50 Restaurants That Make The Most Money in The U.S.

We often speak about how difficult it can be to run a restaurant, how profit margins in fine dining are low and how managing to maintain a restaurant as a business can be very tough. However, this doesn’t ring true for all restaurants, in fact, many make millions of dollars a year from their highly effective, streamlined and perfectly executed systems. We’re not talking about McDonald’s here, but those spots in cityies around the U.S. that perfect the art of running a restaurant as a business.

In fact the highest grossing restaurant in the U.S, Tao Las Vegas, racks in annual sales of around $42,000,000 from 226,146 meals served, bringing them a cheque average of $90. It’s a nightclub, beach club and restaurant in one, but even with that and its celeb guest list, $42 million is mad money.

In fact, 24/7 Wall Street recently published a list of the highest grossing restaurants in the U.S and the results are both surprising and revealing.

On top of number one place, Tao have two other locations on the list: Tao in Downtown New York at number three with $33,401,819 and Tao in Uptown New York at number 14 with $23,089,638.

Number two on the list is Joe's Stone Crab in Miami where seafood is served to excess and people wait outside to sample their famous stone crabs, oysters, shrimp and snapper. They rack in an annual sales of  just over $37,000,000, serving 316,000 meals a year.

16 of the overall top 50 grossing restaurants in the U.S are steakhouses and New York is where people spend the most with a total of 20 out of the 50 restaurants appearing in The Big Apple.

Below is the top 20 grossing restaurants in the U.S.

1. Tao Las Vegas

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Annual sales: $42,470,345

Avg. check: $90

Meals served annually: 226,146

 

2. Joe's Stone Crab

Location: Miami Beach, Florida

Annual sales: $37,243,159

Avg. check: $80

Meals served annually: 316,000

 

3. Tao Downtown

Location: New York, N.Y.

Annual sales: $33,401,819

Avg. check: $95

Meals served annually: 311,945

 

4. Carmine's (New York)

Location: New York, N.Y.

Annual sales: $33,147,017

Avg. check: $33

Meals served annually: 396,871

 

5. Old Ebbitt Grill

Location: Washington, D.C.

Annual sales: $32,662,051

Avg. check: $39

Meals served annually: 1,072,293

 

6. The Boathouse Orlando

Location: Orlando, Florida

Annual sales: $30,814,369

Avg. check: $43

Meals served annually: 643,829

 

7. Lavo New York

Location: New York, N.Y.

Annual sales: $26,822,655

Avg. check: $85

Meals served annually: 200,000

 

8. Smith & Wollensky

Location: New York, N.Y.

Annual sales: $25,961,337

Avg. check: $100

Meals served annually: 296,723

 

9. Bryant Park Grill & Cafe

Location: New York, NY

Annual sales: $25,400,000

Avg. check: $50 (est.)

Meals served annually: 420,000

 

10. Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Annual sales: $24,700,825

Avg. check: $75

Meals served annually: 363,301

 

11. Junior's (Times Square)

Location: New York, N.Y.

Annual sales: $23,972,978

Avg. check: $24

Meals served annually: 950,000

 

12. Vandal

Location: New York, N.Y.

Annual sales: $23,680,917

Avg. check: $80

Meals served annually: 215,483

 

13. Prime 112

Location: Miami Beach, Florida

Annual sales: $23,100,000

Avg. check: $120

Meals served annually: 193,000

 

14. Tao Uptown

Location: New York, N.Y.

Annual sales: $23,089,638

Avg. check: $85

Meals served annually: 282,827

 

15. Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

Location: Washington, D.C.

Annual sales: $23,000,000 (est.)

Avg. check: $80 (est.)

Meals served annually: 288,000

 

16. The Hamilton

Location: Washington, D.C.

Annual sales: $21,978,322

Avg. check: $34

Meals served annually: 759,970

 

17. Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Annual sales: $21,800,000 (est.)

Avg. check: $85 (est.)

Meals served annually: 260,000

 

18. Bottega Louie

Location: Los Angeles, California

Annual sales: $21,720,463

Avg. check: $35

Meals served annually: 729,612

 

19. St. Elmo Steak House

Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

Annual sales: $21,308,565

Avg. check: $90

Meals served annually: 239,725

 

20. Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Annual sales: $21,200,000 (est.)

Avg. check: $80 (est.)

Meals served annually: 265,000

 

See the full list of 50 Highest Grossing Restaurants.