Carrols Corporation

What Carrols Corporation does

Carrols Corporation is a quick-service restaurant (QSR) franchisee that operates over 1,000 Burger King restaurants across 23 US states, employing more than 26,000 people. Founded in 1960 by Herbert N. Slotnick as Carrols Systems with exclusive license rights for New York state, the company grew to over 150 restaurants in the northeastern United States by the mid-1970s. In 1975, Carrols entered into a franchise agreement with Burger King Corporation and converted its restaurants to the Burger King brand over a five-year period, becoming exclusively a Burger King franchisee. In 2024, Restaurant Brands International (RBI) acquired Carrols as a wholly-owned subsidiary, ending its prior status as a NASDAQ-listed company (TAST).

The company's product offering consists entirely of operating Burger King franchise restaurants serving the standard Burger King menu—including flame-grilled burgers, chicken sandwiches, and related fast-food products—across 1,000+ owned and operated locations. Carrols uses restaurant-operations technology such as state-of-the-art training and communications equipment, online payroll through ADP, employee self-service password reset (Microsoft MFA/SSPR), and a benefits enrollment portal. The company does not develop proprietary restaurant technology or software; menu pricing is set under the Burger King franchise agreement rather than independently by Carrols.

Carrols generates revenue through direct food and beverage sales to individual consumers at its owned restaurant locations, distributed across drive-through, take-out, and dine-in channels. The go-to-market motion is direct-to-consumer, with no B2B or licensing revenue streams. The company emphasizes internal employee development—the Restaurant Employee Advancement Program (REAP) and a stated >50% promotion-from-crew rate for salaried management—reducing external hiring dependency. Customer concentration risk is structurally limited because revenue is spread across millions of individual consumer transactions; however, the single-franchise-brand and single-franchisor relationship (Burger King/RBI) is the dominant strategic dependency.

Name

Carrols Corporation

Legal name

Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc.

Website

https://carrols.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Carrols Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International that operates over 1,000 Burger King restaurants across 23 US states, serving individual consumers through dine-in, take-out, and drive-through channels with a staff of more than 26,000 employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Syracuse

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Restaurant franchise operations: Carrols operates Burger King restaurants as a franchisee of Restaurant Brands International. Revenue is generated through food and beverage sales to consumer customers at its over 1,000 restaurant locations across 23 states. The company was acquired by RBI as a subsidiary in 2024.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Carrols Corporation operates Burger King quick-service restaurants as a franchisee of Restaurant Brands International (RBI). The company runs more than 1,000 Burger King restaurant locations across 23 U.S. states, generating revenue from food and beverage sales at its owned and operated stores.

Product overview

Carrols Corporation operates as a franchisee of Burger King restaurants under Restaurant Brands International. The company operates a single core business: over 1,000 Burger King restaurant locations across 23 states in the United States. There is no platform-plus-modules architecture or multiple distinct products—Carrols' offering consists entirely of operating these Burger King franchise restaurants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Burger King Restaurant Operations

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Restaurant Brands InternationalcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2024Restaurant Brands International (RBI) acquired Carrols as a subsidiary in 2024. Carrols operates as a franchisee of Burger King brand under a franchise agreement with RBI. RBI provides brand support, marketing, and system-wide standards while Carrols manages day-to-day restaurant operations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Yum! Brands: Corporate parent of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and The Habit Burger Grill. Comparable as a major QSR brand owner/franchisor and a direct competitor of Burger King in the U.S. fast-food segment.
• Inspire Brands: Multi-brand QSR parent holding Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic, Dunkin', and Jimmy John's. Comparable as a large franchise-driven QSR platform operating across multiple brands and thousands of U.S. locations.
• Wendy's Company: Burger King's closest direct competitor in the U.S. QSR burger segment. Comparable as a publicly-traded QSR brand operator with a heavily franchised operating model.
• Restaurant Brands International: Carrols' franchisor and parent company since the 2024 acquisition. RBI is the global multi-brand QSR parent of Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes, and Firehouse Subs, providing the brand system Carrols operates within.
• Jack in the Box: West Coast-focused QSR chain operating a predominantly franchised model. Comparable as a publicly-traded QSR brand with a franchise-heavy footprint that competes for similar value-oriented consumers.

Direct peers

• Sun Holdings: Large multi-brand QSR franchisee operating Burger King, Popeyes, McDonald's, Arby's, and Golden Corral locations. Comparable to Carrols in scale and franchise-driven operating model.
• Flynn Restaurant Group: The largest franchise operator in the U.S. and the largest Burger King franchisee globally. Directly comparable to Carrols as a multi-brand, multi-thousand-unit QSR franchise platform.
• GPS Hospitality: Multi-state Burger King and Popeyes franchisee headquartered in the southeastern U.S. Operates hundreds of QSR units under RBI franchise agreements, directly comparable to Carrols' franchisee model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/carrolscareers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/carrols-corporation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Carrols Corporation