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Eggs Up Grill Reaches 110 Restaurants, Named Largest Actively Franchising Daytime Brand in the U.S.

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Eggs Up Grill opened its 110th restaurant in Spears Creek, South Carolina, in July 2026, becoming the largest actively franchising breakfast, brunch, and lunch franchise brand in the United States. The milestone closed a 22nd consecutive quarter of positive same-restaurant sales growth and brought the franchise brand’s total open-and-in-development footprint above 200 locations.

Founded in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and headquartered in Spartanburg, Eggs Up Grill operates a daytime-only franchise model spanning breakfast, brunch, and lunch. The brand recorded an 8.1% increase in average unit volume from 2025 to 2026. More than 60% of its franchise partners currently operate or are developing multiple locations, a figure the company describes as evidence of growing multi-unit investment in the daytime restaurant segment.

The Spears Creek location, which opened in July 2026, is the unit that puts Eggs Up Grill ahead of all other actively franchising brands in the daytime dining category by total location count. Q2 2026 saw four new restaurant openings and eight new franchise commitments. Among the quarter’s new partnerships, the Metz Group, a family-owned hospitality organization, opened its first Eggs Up Grill in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania as part of a multi-unit deal targeting Northeast expansion. Franchisee Ken Bates committed to five additional restaurants, and Uber Quezada signed for a second location less than a year after debuting his first restaurant in December 2025.

“Reaching 110 restaurants and becoming the largest actively franchising brand in our category is a significant milestone, but it’s really a reflection of the strength of our franchise partners, our restaurant teams and the communities that continue to embrace Eggs Up Grill,” notes Ricky Richardson, CEO of Eggs Up Grill.

Twenty-two consecutive quarters of positive same-restaurant sales growth is a performance benchmark that carries weight in the restaurant franchise sector, where traffic softness has been a recurring challenge across multiple segments through 2025 and into 2026. Eggs Up Grill ranked No. 7 on Entrepreneur’s Top 10 Full-Service Restaurant Franchises list for 2026, appeared at No. 289 on the Technomic Top 500 Restaurant Chains, and earned a placement on the Inc. 5000. The brand’s multi-unit concentration, with more than 60% of owners operating or developing more than one location, distinguishes it from franchisors that rely primarily on single-unit operators.

With more than 200 restaurants open or in development, the brand’s pipeline reflects continued franchisee interest in the daytime-only format. The Metz Group deal represents part of a stated strategy to target experienced multi-concept operators in the Northeast, a region where Eggs Up Grill has had limited presence to date. The brand does not operate a dinner daypart, a structural distinction that operators and investors typically weigh when comparing daytime restaurant concepts against full-day formats. No specific annual opening targets for the second half of 2026 were disclosed in the brand’s announcement.

This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, financial, or professional advice. Laws and regulations vary by state and individual circumstances and may change over time. Readers should consult a qualified attorney, tax professional, or other licensed professional regarding their specific situation. Nothing herein creates an attorney-client relationship.

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