The Convenience Store Pizza Brand With More Locations Than Domino's
Maybe you have a booklet of Pizza Hut coupons stuck to your fridge with a gas station magnet. Maybe you have the Domino's app downloaded on your phone. The first name that comes to mind when you think "pizza night" might not be Hunt Brothers, but that hasn't stopped the chain from dominating the contemporary market while you weren't looking.
Domino's (which just released a controversial "tipping" promotion) may be the largest quick-service pizza company in the world. But, as of February 1, 2024, the biggest pizza chain in the U.S. is Hunt Brothers, toting a formidable domestic presence with 9,703 locations, compared to 6,902 Domino's and 6,805 Pizza Huts, according to data analytics company ScrapeHero.
Hunt Brothers might not be the best pizza place in the U.S., per se, but it's certainly the most multitudinous, and wicked affordable. The chain has made a name for itself with a dominating presence in convenience stores and gas stations rather than standalone brick-and-mortar restaurants. Call it the model of a successful co-op. Hunt Brothers Pizza shares a roof with other businesses, self-perpetuating the communal foot traffic with open arms and neighborly proximity.
The numbers speak for themselves. When fans spot that red and green logo on a roadside billboard, they're slamming off that exit ramp and whipping into the Hunt Brothers. "Sorry" to the Waffle House under the overpass (even though you somehow always have better-tasting waffles than the ones we can make at home).
Fans trust Hunt Brothers Pizza for cheap eats
At Hunt Brothers Pizza, guests can choose from a selection of 10 different toppings, and (gasp) they don't cost extra to add. Whether you order pepperoni or sausage-banana-pepper-onion-black-olive-double-cheese, it all costs the same price (around $10 to $12, although it varies by location) — which can be especially refreshing during road trips when the travel budget is already going to other arenas. Not in a pie mood? No worries. Hunt Brothers also serves wings and boneless WingBites in four different flavors: Home Style, Buffalo, Southern Style, and Hot 'n Spicy. Or, satisfy an early morning pizza craving (and cure a hangover) with Hunt Brothers' breakfast pizza, a combination of scrambled eggs, crispy chopped bacon, breakfast sausage crumbles, and lots of cheese.
The real Hunt brothers are Don, Charlie, Jim, and Lonnie Hunt, who started the pizza chain in 1991. It's a proper family affair through and through; the brothers cut their teeth working at Austin's Drive-In, a quick-service restaurant owned by their father. In the years since, they've built a pizza empire that spans 32 states. NASCAR driver Joey Logano has even driven a No. 22 Ford racecar decked out in a full Hunt Brothers Pizza paint job.