The Top 25 Restaurant Groups in 2026

Restaurant groups own, operate, license, or manage multiple restaurant concepts. This allows distinct brands to share resources such as purchasing, technology, finance, hiring, and marketing. 

The structure helps operators expand while preserving the menus, identities, and guest experiences that make each concept unique. As groups add locations, brands, and markets, coordinating performance becomes more complex.

Operators need centralized systems that provide company-wide visibility without forcing every restaurant to operate identically. Toast Multi-Location Management reflects this approach by letting restaurant groups manage reporting, menus, and location- or group-level settings from one platform.

The restaurant groups doing this most successfully range from regional family-owned companies to global hospitality operators. This article ranks the top 25 restaurant groups in 2026 by their latest publicly reported portfolio size and examines the concepts, markets, and operating models behind their growth.

Key takeaways

• Lettuce Entertain You tops the 2026 ranking, followed by Hal Smith Restaurants, Fox Restaurant Concepts, Thompson Restaurants, and TAO Group Hospitality.

• The top restaurant groups range from regional family-owned operators to global companies managing restaurants, hotels, bars, and entertainment venues.

• Successful groups typically balance repeatable brands with distinctive concepts tailored to particular markets, properties, or dining occasions.

• Portfolio totals are not perfectly comparable because some groups report restaurants only, while others include clubs, cafés, bars, hotels, or entertainment venues.

• Shared systems help large restaurant groups coordinate dozens of concepts and locations without making every brand operate or feel the same.

How we ranked the top restaurant groups

We ranked multiconcept restaurant groups by their latest publicly reported number of active locations as of July 2026. To qualify, a company had to own, manage, or license at least two distinct restaurant concepts; chain-focused parent companies and franchisors such as Yum! Brands were excluded.

We prioritized official company websites, location directories, and press releases. When a company did not report a current total, we conservatively counted its active portfolio and labeled the figure as approximate.

Unlike Nation’s Restaurant News’ rankings, which focus on U.S. multiconcept operators, our analysis also includes international groups, hotel-based operators, destination-dining companies, and hospitality groups that combine restaurants with bars or entertainment venues. 

This broader scope produces a different set of rankings while giving you another way to evaluate the industry’s largest multiconcept operators.

Because private companies do not report portfolio size consistently, the totals are not perfectly equivalent. Some include restaurants only, while others also count bars, clubs, cafés, hotels, or entertainment venues; these differences are noted throughout the ranking.

The top 25 restaurant groups in 2026

1. Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants

Lettuce Entertain You owns, manages, or licenses over 130 restaurants representing more than 60 concepts. Its brands range from fast-casual and neighborhood restaurants to RPM, Aba, Joe’s Seafood, Mon Ami Gabi, and Wildfire.

What makes Lettuce Entertain You stand out is its entrepreneurial partnership model. Instead of forcing every restaurant into one format, the Chicago-based, family-owned company gives its concepts room to develop their own menus, designs, and guest experiences.

2. Hal Smith Restaurants

Hal Smith Restaurants has grown to more than 85 locations across seven Midwestern states. Its portfolio includes Charleston’s Restaurant, Mahogany Prime Steakhouse, Redrock Canyon Grill, Neighborhood JAM, The Garage, and several smaller concepts.

If you look across the portfolio, you can see how the company serves different occasions without straying too far from its regional strengths. Its concepts cover everything from burgers and brunch to polished casual dining and premium steakhouses.

3. Fox Restaurant Concepts

Fox Restaurant Concepts operates 13 concepts across more than 80 locations. The company confirms that its gift cards are accepted at more than 80 locations representing 13 concepts, including Culinary Dropout, Flower Child, Blanco Cocina + Cantina, The Henry, Doughbird, and Olive & Ivy.

Founder Sam Fox has built the portfolio around restaurants with distinct menus and recognizable physical designs. What began as an Arizona-based operation now reaches markets across the South, West, Midwest, and East Coast.

4. Thompson Restaurants

Thompson Restaurants operates more than 70 restaurants across 15 brands. Its universal gift-card program confirms that the portfolio includes more than 70 locations and 15 distinct brands.

Those brands include Matchbox, Milk & Honey, Wiseguy Pizza, Makers Union, Hen Quarter, The Delegate, and Big Buns. If you visit several Thompson restaurants, you may encounter very different menus and dining environments, but the concepts are connected through shared operational, loyalty, and gift-card systems.

5. TAO Group Hospitality

TAO Group Hospitality operates more than 70 branded locations in over 20 markets. Its portfolio includes TAO, LAVO, Beauty & Essex, Cathédrale, Hakkasan, Marquee, Sake No Hana, and other globally recognized hospitality brands.

TAO’s figure is broader than a conventional restaurant-unit count. It includes restaurants alongside bars, lounges, nightclubs, and daylife venues, reflecting a business model that combines dining and entertainment in markets such as New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London, and Dubai.

6. Cameron Mitchell Restaurants

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants operates 51 restaurants under 20 concepts in 15 states and Washington, D.C.. Ocean Prime is its largest national brand, while the wider portfolio includes The Pearl, Marcella’s, Cap City Fine Diner, Del Mar, The Avenue, and several Columbus-area concepts.

The privately held company balances the national expansion of Ocean Prime with single-market and small-chain restaurants. It also operates Cameron Mitchell Premier Events and Budd Dairy Food Hall, which serves as a food hall and chef incubator.

7. Atlas Restaurant Group

Atlas Restaurant Group has grown to more than 50 locations across Maryland, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Its portfolio includes Azumi, Loch Bar, The Choptank, Ouzo Bay, Monarque, Tagliata, and The Ruxton.

Atlas describes itself as a lifestyle hospitality group, so its total includes restaurants, bars, and entertainment concepts. When you visit some of its properties, the experience may combine full-service dining with waterfront settings, nightlife, live entertainment, or theatrical design.

8. FB Society

FB Society operates more than 45 locations and employs more than 4,000 team members. Its portfolio includes Whiskey Cake, Mexican Sugar, Haywire, Sixty Vines, The Ranch at Las Colinas, and several other restaurant and hospitality concepts.

The Dallas-based group develops experience-driven brands that can expand without sharing one cuisine or service format. Its portfolio ranges from wine-focused dining and modern Texas restaurants to fast-casual concepts and food halls.

9. Cunningham Restaurant Group

Cunningham Restaurant Group operates more than 45 locations representing 18 concepts. Major brands include BRU Burger Bar, Stone Creek Dining Company, Livery, Mesh, Union 50, and Rize.

If you dine across its portfolio, you’ll find breakfast restaurants, burger concepts, Latin-inspired menus, seafood, Italian food, and upscale American dining. The Indianapolis-based company has grown primarily through regional brands supported by a smaller collection of individual concepts.

10. The Indigo Road Hospitality Group

The Indigo Road Hospitality Group operates more than 40 restaurant and hospitality properties, based on its current public portfolio. Its concepts include Oak Steakhouse, O-Ku, Indaco, Colletta, and several restaurants developed for individual markets, while the company reports a team of more than 1,800 people.

The company has expanded beyond restaurants into boutique hotels, cafés, rooftop bars, membership clubs, and event venues. That means its overall hospitality portfolio is larger than the restaurant count used for this ranking.

11. Major Food Group

Major Food Group operates more than 30 restaurants, with a broader global portfolio of more than 40 restaurant, club and hospitality locations. The company’s wider location directory includes additional clubs and hospitality venues connected to brands such as Carbone, Sadelle’s, Dirty French, Contessa, Parm, The Grill, and ZZ’s Club.

The New York-founded group has expanded into Miami, Dallas, Las Vegas, Boston, and international destinations. If you know Major Food Group primarily through Carbone, its broader portfolio shows how the company has extended its theatrical service style into private clubs, bars, hotels, and residential hospitality projects.

12. STARR Restaurants

STARR Restaurants operates more than 40 restaurants across Philadelphia, New York, Washington, D.C., South Florida, Nashville, and other markets, based on its current restaurant directory. The portfolio includes Parc, Buddakan, Morimoto, Pastis, Le Coucou, El Vez, Makoto, and The Continental.

Founder Stephen Starr has generally expanded through individual concepts and selective replications rather than one dominant national chain. As a diner, you may not immediately recognize that two STARR restaurants share an operator because each concept is built around its own chef, architecture, menu, and identity.

13. José Andrés Group

José Andrés Group operates approximately 40 restaurants in the United States and international markets, based on its current restaurant portfolio. Its concepts include Jaleo, Zaytinya, Oyamel, China Chilcano, The Bazaar, minibar, and restaurants developed with hotels and resorts.

The portfolio spans food trucks, casual restaurants, hotel dining, and Michelin-recognized tasting menus. Rather than repeating one restaurant everywhere, the group frequently uses food and design to tell a specific culinary or cultural story.

14. LM Restaurants

LM Restaurants reports 12 brands and 38 locations across the Southeast. Carolina Ale House is its largest repeatable concept, while the company also operates Vidrio, Taverna Agora, Bluewater Waterfront Grill, Oceanic, and Lucky Fish.

The Raleigh-based company is owned and operated by the Moshakos family. Its portfolio combines a scalable regional casual-dining brand with location-specific waterfront, Mediterranean, and upscale restaurants.

15. M Crowd Restaurant Group

M Crowd Restaurant Group’s portfolio includes Mi Cocina, The Mercury, Monkey Bar, Sushi at The Mercury, Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q, and Razzoo’s Cajun Cafe. Mi Cocina lists 23 restaurants in its official location directory, while M Crowd’s January 2026 acquisition added 11 operating Razzoo’s locations.

This brings the group’s active fixed-location portfolio to approximately 36 restaurants. Mi Cocina remains the group’s largest concept, with 22 locations across North Texas and one in Tulsa. The Razzoo’s acquisition added 10 restaurants in Texas and one in Concord, North Carolina, expanding M Crowd into Cajun casual dining.

16. Sage Restaurant Concepts

Sage Restaurant Concepts has reported operating more than 30 restaurants, bars and coffee shops across 11 states. Its concepts include Urban Farmer, Departure, Hello Betty, The Original, Kachina Cantina, and independent hotel restaurants.

Sage frequently develops restaurants connected to hotels while giving the restaurants their own names and identities. The group operates within Sage Hospitality Group, which also includes hotel management, investment, and hospitality-design businesses.

17. MINA Group

MINA Group operates more than 30 restaurants across the United States and international markets, based on its current restaurant portfolio. Its concepts include Bourbon Steak, StripSteak, PABU, Orla, Bardot Brasserie, and restaurants created with luxury hotels and resorts.

Chef Michael Mina’s group frequently uses hotel partnerships to enter prominent hospitality destinations. Bourbon Steak has become its most widely replicated brand, while many of the group’s other restaurants are designed specifically for their properties and markets.

18. Patina Group

Patina Group reports more than 30 brands and concepts in its portfolio. Its operations include Morimoto Asia, Space 220, The Edison, Naples Ristorante, Centrico, Paseo, and restaurants located at cultural and entertainment destinations.

The Delaware North-owned group specializes in high-volume premium hospitality at Disney destinations, museums, performance centers, golf facilities, and landmark properties.

19. V&E Hospitality Group

V&E Hospitality Group operates approximately 30 restaurants and hotel venues across South Florida and Las Vegas. The company reports more than 26 venues in Miami-Dade and Broward counties plus four restaurants in Las Vegas.

Its brands include Havana 1957, Café Americano, Paperfish Sushi, Mercato della Pescheria, and Cortadito Coffee House. If you explore the wider portfolio, you’ll find full-service restaurants, Cuban coffee shops, hotel dining, and nightlife-oriented concepts.

20. Boka Restaurant Group

Boka Restaurant Group’s current portfolio contains more than 30 restaurant, bar, rooftop, catering, and hotel-dining entries. Major concepts include Boka, Girl & the Goat, Momotaro, Swift & Sons, Cabra, Cira, Laser Wolf Brooklyn, and K’Far Brooklyn.

The Chicago-founded group develops restaurants through partnerships with chefs such as Stephanie Izard, Lee Wolen, Gene Kato, Chris Pandel, and Michael Solomonov. Its expansion into New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville has broadened a portfolio that was once concentrated primarily in Chicago.

21. Rocket Farm Restaurants

Rocket Farm Restaurants has grown to more than 27 restaurants and nearly 1,800 team members. Its concepts include The Optimist, Superica, Little Rey, Marcel, BeetleCat, St. Cecilia, State of Grace, and several newer restaurants.

Chef and founder Ford Fry has expanded the Atlanta-based group into Houston, Nashville, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Winter Park. Rocket Farm combines repeatable concepts such as Superica with restaurants designed specifically for individual neighborhoods.

22. Hogsalt

Hogsalt operates more than 25 restaurants across four cities and employs more than 1,300 people. Its portfolio includes Au Cheval, Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf, Ciccio Mio, Trivoli Tavern, 4 Charles Prime Rib, Armitage Alehouse, and Small Cheval.

The Chicago-based group is known for intimate dining rooms, detailed service, and tightly focused menus. Instead of rapidly replicating every successful concept, Hogsalt has expanded selectively into New York, Las Vegas, and Paris.

23. Cohn Restaurant Group

Cohn Restaurant Group operates 24 restaurant locations representing 23 distinct dining concepts across Southern California and Maui. Its portfolio includes Coasterra, Island Prime, C Level, Corvette Diner, Vintana, Draft Republic, and BO-beau.

Founded by David and Lesley Cohn, the family-owned group has operated restaurants for more than 40 years. Its concepts range from casual neighborhood restaurants to waterfront and resort-oriented destinations.

24. DineAmic Hospitality

DineAmic Hospitality reports 20 locations and more than 1,200 team members. Its portfolio includes Siena Tavern, Prime & Provisions, Barrio, Lyra, Fioretta, Bar Siena, La Serre, and Violí.

The Chicago-based group treats design and atmosphere as central parts of each concept. Most of its locations remain in the Chicago area, but DineAmic has also expanded into suburban Illinois and Florida.

25. KNEAD Hospitality + Design

KNEAD Hospitality + Design reports 10 concepts across 15 locations. Its restaurants include Mi Vida, Succotash, The Grill, Gatsby, Bistro Du Jour, Beresovsky’s Deli, and several fast-casual concepts operating inside Swingers.

The Washington, D.C.-based company manages concept development, restaurant operations, and physical design under one organization. Its footprint now reaches beyond the capital region into Virginia Beach and Philadelphia.

What successful restaurant groups have in common

As you can see from this list, there is no single formula for building a successful restaurant group. Some companies grow a handful of repeatable brands, while others create a different concept for nearly every location.

However, the strongest groups generally centralize the systems that benefit from scale. Shared reporting, purchasing, finance, hiring, marketing, and technology can reduce unnecessary duplication, while local leaders preserve each restaurant’s menu, service style, and identity.

Maintaining that balance gets harder as you enter new markets and add more concepts. You need a clear view of performance across the company without forcing every restaurant to make identical menu or operating decisions.

Toast Multi-Location Management lets restaurant groups manage reporting, menus, and group- or location-level settings from a centralized platform. This means you can standardize essential workflows across your organization while preserving the differences that make each restaurant concept valuable.

FAQs

What is the difference between a restaurant group and a chain?

A restaurant group operates multiple concepts with distinct brands, menus, and experiences, while a chain repeats the same core concept across many locations.

What are the benefits of being part of a restaurant group?

Restaurants within a group can share purchasing, technology, reporting, finance, hiring, and marketing resources while maintaining their individual identities.

How do restaurant groups differ from franchises?

Restaurant groups typically own, operate, license, or manage several distinct concepts, while franchises allow independent operators to use the same brand and operating model.

What is the largest restaurant group in the U.S.?

Lettuce Entertain You is the largest multiconcept restaurant group in this ranking, with approximately 130 restaurants and more than 60 concepts.

† The company’s reported total includes some bars, clubs, cafés, hotels, or entertainment venues alongside conventional restaurants.

‡ The total is based on a current portfolio review, an approximate or dated company figure, or a reported concept count rather than a standardized restaurant-unit total.