which resulted in a much-needed injection of cash for the brand. Sweetgreen’s losses mounted through the year, however, reaching $49.7 million in Q4. 

The chain is looking to new catering options, namely a build-you-own catering bar, as a way to bring in big ticket orders and stem some of the sales bleeding. This strategy is similar to the emphasis Chipotle is placing on catering following its own, less dramatic, sales slip.

Chipotle’s same-store sales dipped in three out of four quarters in 2025, prompting the brand to announce a turnaround plan, including an increased LTO cadence and a loyalty relaunch. 

Earlier in 2025, CEO Scott Boatwright said the burrito giant was facing particularly stark challenges with 25- to 35-year-old consumers.

“This group is facing several headwinds, including unemployment, increased student loan repayment and slower real wage growth. We tend to skew younger and slightly over-indexed to this group,” Boatwright said on the brand’s earnings call.

Cava’s same-store sales growth moderated during the quarter and traffic declined, though the brand hit $1 billion in sales in 2025, a major milestone for its rapid expansion. CFO Tricia Tolivar said the brand saw itself as possessing a holistic value proposition and that it could leverage cultural relevance and food quality going forward. The chain has also been relatively restrained in its pricing, with its menu inflation lagging the overall consumer price index, Tolivar said.

Shake Shack’s same-store sales moderated in Q4, dropping to 2.1%. But this was still stronger than many other fast casual chains, and followed a successful Q3 when increased ad spend and an emphasis on in-app value promotions helped drive a 4.9% increase.

While Applebee’s same-store sales took a slight dip in the most recent quarter, IHOP reached positive same-store sales for the first time since Q4 2023. Both Applebee’s and IHOP continue to strengthen their value propositions with value mixes at 34% and 20%, respectively. Applebee’s “2 For” platform represented 22% of transactions during the fourth quarter, and its Grilled Cheese Cheeseburger, which launched in the fourth quarter, was its highest-selling standalone burger ever and its highest selling “2 For” burger of all time, Dine Brands CEO John Peyton said during an earnings call. 

IHOP expanded its “House Faves” from five to seven days a week in September, helping drive traffic during the quarter. While the value menu increased visits, guests are also choosing premium items from breakfast, combos and limited-time offerings, like pumpkin spice and coffee cake pancakes, Peyton said. 

First Watch posted a 3% increase in same-store sales during the fourth quarter and opened 64 restaurants in 2025 — the highest number of openings in one year in the company’s history, CEO Chris Tomasso said during an earnings call. The company has focused on improving menu navigation and added several common customer add-ons, while removing single-use SKUs to reduce complexity for back-of-house staff, Tomasso said. He added that the chain has preserved its value proposition, despite a modest price increase and has delivered restaurant-level operating profit margins of 18.5%. 

Texas Roadhouse remained among the top-performing brands in the segment and has now had 60 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth, CEO Gerald Morgan said during the chain’s earnings call. The chain plans to increase prices by 1.9% at the start of the second quarter, but Morgan said the chain’s pricing is well under its competitors in full-service dining on a 12-month rolling average. Texas Roadhouse has largely stayed away from discounting, focusing instead on hospitality and offering large portions as pillars of its value perception. 

Outback Steakhouse reported its first positive comparable traffic since 2021, during the fourth quarter with an increase of 0.9%, though shifting ticket and mix meant the chain’s same-store sales declined slightly. The positive traffic reflected the chain’s ongoing investment in a turnaround strategy that focused on improving steak quality during the recent quarter. Improved steaks led to higher guest satisfaction and reorder intent scores. The chain is working on store remodels, increasing the number of servers on the floor during peak hours and improving back-of-house productivity. 

Chili’s continued its same-store sales growth streak into its fiscal Q2 2026 with ongoing momentum driven by the chain’s improvements in food quality, hospitality and employee satisfaction. Menu development helped drive sales during the quarter, particularly the return of its Skillet Queso lineup, which sold 20% higher than past Queso items. An updated version of nachos with chicken, bacon and ranch sold 170% higher than a prior nacho iteration. Chili’s is also working on remodeling 200 units that are over a decade old and plans to start opening new Chili’s restaurants in about two years.  

Olive Garden continued its streak of same-store sales gains during fiscal Q2, with traffic up 1.7%. The chain rolled out a lighter portion menu over the past few months that has helped improve its affordability perception. Delivery is also growing well, and made up 4% of Olive Garden’s sales mix during the quarter.