29 Restaurant chains in Canada

Although many of the largest restaurant chains in Canada are US-based, some Canadian-based restaurant chains are growing and have expanded into other markets, especially into the USA.

Bánh Shop is a contemporary, fast casual restaurant that originated in Dallas, Texas in 2014. Banh Shop serves Vietnamese-style sandwiches made of meat or tofu with spices, vegetables and herbs on baguettes ala a bánh mì, a traditional Vietnamese sandwich.

Big Smoke Burger is an international restaurant chain based in Canada.

Cactus Club Cafe is a Canadian-owned chain of premium casual restaurants that originated in North Vancouver, British Columbia. The chain has since expanded to 31 locations throughout Canada, with other locations throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

Chicken Delight is a chain of restaurants offering eat in, take out, and delivery service with a menu featuring chicken, pizza, and ribs. Based in Winnipeg, the chain mostly has outlets in that city and throughout Manitoba. Although as of 2019, six Chicken Delight restaurants are located in the New York metro area, none of these are included in the corporate web site list of franchise locations.

Coramark Inc. is a Canadian chain of casual restaurants serving breakfast and lunch. Until 2008, the chain was known as Chez Cora déjeuners... in Quebec, and now just Cora elsewhere in Canada. Franchises are located in all provinces.

Crabby Joe's Tap & Grill is a Canadian restaurant chain operating in 35 locations in Ontario in 2015. The restaurants are characterized by a "casual relaxed" theme, with natural brick, hardwoods, earth tone colour schemes, plasma TVs, classic art reproductions and a mix of booths and tables.

Druxy's

Druxy's is a Canadian chain of quick service delicatessen restaurants with 48 locations across the country. They offer a wide selection of sandwiches made with various meats on an assortment of breads. They are privately owned and were founded in 1976.

Earls is a family owned premium casual dining chain that operates a total of 68 restaurants in Canada and the United States. Their head office is in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

East Side Mario's is a Canadian chain of casual dining restaurants, managed by its parent holding company Recipe Unlimited. The restaurant specializes in Italian-American cuisine. Individual locations aim to recreate the historic ambience found at the corner of Canal Street and Mulberry Street in Lower Manhattan. The brand is marketed as "A taste of little Italy". It is best recognized by its original logo featuring the Statue of Liberty holding a large tomato in place of a torch, as well as the jingle containing the catch phrase "Hey, budda boom budda bing".

Freshii is a Canadian fast casual restaurant franchise that serves burritos, wraps, soups, salads, and frozen yogurt. It was founded in 2005 by CEO Matthew Corrin, and has since expanded to over 100 locations in countries including Canada, the United States, Colombia, Peru, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, and United Arab Emirates, with franchises under development in Germany, Guatemala, and Saudi Arabia. As of January 2018, Freshii has 370 locations in North America, South America, and Europe. By the end of 2019, the company expected to have 760 locations worldwide In November 2018, that number was reduced substantially.

The Great Canadian Bagel is a coffee house and quick service restaurant chain and franchise. It was established in 1993 and is an affiliate of The Great American Bagel Bakery. As of November 2020 it has 18 stores located in Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

Jack Astor's Bar and Grill is a chain of 40 restaurants located in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Canada, and New York in the United States. All locations include a restaurant and bar area. It is corporately owned by Service Inspired Restaurants, who are based out of Burlington, Ontario.

The Keg is a Canadian-owned chain of steakhouse restaurants and bars located in Canada and the United States. The original "The Keg and Cleaver" restaurant was founded by George Tidball, in 1971, at a location in North Vancouver, British Columbia. By February 2018, The Keg had expanded to 160 locations in Canada and the United States, when Canadian food industry giant Cara Operations purchased the chain for $200 million, from then owners David Aisenstat (49%) and Fairfax Financial (51%). Aisenstat had been the sole owner from 1997 until 2014.

Kelseys Original Roadhouse is a Canadian restaurant chain headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario owned by Recipe Unlimited. Recipe Unlimited also owns other restaurants including Swiss Chalet, Milestones, Montana's and Harvey's. Founded in 1978, there are Kelseys restaurants across Canada, excluding the province of Quebec.

Lafleur Restaurants is a chain of family-owned fast food restaurants located in the greater Montreal area.

Mikes, referred to as Toujours Mikes in the current logo, is a chain of restaurants that originated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with 70 restaurants in Eastern Canada, mostly in Quebec. The restaurant chain is owned by Imvescor Restaurant Group, based in Montreal, Quebec, which also owns Pizza Delight, Baton Rouge and Scores.

Milestones Restaurants Inc. is a restaurant chain headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Recipe Unlimited. There are currently over 40 locations across British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Ontario.

Montana's BBQ & Bar is a Canadian restaurant chain known for smoked pork ribs, steaks, and burgers. It is headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario and is a subsidiary of Recipe Unlimited.

The Old Spaghetti Factory is an Italian-style chain restaurant in the United States and Canada. The U.S. restaurants are owned by OSF International, based in Portland, Oregon, while the Canadian restaurants are owned by The Old Spaghetti Factory Canada Ltd. In 2003, the U.S. company alone had 45 restaurants, in 14 states and Japan, and sales of $105 million. The U.S. firm also operated an Old Spaghetti Factory in Hamburg, Germany, from 1983 to 1993, but that was its only European location.

Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in Orange County, Florida. As of 2012, Olive Garden restaurants accounts for $3.8 billion of the $6.9 billion revenue of parent Darden.

Ricky's All Day Grill is a restaurant chain in western Canada. The restaurant was founded in 1960 as a family breakfast house. The first location in eastern Canada opened in Peterborough, Ontario in November 2007.

Salisbury House is a restaurant chain based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Smitty's is a Canadian-based casual dining restaurant that has 85 locations throughout Canada. The franchise also calls itself Smitty's Canada Inc and uses the slogan All Your Favourites All Day Long and Canada's Family Restaurant. The "Smitty's" name originated in Seattle, Washington with a restaurant on 125th and Aurora Avenue founded by John William "Smitty" Smith.

Smoke's Poutinerie is a Canadian nationwide poutine franchise founded by entrepreneur Ryan Smolkin. According to the company's website, its goal is to "bring the authentic Quebec classic to the rest of the World."

St-Hubert BBQ Ltd is a chain of Canadian casual dining restaurants best known for its rotisserie chicken. St-Hubert is most popular in Quebec, and in other French-Canadian areas such as Eastern Ontario, and New Brunswick. St-Hubert is the 16th largest restaurant chain operating in Canada. The chain enjoys the highest customer loyalty of any restaurant in Canada, aside from Tim Hortons, according to industry analysis.

Swiss Chalet is a Canadian chain of casual dining restaurants founded in 1954 in Toronto, Ontario. As of 2015, there are over 200 Swiss Chalet restaurants in Canada. Swiss Chalet is among the holdings of Recipe Unlimited, which also owns the fast food chain Harvey's. Swiss Chalet and Harvey's franchises share many locations.

Thaï Express is a franchise chain of quick service restaurants serving Thai cuisine across Canada. The Thaï Express brand is owned by the MTY Food Group. In 2009, Thaï Express won the Golden Chain award franchisor of the year award from the Conseil québécois de la franchise.

Wimpy's Diner is a Canadian chain of 58 restaurants in southern Ontario based on the 1950s- and 1960s-themed diners serving hamburgers, but also serving breakfast all day along with various lunches and dinners and specialty poutines. Wimpy's was established in 1961 as "Wimpy's Drive-In" in Toronto. In 1988, it was turned into a full-service restaurant. A second location was opened in 1992. Locations are now found in Southern Ontario.