Top ten food franchises Every year, Entrepreneur magazine names its top franchises for sale, gathered up into a list called the "Franchise 500." By referring to this list, prospective franchise owners can determine the top franchise for sale in any number of categories-the top ten food franchises, the best auto service franchise, the best do-it-yourself picture framing franchise, and so on.. But year after year, the same companies continue to dominate this list, mainly because they have superb brand recognition, a solid financial base, highly satisfied franchisees committed to excellence, and products or services that have stood the test of time. As Entrepreneur sees it, here are the top ten food franchises. 1. Subway The top company on this list has gained a reputation for offering fresh, healthy food at very reasonable prices. They also come up with some very innovative national marketing campaigns to keep the name "fresh" in the public's eye. 2. McDonald's Ray Kroc took a California hamburger joint owned by two brothers and turned it into the world's largest fast-food restaurant chain. 3. Liberty Tax Service With the tax deadline of April 15 looming over the heads of U.S. citizens every year, more and more taxpayers realize that it pays to hire an outside expert to help them complete their filings. 4. Sonic Drive-In Restaurants This company started as a root beer stand in 1954 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, jumping into the franchise business five years later. Today there are close to 3,000 Sonic Drive-In franchises across the country. 5. InterContinental Hotels Group The flagship property in this massive chain is the self-named InterContinental, which include some of the most prestigious hotels in such world capitals as London, Paris, Vienna, Cairo, Nairobi, and many others. 6. Ace Hardware Corp. The neighborhood hardware store is alive and well in the guise of Ace, a national chain that prides itself on hometown values and helpful personnel who can tell you the best way to paint a door or repair a fence. The company began in 1924 and became a franchise operation in 1976. There are currently more than 4,200 U.S. top ten food franchises. 7. Pizza Hut In 1957, when this pizza chain started business as a single restaurant in Wichita, Kansas, no one would have suspected that it would grow into the largest pizza restaurant chain in the world. 8. The UPS Store / Mail Boxes Etc. Mail Boxes Etc. started in 1980 as a competitor to the U.S. Mail and has since expanded to offer all kinds of services that include the sale of packing materials, copying and printing, mailbox rentals, and shipments of darned near anything to anybody who has a permanent address. 9. Circle K This convenience store chain was founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas. They waited until 1995 to begin franchising 10. Papa John's International This pizza chain got its start in 1985 in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Papa John's has more than 2,100 U.S. franchises and close to 500 on international soil.