A limited-service restaurant is one in which customers choose, order and pay for their food ahead of time. The food can be eaten in the restaurant, taken out, or delivered. Specialty limited-service restaurants specialize in one type of meal or menu item. Today’s market size shows the total sales at these types of restaurants. The top three specialty limited-service restaurants in terms of sales in 2016 were Krispy Kreme (estimated $758 million), Dickey’s Barbeque Pit (estimated $557.6 million), and Auntie Annie’s ($547.9 million).

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2016
Market size: $6.9 billion
Source: “Specialty LSR,” Restaurant Business, June 2017, page 52 available online here.
Original source: Technomic’s Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report
Image source: GoToVan, “Krispy Kreme in Delta (14865312212).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, August 9, 2014, CC-BY-2.0 license available online here. Use of image does not constitute endorsement of brand.