Marco's Pizza Ranks as a Top Franchise Brand on 2026 QSR 50 List
Ranking Marks Another Year of Franchise-Driven Growth as Marco's Eyes 1,300 th Store Milestone in 2026
TOLEDO, Ohio, Aug. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Marco's Pizza, one of the nation's fastest-growing pizza brands, is proud to be recognized on QSR Magazine's 2026 QSR 50* for the third straight year. The annual ranking of the nation's leading quick-service restaurant brands underscores a year of steady expansion, new leadership hires, and continued investment in technology and operations across the system.
According to QSR, Marco's finished 2025 with U.S. systemwide sales of $1.09 billion, up from $1.05 billion the year before, while growing its footprint to now span over 1,200 locations.
"Earning a spot on the QSR 50 is a testament to the hard work of our franchisees and the strength of the systems we've built to support them," said Gerardo Flores, Chief Development Officer of Marco's Pizza. "2025 was about disciplined growth - entering new states, expanding internationally, and investing in the people and infrastructure that will carry us into our next phase."
Growth & Market Opportunity
2025 marked notable development milestones. Marco's made its long-awaited entry into New Jersey, opening its first location in Somerset under a multi-unit franchisee who plans to develop at least seven additional restaurants across New Jersey and New York City's five boroughs, extending the brand's presence in the Northeast. The agreement added to a pipeline of multi-unit deals signed across the country in 2025.
Marco's also continued to lean into non-traditional growth, including ghost kitchens and other flexible formats that give franchisees more ways to bring Marco's to guests.
Internationally, Marco's marked two notable milestones in 2025: one year since opening its first location in Mexico, led by master franchisee Grupo Pizza Amantes SA de CV, and ten years of operations in the Caribbean Marco's continues its international growth, pointing a growing interest across the Caribbean, Latin America, and Canada.
Building the Infrastructure Behind the Growth
To support expansion, Marco's strengthened its executive team in 2025 with the additions of Chief Financial Officer Bill Schaffler, Chief Marketing Officer Steve Kennedy, and Vice President of Franchise Growth Brad Smith – hires designed to reinforce the brand's finance, marketing, and development functions as the system scales.
That leadership investment was paired with continued work on the store-level guest and operator experience. Investments range from AI-powered technology, menu innovation, digital ordering experience, training and development, and more – all part of a broader strategy to compete as a leading brand in pizza.
Looking Ahead to 2026
Marco's entered 2026 with plans to open more than 80 new locations, building on the more than 60 stores it opened in 2025. To help ensure that growth is supported, the brand is developing an Operations Center of Excellence – reinforcing its commitment to building world-class infrastructure that enables franchisees to scale efficiently and perform at the highest level.
For entrepreneurs looking to grow with a franchise brand that prioritizes operational excellence and innovation, Marco's offers a compelling opportunity. The company's Franchise Development Royalty Incentive Program is designed to lower barriers for qualified multi-unit operators, with early-stage royalty incentives starting at 0%**, along with comprehensive support in real estate, construction, and operations.
Prospects are taking note of the business opportunity, as Marco's Franchise Disclosure Document reports $1.28M AUV for the top 25% of franchised stores in 2025ꝉ.
For more information Marco's Pizza franchise opportunities, visit https://www.marcos.com/franchising/ or contact Brad Smith at [email protected] or 419-279-5795.
ABOUT MARCO'S PIZZA
Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco's Pizza is one of the fastest-growing pizza brands in the United States. Marco's was founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale ("Pat") Giammarco and thrives to deliver a high-quality pizza experience, known for its dough made from scratch and its three fresh signature cheeses. The company has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate over 1,200 stores in 35 states with locations in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Mexico. Notably, Marco's was recognized as America's Favorite Restaurant in the Limited-Service Pizza category by Nation's Restaurant News using Technomic Ignite Consumer 2025 dataꝉꝉ. Other recent accolades include being recognized by QSR as one of the "16 Best Franchise Deals for 2025", ranking No. 50 on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2026 "Franchise 500" ranking, earning a coveted spot as the only top 5 pizza chain to rank on Newsweek's 2025 "America's Best Customer Service" in pizza chains list, earning a spot on QSR's Top 50, and being featured on Nation's Restaurant News' prestigious "Top 500" ranking.
*The QSR 50 is an annual ranking of limited-service restaurant companies by U.S. system-wide sales. QSR magazine collected information directly from restaurant companies from March to May 2026.
**The information provided in this article should not be construed as an offer to sell any Marco's Pizza® franchises in, nor is any such communication directed to, the residents of any jurisdiction requiring registration of the franchise before it is offered and sold in that jurisdiction. Currently, the following states regulate the offer and sale of franchises: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Marco's Pizza® franchises will not be sold to any resident of such jurisdiction until the offering has been exempted from the requirements of, or duly registered in and declared effective by, such jurisdiction and the required franchise disclosure document (if applicable) has been delivered to the prospective franchisee before the sale in compliance with applicable law. Additionally, the participant must meet our financial, creditworthiness, and operational criteria to qualify for the incentive program and be approved by us to open each Store. If the franchisee is a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other legal entity, the qualifying participant must maintain at least 50% ownership in the entity, as well as the qualifying existing Stores, to qualify for this program, and the franchisee must comply with program requirements. In the event the participant fails at any time to meet the timelines to qualify for the applicable incentive program while developing a Store, the Store being developed and any remaining unopened Stores to be developed will pay the then-current standard Royalty Fee rate. See Marco's Franchising's Franchise Disclosure Document for more information. To qualify for the incentive program, the participant must sign a development agreement and open the stores within the following timeframes: 1st Store within 365 days of signing; 2nd Store within 6 months of 1st store opening; 3rd Store within 6 months of 2nd store opening; 4th Store within 6 months of 3rd store opening; 5th Store within 6 months of 4th store opening.
ꝉBased on average sales volume of the top performing 25% (or 250 units) of Marco's Pizza Franchised Stores that were open during our 2025 fiscal year. Of the 997 Franchised Stores that were in operation for our entire 2025 fiscal year, 250 were included in the top 25% set and 37% obtained or surpassed the average sales volume. This information excludes (i) international locations (including Puerto Rico); (ii) Franchised Stores not open for the entire 52-week period in 2025; (iii) special venue and non-traditional franchised locations; and (iv) Franchised Stores that closed in 2025. See Item 19 of our 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document for additional information. Individual results may differ. There is no assurance that any franchisee will perform as well.
ꝉꝉAccording to Technomic's 2025 America's Favorite Restaurants data, Marco's Pizza secured the top spot in the Limited-Service Pizza category with a 54.6% composite top-box rating, indicating the share of recent guests who gave the brand the highest possible rating for each of the guest experience attributes. Data for America's Favorite Chains comes from Technomic Ignite Consumer, which collects information about how brands impact consumers and how consumers interact with those brands, via online surveys. See here for more information: www.technomic.com/ignite-consumer.
SOURCE Marco's Pizza
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