It would be easy to look at the past couple of years and conclude that the burger business was struggling and in many respects you would be correct. Chains like Hardee’s and Jack in the Box are struggling. Wendy’s faces some real challenges. McDonald’s has done almost everything to get customers in the door.
And, of course, total burger sales didn’t exactly jump through the roof in 2024, when total limited-service burger sales rose 1.4%, according to Technomic data.
But there’s at least some evidence that some segments of the burger sector had a better 2025. To wit:
- Shake Shack’s same-store sales rose last year, including 4.9% in the third quarter and 2.1% in the fourth period, the latter of which was due to a weather-related late-quarter slowdown in its key markets.
- Steak n Shake’s same-store sales apparently finished 2025 up in the double digits, including 15.6% in the third quarter. It is thriving due to a combination of factors, including its acceptance of bitcoin payments and the marketing of its use of beef tallow for its fries.
- Five Guys, the largest fast-casual burger chain, has seen improving sales as well. Same-store sales last year through the third quarter rose 4.4%, according to a report in S&P Global, which rated bonds sold by the company’s international business. System sales at the chain are up 7.7% through the same period after finishing 2024 down slightly, at least in the U.S.
- Habit Burger, too, has seen sales improve. Same-store sales rose 1% in the third quarter, ending a period of 13 straight quarters in which the key metric was either flat or down.
Burger chains’ same-store sales have largely been mixed of late. The four biggest, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King and Jack in the Box, together averaged declines in each of the first three quarters of the year. But while Jack in the Box and Wendy’s reported declines in the third quarter, McDonald’s and Burger King both reported improvement—and then enjoyed hugely successful promotions in December.
But the performance of chains like Five Guys and Shake Shack in particular have come as many other fast-casual chains have stumbled. Chains like Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Portillo’s, Cava and Panera Bread were hit with sales challenges as consumers shifted spending elsewhere.
Consumers, in other words, may be splurging on burgers even as they’re cutting back on salads or bowls.
Shake Shack’s sales have thrived even as consumers have grown more focused on price. The chain did address that to some extent with some mobile app offers. But at the same time it started selling the Big Shack, which features two quarter-pound patties on a double-decker bun. And it has just re-launched a Korean-style menu.
“We’re selling $25 burgers for 10 bucks,” CEO Rob Lynch said in an interview at the ICR Conference in Orlando this month. “Every market that we bring a Shake Shack to is bringing the experience of a $25 burger to a lot of people who don’t typically get to eat $25 burgers.”
Steak n Shake early last year began cooking its fries, at least on site, in beef tallow. That helped drive sales early in the period, fueled at least in part by attention given to it by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. It’s social media feeds, which has grown increasingly popular over the past two years, routinely taps into the conservative social media sphere.
In May the company began accepting bitcoin payments, which also drove sales. It’s helped that the chain is coming off several years of weak sales and closing restaurants, not to mention a complicated conversion from full-service brand into a counter-service chain.
Steak n Shake said on the social media platform X that it just concluded its best same-store sales year ever.
Steak n Shake is about to record its best same-store sales growth since....well, we don't know. We are going through old records and have yet to find a better year.
— Steak 'n Shake (@SteaknShake) December 31, 2025
When serving a great American tradition like burgers and fries, we want them to be the best. We want parents…
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