The restaurant industry's largest chains bounced back in 2010. Of the 500 top restaurant brands in the US, more than half saw an increase in revenue over the last year. The top 10 grew their revenue 18% and accounted for $7.8B in revenue. The market research firm Technomic Inc got some numbers on how well the industry did last year, and who was leading the charge.

After a struggling 2009, chains started recovering some ground with encouraging performance; a sign that suggests a population willing to go out to eat rather than stay in. Fast casual and limited-service sandwich shops continue to be the top performers. Leading the charge is Five Guys Burgers and Fries with a huge 38% increase in sales up to $625M. Jimmy John's sub shop followed up in second with a 22% increase along with the fast casual darling Chipotle increasing its revenue by 21%.

America's top brands had healthy growth as well. McDonalds and Subway both saw increases in revenue, however their foucus is heading toward international expansion. Large quick-service brands are pushing aggresively into foreign markets as the sales internationally have been up 3.1% compared to the domestic 1.8% increase.

Sources: NRN and Technomic