A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a "meat-sweet diet", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away, though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.
Tim Hortons Inc., known colloquially as Tim's, Timmies, or Timmy's, is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain with headquarters in Toronto; it serves coffee, donuts, sandwiches, breakfast egg muffins and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service restaurant chain, with 5,701 restaurants in 13 countries, as of September 2023.
Country Style Food Services, Inc., formerly Country Style Donuts, is a fast/casual chain of coffee shops operating primarily in the Canadian province of Ontario, which serves oatmeal, soup, sandwiches, salads, and coffee. The chain is based in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Dunkin' Donuts LLC, trading as Dunkin' since 2019 in some markets, is an American multinational coffee and donut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1950. The chain was acquired by Baskin-Robbins' holding company Allied Lyons in 1990; its acquisition of the Mister Donut chain and the conversion of that chain to Dunkin' Donuts facilitated the brand's growth in North America that year.
Firehouse Restaurant Group, Inc., doing business as Firehouse Subs, is an American fast casual restaurant chain based in Jacksonville, Florida that specializes in submarine sandwiches. It was founded in 1994 by former firefighter brothers Chris and Robin Sorensen. It is a subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International, which also owns the chains Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons.
Mister Donut is an international chain of doughnut stores, operating mostly in Asia. It was founded in the United States in 1956 by Harry Winokur. Primary offerings include doughnuts, coffee, muffins and pastries. After being acquired by Allied Domecq in 1990, most of the North American stores became Dunkin' Donuts. Outside of the United States, Mister Donut maintains a presence in Japan, El Salvador, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Coffee Time is a chain of Canadian snack and coffee shops, headquartered in Scarborough, Ontario. Coffee Time has operated as many as over 100 stores across Canada in Ontario and Alberta, but by February 2023 their website shows approximately 30 locations. Coffee Time serves coffee along with other specialty drinks, baked goods, breakfast sandwiches, and deli sandwiches and soup.
241 Pizza is a Canadian franchise chain of quick-serve pizza restaurants headquartered in the Toronto district of Scarborough, Ontario.
Wetson's was an American fast food hamburger chain that existed from 1959 to 1975. At its peak, Wetson's had approximately 70 locations in the greater New York metropolitan area.
Retail Food Group (Australia) Limited, often abbreviated as RFG, is an ASX-listed company and Australian franchisor based in Robina, Queensland. It owns numerous companies including Gloria Jean's Coffees, Brumby's Bakeries, Donut King, Michel's Patisserie, Di Bella Coffee, The Coffee Guy, Café2U, Pizza Capers and Crust Pizza.
Bess Eaton or Bess Eaton Management LLC is a small chain of coffee shops based in Rhode Island and Connecticut, serving doughnuts, bagels, and muffins. It started in 1953, grew to over 50 shops throughout southern New England, was sold to other chains following bankruptcy in 2004. The chain reopened in 2011 under new ownership. As of 2023, there are three locations: two in Rhode Island and one in Connecticut.
Coffee wars, sometimes referred to as caffeine wars, involve a variety of sales and marketing tactics by coffeehouse chains and espresso machine manufacturers to increase brand and consumer market share. In North America belligerents in these wars typically include large coffeehouses, such as Starbucks, Dunkin', McDonald's, and Tim Hortons. According to The Economist, the largest coffee war of the late 2000s was between Starbucks and McDonalds in the United States. The U.S. market has, since the early 2010s, been primarily contested by its two largest players, Starbucks and Dunkin'. Since 2020, competition over the Chinese coffee market has intensified between Starbucks and Luckin Coffee.
Jollibee Foods Corporation is a Philippine multinational company headquartered in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines. JFC is the owner of the fast food brand Jollibee.
Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI) is a Canadian-American multinational fast food holding company. It was formed in 2014 by the $12.5 billion merger between American fast food restaurant chain Burger King and Canadian coffee shop and restaurant chain Tim Hortons, and expanded by the 2017 purchase of American fast-food chain Popeyes. The company is the fifth-largest operator of fast food restaurants in the world after Subway, McDonald's Corporation, Starbucks and Yum! Brands. They are based alongside Tim Hortons in Toronto. For tax purposes, Burger King and Popeyes retain their existing operations and headquarters, both in Miami. The 2014 merger focused primarily on expanding the international reach of the Tim Hortons brand and providing financial efficiencies for both companies.
Coffee and doughnuts is a common food and drink pairing in the United States and Canada. The pairing is often consumed as a simple breakfast, and is often consumed in doughnut shops as well as coffeeshops. The pairing may also be served and consumed as a refreshment.
