Would you be surprised to learn that Subway, the restaurant franchise with the most locations in the city (372 or 430 depending on who you ask), has had more of its franchises shut down by the Department of Health than any other chain in the city? True story. The Daily News crunched the numbers and found that 55 Subways have been shut down for violations in the past five years. But that doesn't necessarily mean it is the grossest chain in the land. more ›

The King is dead, long live Wendy's! Though McDonald's is still the $34.2 billion behemoth in the fast food industry, according to a new report coming next month from Technomic in 2011 Wendy's wiggled ahead of Burger King to become the second biggest fast food hamburger in all the land with sales of $8.5 billion in 2011 (BK had sales of $8.4 billion). Thank goodness for "juicy" burgers? more ›

Dunkin' Donuts already has the most franchises of any chain in the city (466 according to the Center for an Urban Future!) but that doesn't mean the regular joe's java joint is done expanding. Far from it. Yesterday the company—which just opened its 10,000th store—announced plans to double its U.S. presence in the next twenty years. more ›

Get ready for more McDonald's to either love, hate or simply tolerate. Though the Center for an Urban Future recently found chain growth in the city to be slowing, the golden arches are reportedly preparing to buck the trend. According to a report in the Post the house that Ronald built is hoping to "add at least 10 burger joints to Manhattan within the next three to five years." more ›

Former Secretary of Defense and closet flesh-eating lizard Donald Rumsfeld once said, "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want." The statement can be applied to the Department of Sanitation's lack of tire chains during last year's blizzard that kept everyone's block nice and smelly. But it appears that Sanitation will attempt to wing it on the cheap again this year: instead of buying new ones, they're going to instruct workers how to make better use of the old ones. more ›

In the grand tradition of corporate chivalry, Wal-Mart is buying a meal for a local community before it takes it back to its crib, dims the lights, and shows it the real meaning of the phrase "Rollback." The big-box chain that specializes in everything from fine cuisine to terrific labor practices, is taking out a few dozen members of the community surrounding the Gateway II shopping center in East Brooklyn for breakfast at the Lindenwood Diner. "We wanted to talk to the community and share information," a company spokesman told the Daily News, presumably before telling the community that Wal-Mart really just wants to settle down, and how much it loves their eyes when they laugh. more ›

When you think of prix fixe dinners, do you think of absurdly expensive meals in white tablecloth restaurants or do you think of second-rate seafood served by flair-ridden waitresses in chain restaurants? Red Lobster hopes is banking on the latter—the fast casual chain has gone and added a $15 "Seafood Feast" four-course prix fixe to its repertoire. more ›

Courtesy of some nerdy weather phenomenon, it's snowing today. Mayor Bloomberg is trying to reassure New Yorkers that the city is on top of this, but maybe we should all just prepare not to have garbage picked up until Groundhog's Day. Oh, and the MTA says that buses will have chains on their tires, to avoid scenes like this. more ›

Recently the Riese Organization took over 34 Union Square East... the old Zen Palate space. Sigh. And what's going up in its place? The much rumored T.G.I. Friday's and a Tim Horton's of course, helping to complete the circle of chains around the park. Now Andrew Fine has photographic evidence; today he reported, "I spotted signage and crews working feverishly to complete a Tim Horton's... this is a downgrade and really counter to where we would like Union Square to be going. The burbs are invading!" The burbs... and Canadians! [via Curbed] more ›

You might want to trade in that half-caf soy blended latte for a regular cup of coffee. For the first time in the coffee giant's history, Starbucks will be slashing prices. A "tall" coffee will cost $1.50, down from $1.75, and most cappuccino and latte concoctions will get a 10 to 15 cent discount. However, not all Starbucks addicts are celebrating. The more complex drinks, like the addicting Frappuccino, will be up to 25 cents more expensive. Maybe that's what's going to pay for all their new locations in NYC. One anonymous commenter pointed out on Starbucks Gossip that these price drops still leave the drinks more expensive than they were just four months ago, predicting "Customers are going to like the decrease I guess (although not back to original prices on some beverages) but they are going to be left extremely confused and upset that for 4 months they had to pay all that extra." Whatever, everyone knows America runs on Dunkin Tim Horton's. more ›

The Center for an Urban Future has followed up last year's hit "Attack of the Chains" study with a terrifying new sequel: "Return of the Chains." [pdf] They're back, their power is growing, and not even the recession can stop them from ultimately setting up shop inside your skull. Since last year's report about national retailers' footprints across our increasingly homogeneous city, over 30 percent of the chain retailers have expanded their presence. Dunkin' Donuts tops the list for the second straight year, with 429 locations city-wide, despite losing 12 of its stores to the Tim Horton’s invasion and facing blatant NYPD pilfering. According to the report, Dunkin' added 88 new stores in the five boroughs since July 2008. more ›

A study by the Center for an Urban Future, called Attack of the Chains? is showing that Brooklyn prefers Dunkin' Donuts over Starbucks, the Daily News reports. The center's director Jonathan Bowles says, "It has to do with different shopping culture. The Dunkin' Donuts is more a middle-class type of place than Starbucks. Not everybody can afford $4 lattes. It’s more of a working person's Starbucks." The chain has 89 outlets in Brooklyn--71 more than Starbucks in the borough. Plus, chains like KFC and Payless thrive in Brooklyn--but will gentrification slowly replace those shops with Cosi's and J.Crew? The study also provides a borough-by-borough breakdown of what stores are in each borough (did you know NYC only has two Crate & Barrel's?). more ›

Harlem resident met with city planners in a public forum yesterday afternoon to discuss whether a major rezoning plan will enhance the historic neighborhood or rip out its heart. The zoning plan, covering 124th, 125th, and 126th Streets, paves the way for condos, a 21-story office tower, a hotel, and more. more ›

Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens) will be formally announcing his bid to replace Mayor Bloomberg this Sunday. Theories about likely candidates abound (e.g. Councilman John Liu, Rep. Anthony Weiner, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly), but Avella is jumping to the head of the line by explicitly announcing his desire to be Mayor this Sunday at 1 p.m. on the steps of City Hall. more ›

As chains take over every nook and cranny of this city, some people in the East Village are forming a united front against them. The Villager reports on the corporate takeover, the resistance and the new spin on this story as old as time. more ›

There are plenty of Starbucks in Manhattan (over 170), but if you head over to Brooklyn -- you'll see the streets are mostly void of discarded Venti cups and hardly anyone has heard Josh Groban's new Christmas album. But things are about to change, chain-haters beware.A recent Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable meeting revealed that retail giants such as Starbucks, Duane Reade pharmacies and Chase Bank are planning to double and in some cases triple their... more ›