Burger King expects to transfer about 200 company-owned U.S. restaurants to franchisees by year-end, down from an initial target of roughly 300, as part of Restaurant Brands International’s Reclaim the Flame turnaround. The company ultimately aims to retain only about 300 directly operated restaurants within a domestic system of more than 6,000 locations, with franchisees running the rest. Restaurant Brands accumulated 1,023 Carrols restaurants through its roughly $1 billion acquisition of the franchisee in 2024, in addition to about 175 locations it already owned. The company plans to refranchise those restaurants over seven years and is now favoring smaller, community-rooted operators over large private equity-backed groups. New owners include former Burger King franchising executive Jeremy Kline, CKJ Management and longtime franchisee Kevin Haas. CKJ reported a 21% year-over-year sales increase and 16% traffic growth in its market. Burger King posted 8.5% domestic same-store sales growth in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 1.5% a year earlier, while Restaurant Brands has committed more than $1 billion to U.S. restaurant upgrades and aims for 85% to 90% of domestic locations to meet current design standards by the end of 2028.