Popular European Fast-Food Chains America’s Missing Out On

American fast-food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell have spread across Europe without much resistance. But that doesn’t mean Europeans are only eating Whoppers and Crunchwraps. The continent has its own fast-food scene, with homegrown chains serving everything from currywurst and falafel to loaded fries and stroopwafel shakes. Some are small, some are massive, and most have never set foot in the U.S. — but they’re holding their own just fine. 

Here are 14 European Fast Food chains that you won't find in the U.S.  

Hesburger is Scandinavia’s saucier answer to McDonald’s — which, by the looks of it, might win in a fight. Finland’s biggest fast-food chain isn’t just a burger joint opened in 1966 and built its cult following on something deceptively simple: white cucumber mayonnaise. It’s made in-house and goes on nearly everything they serve, including kebabs. 

They don’t stop at mayo, either. Hesburger makes its own ketchup, too — over two million pounds of it a year, using a recipe they guard like state secrets. Staff reportedly whip up more than 1,000 gallons of sauce per shift. That's not a flex — that’s standard procedure.

The chain has hundreds of locations across Finland and the Baltic, but no apparent plans to move across the pond. 

Greggs is the place in the UK where all your lads and lassies go to have a top of the morning, innit. It started as a bakery in Tyneside in 1939 and became a national favorite by selling cheap, hot pastries that actually taste good. 

They’re best known for sausage rolls — including the vegan one that caused massive lines and a Twitter meltdown. Steak bakes, bacon sandwiches, and jam doughnuts are staples too. It has nearly 2,500 shops across the UK and fans across all classes — Ed Sheeran once ate seven sausage rolls in one go.

Supermac’s is Ireland’s homegrown answer to McDonald’s — but with fewer clowns. It opened in Galway in 1978, and it has grown into a burger empire with over 100 locations across Ireland, known for thick-cut fries, massive burgers, and late-night feeds after the pub. 

All the meat is 100% Irish and fully traceable, and the menu covers everything from chicken tenders and fish sandwiches to subs, wraps, taco fries and breakfast rolls the size of your arm. 

The French chain took the word “taco,” filled it with meat, fries, cheese sauce, and whatever else fits, then wrapped the whole thing in a grilled tortilla and called it a day. It’s called a “French Taco” and some call it the closest thing to Mexican fast food in France, while others say it’s a straight-up offense to Mexican food, fast food, and maybe even food in general. 

O'Tacos started in a suburb of Paris in 2007 and now has hundreds of locations across France and Belgium. Popular fillings include cordon bleu, tenders, merguez, and even falafel. 

Fast food is mostly about convenience, and what’s more convenient than pulling a hot snack out of a vending machine? That’s exactly the idea behind FEBO, a Dutch chain that’s been feeding the hungry (and the hungover) since the 1960s. 

You walk up to a wall of little glass doors, pop in a coin, and out comes your burger, croquette, or deep-fried cheese stick. No cashier, no line, no small talk. Nothing. As of 2024, there are over 75 FEBOs across the Netherlands — 31 of them in Amsterdam alone. 

And believe you me, after a night of raving in Amsterdam, nothing makes more sense than FEBO at 3 a.m.

Nordsee is basically McDonald’s for fish — at least in Germany. It’s been around since 1896, and it initially supplied fresh fish from the North Sea to inland Germany. In 1964, Nordsee introduced its first "Quick" restaurant, offering prepared seafood meals alongside raw fish. The main draw is the Fischbrötchen (fish sandwich basically), a bread roll stuffed with things like pickled herring, onions, remoulade, or fried fish. It also serves dishes like salads and seafood snacks.

It has over 350 locations across Europe, and is huge even though plenty of people will tell you the food is just “fine.” But when you live hours from the coast and want a hot fish sandwich without waiting for the next local festival, Nordsee does the job.

Max Burgers is Sweden’s oldest burger chain and remains family-owned to this day. What sets Max apart is its commitment to sustainability which is rarely the case with any fast food chain. In 2018, Max became the first fast-food chain to offer a climate-positive menu, meaning it offsets more carbon emissions than it produces. The company calculates the carbon footprint of each menu item — from farm to table — and includes this information on the menu to help customers make informed choices. Initiatives like switching to 100% wind power in Swedish restaurants and using 92% renewable packaging have contributed to a 30% reduction in emissions per meal between 2015 and 2021.

It also offers a range of plant-based and vegetarian options, aiming to have half of its meals be red-meat-free. It has over 170 locations across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, and even Egypt.

Fafa’s opened in Helsinki in 2011 and became one of Finland’s most popular fast-food chains. It now has over 40 restaurants in Finland, two in Sweden, and one each in Estonia and the United Kingdom. 

The menu focuses on Middle Eastern street food — mainly falafel, pita sandwiches, and meze bowls. Most items are vegetarian or vegan by default, and everything is made fresh. 

Fafa’s is also Finland’s first carbon-neutral restaurant chain, which means they offset all their emissions. It’s popular with students, office workers, and anyone who wants something fast that isn’t deep-fried meat.

Fish and chips — of course, it had to make the list. The UK wouldn’t be the UK without it, and while Poppie’s isn’t a massive chain, it’s popular enough (and good enough) to earn a spot. 

Started in London in the 1950s by a guy named Pat “Pops” Newland, Poppie’s serves up classic British chippy fare: battered cod, thick chips, mushy peas, and yes, jellied eels if you’re feeling bold. The fish is sustainably sourced from Scotland, and everything’s made fresh to order. You’ll find locations in Camden, Soho, and Spitalfields — all in London.  

If Domino’s and Pizza Hut had a temperamental Spanish cousin, it’d be Telepizza. It was founded in Madrid in 1987, and it was first called “Pizza Phone,” It quickly became one of Spain’s biggest pizza chains, especially for delivery. 

The menu looks familiar — pizzas, wings, pasta, desserts — but the toppings remind you you’re not in Kansas anymore. Telepizza offers toppings like tuna, jamón, carbonara sauce and corn. There’s also a pizza called “La Americana,” which includes bacon, beef, and steak sauce — subtle, it is not. 

As of 2024, the pizza chain has around 700 locations in Spain, with over 100 just in Madrid. Outside of Spain, you’ll also find them in places like Portugal, Poland, and across Latin America.

While you might expect something more sea-inspired from a Croatian fast-food chain, Surf’n’Fries went all in on potatoes. It opened in 2009 and started serving French fries in a paper cone with sauces tucked in and a drink clipped on the side. And it worked. Today, you can add chicken or a hot dog, but fries are the point. They’ve even developed oil-free frying in some places. 

Surf’n’Fries now has locations in over 15 countries, from Austria to the UAE. 

Flunch is a French self-service chain where you grab a tray, choose a main like chicken, fish, or pasta, and then pile on unlimited sides. It’s been around since 1971 and has over 200 locations, mostly near shopping malls. It doesn’t exist outside Europe, and there are no U.S. locations.  

The food is basic, cheap, and reliable — fries, green beans, rice, ratatouille — which makes it popular with families and anyone looking for a quick, hot meal. 

YO! Sushi brought conveyor belt dining to the UK back in 1997, and it quickly became a favorite for anyone who wanted sushi without the whole sit-down experience. Plates roll by, you grab what you want, and stack up the empties like poker chips. 

The chain has over 370 locations in the UK and nearly 100 more around the world — from France to the UAE. It did try to break into the U.S. with spots in New Jersey and Florida, but that experiment didn’t stick. 

Here’s American comfort food — but done the European way and known as better than McDonald's. Fat Phill’s started in Amsterdam in 2019, serving smashed burgers, loaded fries, hot chicken, and over-the-top milkshakes without the usual corporate blandness. 

The chain quickly spread through the Netherlands with about 20 locations, then crossed the Channel in 2024 to open in London’s Clapham Junction. Next up: Dublin, with a plan to hit 100 UK and Ireland locations by 2034.