Fast Food Junkie

I admit it: I'm a bit of a fast food junkie. Sometimes I just crave a Big Mac or Training Table cheese fries (if you don't live in Utah, you have no idea what you're missing). Plus, the convenience factor weighs heavily on the amount of money I personally spend on fast food. Sometimes we're running late, or we're in a hurry, or I'm just really lazy, that to be able to pull up to a window (I don't even have to get out of my car!), pay a few bucks, and have a hot, fully cooked meal handed to me is a little slice of heaven.

Calories-schmalories.

I will say I've been eating a whole lot less since I went gluten-free* as it's difficult to find something to eat at a fast food place that fits the bill. Many fast food places are now aware of allergens such as this, and will offer some options, including a lettuce burger (lettuce in place of the bun, which is actually quite good). McDonald's was the first to offer fries cooked in a dedicated fryer to prevent cross contamination. I think most food places now follow suit.

I ran across this interesting story from The Daily Meal which talks about the top grossing US fast food chains. I don't think anyone will be surprised by who falls at number 1 (yes, there are golden arches involved), but take a look at just how far ahead of the competition #1 is as far as yearly sales.

Do any of these surprise you? Are there any you thought would be on here that are not? Leave your thoughts below.

I wasn't surprised by Starbucks mostly because of the massive number of Starbuck's out there (one on every corner, right?). And it's true, they do have far more locations that the other places. But they still rake in a lot of dough!

FYI: The dollar amounts given are in billions of dollars.

Top Grossing Fast Food Places in America

9. KFC $4.7B

8. Pizza Hut $5.4B

7. Dunkin' Donuts $5.4B

6. Taco Bell $6.9B

5. Wendy's $7.9B

4. Starbucks $8B

3. Burger King $8.4B

2. Subway $10.6B



And the winner by about 3x the amount of gross sales to the next nearest competitor, and actually with more sales than the next 3 highest combined... (drum roll, please)

1. McDonald's $32.4B

So there you have it. Now you know where all of your hard earned billions are going each year!

*My daughter has Celiac, which requires her to eat gluten-free. I eat gluten-free simply in support of her, so she doesn't have to do it alone. You'd be how surprised at how easy, and yet how difficult, it is to eat gluten-free.