15 Extremely Popular Restaurants You Still Can’t Eat At in Idaho

When Idaho’s first In-N-Out Burger opened in Meridian in 2023, the turnout made headlines from Salt Lake City to Southern California to the New York Post. Plenty of social media critics called Idaho’s enthusiasm for the burger chain embarrassing. 

We can’t help but wonder if they would’ve said the same thing if TikTok and Reels had been a bigger deal when the first freestanding Chick-fil-A opened in Meridian back in 2012. People lost their minds for that too. 

Which of America’s Top 75 Restaurant Chains Are Missing in Idaho?

Restaurant Business recently published a list of America’s top 75 restaurant chains based on total sales. Even though a lot of people believe that Idaho doesn’t exist, a great deal of these brands have made their way to Idaho. 59 by our count. 

READ MORE: ‘The Planet’s Best Ice Cream’ Is Finally Coming to Idaho

However, a considerable amount of those brands didn’t come to the Gem State until 2010 or later. That includes Chick-Fil-A (#3 overall,) which opened its first location inside the Boise State Student Union Building in 2010 before building a standalone location two years later. It also includes Chipotle (#7 overall) which opened its first Idaho location in 2011 and Panera (#12 overall) which didn’t come to the Gem State until 2015. 

Get our free mobile app

Of the Top 10 restaurants on the list, Dunkin is the only chain that hasn’t opened in Idaho…yet. If you’ve been following the news, there are two Dunkin’ franchisees looking for potential locations in Idaho. 

At least one of the other 16 brands on the Top 75 that doesn’t currently have a location in Idaho is planning to open here soon. As for the others? We don’t have a clue if any of them have Idaho on the radar, but here are the brands that have skipped out on us for now.