Radar · Food Service Chains in San Diego
Best Food Service Chains Companies in San Diego, United States
The 31 best Food Service Chains companies in San Diego, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Luna Grill.
By Riya SenguptaFinancials
31companies tracked
$17.2Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
3have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · FOOD SERVICE CHAINS × SAN DIEGO
Our analysis of 50 Food Service Chains companies
$8.5b in tracked funding; 90% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
50companies analysed
90%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
1unicorns
2010median founding year
Ranked: Best Food Service Chains companies in San Diego
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luna Grill Chain of casual dining restaurant | $9M | 109 mo ago | Series B | — | 2004 | WordPress Block EditorCart FunctionalityWooCommerce+32 | — |
| 2 | Plant Power Fast Food Vegan fast food restaurant chain | $8M | 65 mo ago | Series A | — | 2015 | Cart FunctionalityGoogle MapsMUI+19 | — |
| 3 | The Kebab Shop Chain of limited service restaurant offering Chicken | $200K | 88 mo ago | Seed | — | 2007 | Cart FunctionalityWordPressBugHerd+34 | — |
| 4 | Jack In The Box Chain of limited service restaurant | — | 88 mo ago | Public | Robert Oscar Peterson Founder | 1951 | Cart FunctionalitySkolengoContentful+25 | — |
| 5 | B B Bakery BB Bakery is a traditional French Salon de Thé bringing the authentic taste of real French baking to London. | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | Better Buzz Coffee Chain of coffee cafe | — | — | Unfunded | — | 2002 | Cart FunctionalityShopifyZURB Foundation+32 | — |
| 7 | Breadandcie Bakery and cafe offering rustic European breads, pastries, and catering services | — | — | Unfunded | — | 2000 | Cart FunctionalityWordPressMySQL+28 | — |
| 8 | Broken Yolk Cafe Offers event catering services | — | — | Funding Raised | Brooke Dale Owner | 1979 | SkolengoCart FunctionalityApple iCloud Mail+24 | — |
Top 4 Food Service Chains companies in San Diego
#1
Series A · San Diego, California · founded 2015 · 84 employees$7.5Mraised▾
Series A · San Diego, California · founded 2015 · 84 employees
Vegan fast food restaurant chain
Funding rounds
- May 2021Series A$7.5M
- Dec 2019Series A—
Investors
Eat & Beyond
Tech stack
AccessibeAmazon CloudfrontAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesAngularCart Functionality
#2
Series B · San Diego, California · founded 2004 · 241 employees$9.5Mraised▾
Series B · San Diego, California · founded 2004 · 241 employees
Chain of casual dining restaurant
Funding rounds
- Sep 2017Series B—
- Mar 2017Series B$5.5M
- Nov 2016Conventional Debt$30M
- Jan 2015Series A$4M
Investors
PWP Growth Equity, CapitalSpring, ClearVision Equity
Tech stack
AccessibeAmazon Web ServicesApple Icloud MailAzureAzure Front DoorBootstrap
#3
Seed · San Diego, California · founded 2007 · 375 employees$200Kraised▾
Seed · San Diego, California · founded 2007 · 375 employees
Chain of limited service restaurant offering Chicken
Funding rounds
- Jul 2019Seed$200K
Tech stack
AccessibeAlpine.JsAosApple Icloud MailBugherdCart Functionality
#4
Public · San Diego, California · founded 1951 · 9523 employees—raised▾
Public · San Diego, California · founded 1951 · 9523 employees
Chain of limited service restaurant
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 65k LinkedIn followers — 76.0% of this cohort's audience
Activity: 1 awards announced in 12 mo
Founders & team
Investors
Igli Capital, Gala Capital Partners, Northcreek Mezzanine, Leonard Green and Partners, Four Rivers
Tech stack
Amazon Web ServicesApple Icloud MailAzureBugherdCloudflareCloudflare Bot Management
Funding & investor landscape
$17.2Mtotal disclosed funding
3companies funded
5disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 1,435,604 docs
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Food Service Chains coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
RESEARCH SIGNALS · United States
How research on Food Technology is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around Food Technology — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 4,142 United States-affiliated papers.
research sentiment over time
200820172026
enthusiastic · positive · guarded tone
Tone is overwhelmingly optimistic and intensifying — the enthusiastic (strongly-positive) share moved 17% → 34% across 2008–2026.
top research entities
- Cornell University153
- Purdue University West Lafayette134
- University of Georgia82
- Michigan State University81
- University of California, Davis79
leading researchers
David Julian McClements · Martin Wiedmann · Prabhu Pingali · Valquerizo, Pamela Cristina · Semakula, Henry Musoke · Liang, Song · McKune, Sarah Lindley · Mukwaya, Paul Isolo
▲
Breakthroughs283 · 7%
▲ 3%→7% share
▲2.3× share momentum0 median citations93% since 2021mostly methods-led
Breakthroughs are rising (3%→7% of field), led by Food safety.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Food safety4→52
- Food processing2→31
- Food science1→13
- Contamination1→12
- Food products1→12
Newly emergingFood security 0→37 · Agriculture 0→30 · Production (economics) 0→21
Landmark Development of a Paper-Based Analytical Device for Colorimetric Detection of Select Foodborne Pathogens · 460 cites
◆
Advancements1,178 · 28%
▲ 19%→29% share
▲1.5× share momentum0 median citations90% since 2021mostly empirical
Advancements are rising (19%→29% of field), led by Food safety.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Food safety16→214
- Food processing12→174
- Agriculture14→135
- Production (economics)7→122
- Food security3→117
Newly emergingSustainable agriculture 0→41 · Fermentation 0→40 · Food packaging 0→30
Landmark Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States · 1,126 cites
▼
Concerns1,665 · 40%
▼ 52%→39% share
▼0.8× share momentum0 median citations83% since 2021mostly empirical
Concerns are cooling (52%→39% of field), led by Food safety.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Food safety56→397
- Food security40→307
- Agriculture35→233
- Food processing54→215
- Food systems28→180
Newly emergingFood insecurity 0→60 · Human health 0→37 · Risk assessment 0→23
Landmark Ultra‐processed products are becoming dominant in the global food system · 1,762 cites
RESEARCH HOTSPOTS · United States
Where food tech is researched across United States
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
New York206 · +0.07
Boston121 · +0.04
SF Bay Area101 · +0.05
Philadelphia35 · -0.05
Chicago26 · +0.00
Los Angeles24 · +0.00
Seattle24 · +0.13
Atlanta23 · +0.05
San Diego17 · +0.36
Pittsburgh16 · -0.16
PATENT SIGNAL · United States
Who's filing food tech patents in the United States
United States food tech patent filing is cooling — 817 filings from 475 assignees (2016–2025), led by Whirlpool, Sharkninja Operating, Provisur Technologies; annual filings 80→68.
817 filings475 assigneespeak 93/yr2016–2025
filing momentum (YoY 2016–2025)
top patent filers
- Whirlpool185
- Sharkninja Operating151
- Provisur Technologies51
- Smartwash Solutions39
- LYCO MFG32
- SAFE Foods32
- Massachusetts INST Technology20
- Island Oasis Frozen Cocktail18
Common questions
How many Food Service Chains companies are there in San Diego, United States?
Radar tracks 31 indexable Food Service Chains companies headquartered in San Diego, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Food Service Chains companies in San Diego, United States?
The Food Service Chains companies in San Diego, United States on this list have raised a combined $17.2M in disclosed equity funding across 3 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Food Service Chains company in San Diego, United States?
Luna Grill is the highest-funded Food Service Chains company in San Diego, United States, with $9.5M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Food Service Chains companies in San Diego, United States are funded?
3 of the 31 Food Service Chains companies in San Diego, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Food Service Chains unicorns are there in San Diego, United States?
None of the Food Service Chains companies in San Diego, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in San Diego, United States Food Service Chains companies?
The most active investors in San Diego, United States Food Service Chains companies on this list include CapitalSpring, Centre Partners, ClearVision Equity, Eat & Beyond, Four Rivers.
Riya SenguptaFinancials
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.