Subway sails by McDonald's as biggest U.S. fast-food chain

MILFORD, Conn. -- There are now more places in this country to buy a B.M.T. than a Big Mac.

Subway Restaurants, the privately held chain of sandwich shops, has eclipsed McDonald's as the largest restaurant chain in the country.

The Milford-based chain operates 13,247 stores in the United States, 148 more than McDonald's as of Dec. 31. Subway, started by Fred DeLuca in 1965, opened 904 units last year, while McDonald's opened 295.

"We knew that we were getting close to McDonald's, but we had to wait until McDonald's released its information," said Les Winograd, a Subway spokesman.

The numbers include satellite locations -- shops at gas stations, schools, sports arenas and other smaller outlets.

Winograd said Subway usually doesn't include satellites in the count but wanted to make sure its numbers were comparable to fourth-quarter figures reported by McDonald's.

McDonald's still far outsells Subway and surpasses the sandwich shop in global presence. The fact that there are more Subway restaurants in the United States may be a boost in visibility but does not add up to huge financial gains, said Mark Kalinowski, a fast-food restaurant analyst with Salomon Smith Barney.