The Largest Restaurants in North Carolina
13,165 active restaurants across North Carolina, ranked two ways: by total locations and by revenue + popularity. The top of your lead list.
- 13,165 active restaurants across North Carolina. 1131 operate multiple locations; the rest are single-location independents.
- The top 9 by review count hold 8% of all North Carolina restaurants reviews (773,592 of 9,999,954). Concentrated brand equity.
- 5 operators rank in both top-9 lists. The most valuable accounts to call: Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, Biscuitville Fresh Southern, Hwy 55, Mission Bbq.
North Carolina restaurants by location count
Ranked by total locations operating across North Carolina. 1131 restaurants operate multiple locations the state; the top 9 are shown. National chains over 250 locations are excluded.
| Rank | Restaurants | Locs | Reviews | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |
Hwy 55
Shallotte · ★4.0
|
187 | 93,043 | 10+contacts→ |
| 02 |
Mission Bbq
Fayetteville · ★4.6
|
164 | 224,243 | 10+contacts→ |
| 03 |
Biscuitville Fresh Southern
Raleigh · ★4.2
|
98 | 71,153 | 10+contacts→ |
| 04 |
Moe's Original Bbq
Asheville · ★4.4
|
58 | 42,566 | 10+contacts→ |
| 05 |
Bad Daddy's Burger Bar
Raleigh · ★4.2
|
47 | 97,413 | 10+contacts→ |
| 06 |
Smithfield Chicken N Bar-B-Q
Warsaw · ★4.3
|
45 | 50,870 | 10+contacts→ |
| 07 |
Crave Hot Dogs And Bbq
Concord · ★4.0
|
45 | 9,181 | 10+contacts→ |
| 08 |
Showmars
Charlotte · ★4.2
|
41 | 35,417 | 10+contacts→ |
| 09 |
Pasta Americana
Charlotte · ★2.7
|
40 | 348 | 10+contacts→ |
North Carolina restaurants by revenue and popularity
Ranked by total review count (popularity proxy). The top 9 collectively hold 8% of all North Carolina restaurants reviews.
| Rank | Restaurants | Reviews | Locs | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |
Mission Bbq
Fayetteville · ★4.6
|
224,243 | 164 | 10+contacts→ |
| 02 |
Bad Daddy's Burger Bar
Raleigh · ★4.2
|
97,413 | 47 | 10+contacts→ |
| 03 |
Hwy 55
Shallotte · ★4.0
|
93,043 | 187 | 10+contacts→ |
| 04 |
Biscuitville Fresh Southern
Raleigh · ★4.2
|
71,153 | 98 | 10+contacts→ |
| 05 |
Tupelo Honey
Asheville · ★4.3
|
67,668 | 31 | 10+contacts→ |
| 06 |
Viva Chicken
Charlotte · ★4.7
|
64,780 | 18 | 10+contacts→ |
| 07 |
Kickback Jack's Restaurants
Raleigh · ★4.1
|
55,080 | 21 | 10+contacts→ |
| 08 |
Smithfield Chicken N Bar-B-Q
Warsaw · ★4.3
|
50,870 | 45 | 10+contacts→ |
| 09 |
Sullivan Steak House
Raleigh · ★4.5
|
49,342 | 16 | 10+contacts→ |
Methodology
Two independent rankings, no composite score. By location count: total locations operated across North Carolina (the chains and aggregators). By revenue and popularity: total review count across web and social channels (the cleanest available popularity proxy). Each row rolls up one restaurant across all their locations.
Restaurant records draw from 12+ public and private data sources, refresh weekly, and are independently verified against at least two of them, including state license rosters from the North Carolina Medical Board and publicly available business records. Owner contacts come from a separate 20+ source scan and refresh monthly.
About Orbital
Orbital is the Zoominfo for companies selling to SMBs. Our platform enables companies to get their whole TAM (total addressable market) in a box, find contacts not on LinkedIn, and score accounts with custom ICP attributes. The restaurant directory you're reading right now is one slice of that platform, covering every US metro and state. See why companies including Instacart, Classpass, and Jobber are using Orbital today.
Common questions
Why use review count as the popularity proxy?
Restaurant revenue is notoriously hard to find publicly: most restaurants are independent, privately held, and don't publish financials. Review count is the cleanest available proxy for size and how established a business is, so the restaurants with the most reviews are typically the ones running the most volume.
Where are most North Carolina restaurants concentrated?
Top North Carolina restaurant clusters by review volume: Fayetteville, Raleigh, Shallotte, Asheville. Orbital tracks 13,165 active restaurants across the state. 1131 of them operate multiple locations.
How many restaurants are in North Carolina?
Orbital tracks 13,165 active restaurants across North Carolina. 1131 operate multiple locations, accounting for the bulk of locations across the state.
Who is this list for?
B2B vendors who sell into restaurants: POS and payment systems, online ordering and delivery platforms, inventory and back-of-house software, food and beverage distributors, capital providers, M&A brokers, marketing agencies, and professional services. It is not a consumer directory and is not optimised for booking appointments.
How do I get owner contact info (mobile phone, email) for these restaurants?
Every restaurant on the list has verified owner / GM contacts available upon signing up with Orbital. You get mobile phones, work emails, and decision-maker titles, not generic front-desk numbers. Contact records come from a separate scan of 20+ public and private data sources, independently verified before unlock, and refreshed monthly.
How often does the data refresh?
Restaurant records refresh weekly. Contact records refresh monthly. New restaurants that pass two-source verification get added on the next refresh, and restaurants that drop signals get flagged in the platform but are not silently removed from list snapshots.
Everything you need to sell to restaurants
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