Five Guys (1986)
The Murrell family opened the first Five Guys in Arlington, Virginia, a burger-and-fries shop that added locations slowly and stayed regional for years.
Five Guys expanded deliberately through family-run stores before any franchising.
It grew to thousands of outlets worldwide, showing slow single-store growth can still become a large chain.
Holy Peno is expanding incrementally too, from one Bridgeview store to a licensed Chicago location, rather than jumping to multiple sites at once.
