Move Over, McDonald’s

Fast food is often synonymous with the USA, and for good reason. American chains still dominate the market. However, being the biggest doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the best. Countless fast-food chains around the world are serving up some surprisingly tasty and creative dishes. Here are some of the best international fast-food chains you can’t find in America.  

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1. Greggs

Greggs is a UK-based bakery chain that specializes in handheld pies. Founded in 1939, it has grown to have over 2,400 locations across Britain. It’s beloved for bringing classic British favorites to the masses in a convenient format.

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2. Ditsch

Ah, pretzels. Probably the most famous German food, it’s no surprise the country has a fast-food chain specializing in them. The snack bar was founded in 1919 as a family bakeshop and has grown to have over 200 locations in Germany and a few in Britain too.

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3. Teremok

Teremok is a Russian fast-food chain that specializes in the country’s classic national dishes like borscht (beet soup), pelmeni (dumplings), and blini (crepes) based on the founder’s mother’s recipes. The restaurant opened in 1998 and was one of the first fast-food restaurants that served Russian food.

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4. Supermac’s

Supermac’s is like the Irish equivalent of McDonald’s but a step up, with a greater emphasis on local, high-quality ingredients. There are over 100 locations across Ireland.  

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5. Steers

This South African burger chain puts the Big Mac to shame with their mighty burger that includes not two but three 100 percent beef patties. The restaurant specializes in anything grilled and has more than 600 locations across Africa.

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6. Quick

Simply named Quick, this Belgian fast-food restaurant is similar to Burger King with its stripped-down menu and no-frills ambiance. As well as in its home country, it’s beloved across France, Luxembourg, Morocco, and Tunisia.

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7. Max Burgers

Sweden’s number-one burger chain, Max Burgers was one of the first fast-food restaurants in the country. As opposed to the cookie-cutter meals offered at places like McDonald’s, Max Burgers prides itself on offering more choice–you can order a side of greens instead of fries and you get to choose from their four different types of buns.

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8. Mr. Lee

Opened by a Chinese-American businessman in the 1980s, Mr. Lee is a popular chain restaurant offering traditional Chinese dishes like beef noodle soup. You can tell the founder was influenced by his American roots from the logo which resembles KFC’s Colonel Sanders. 

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9. Albaik

Albaik is a Saudi fast-food restaurant specializing in fried chicken. It has several locations in different Arab countries and is credited with popularizing chicken as a fast food item in that part of the world. 

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10. Chicken Licken

This South African chain is the largest non-American fried chicken franchise in the world. It’s as popular as McDonald’s in its home country. Its offerings include fried chicken wings, drumsticks, sandwiches, and sliders. 

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11. Lotteria

Lotteria is South Korea’s number-one fast-food restaurant. It offers typical fair like burgers and fried chicken but also Japanese and Korean twists on those classics such as the shrimp burger, kimchi burger, and teriyaki burger.

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12. Harvey’s

Harvey’s is Canada’s “make your own burger” joint. It also has other Canadian fast food favorites like poutine, onion rings, and hot dogs. It’s the longest-standing Canadian-owned and operated restaurant and has locations in every province.

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13. Dicos

China’s third most popular fast-food restaurant has 2,500 locations across the country–almost as many as McDonald’s. Here, you can get anything from a burger and fries to rice with sauteed chicken.

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14. Gozleme King

Gozleme King is a Turkish fast-food restaurant in Australia. Its specialty is coffee and gozlemes (stuffed Turkish flatbreads). The company is credited with popularizing Turkish food in Australia. 

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15. Telepizza

This Spanish pizza restaurant is the largest non-American pizza chain in the world based on the number of locations. As the name suggests, their business model is based on delivery. There are over 1000 locations around Europe. 

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16. MOS Burger

Japan’s MOS Burger is a fast-food restaurant with distinctly Japanese flavors. It's famous for creating a burger with a bun made from rice. It has more than 1,700 locations in Japan and has recently expanded to the Phillippines. 

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17. Pasquale Sanguchería

Peru’s version of fast food, Pasquale Sanguchería, offers burgers, sandwiches, and meat platters. It’s known for blending traditional fast food offerings with Peruvian flavors like fried plantain or aji verde, a green garlic-y sauce.

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18. Tipicas Empanadas

Tipicas Empanadas is a Colombian chain restaurant specializing in fried corn empanadas and other national delicacies like chorizos and arepas. It boasts 100 percent natural, locally sourced ingredients. 

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19. Doggis

Doggis is a Chilean restaurant chain where you can get a hot dog with toppings like diced tomatoes, guacamole, and fried onions with a side of empanadas. It’s the McDonald’s of Chile but for hot dogs instead of burgers.

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20. Cofix

This Israeli coffee shop is the perfect answer to Starbucks. They offer all coffee products at a fixed price of $1.55 at any of its locations. It made a big splash when it entered the Israeli coffee market, forcing other popular cafe chains to slash their prices to stay competitive.

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