Wallace

Wallace was started in January 2001 by two brothers from Wenzhou, Hua Huaiqing and Hua Huaiyu, who opened a small Western-style fast-food shop near Fujian Normal University in Fuzhou with 80,000 yuan. At first they copied the menus and prices of KFC and McDonald’s, and customers simply went to the originals. What worked was a price stunt called “Special 1-2-3”: a cola for 1 yuan, a chicken leg for 2 and a burger for 3. Sales doubled, and the chain found its formula.

From 2005 it expanded on that formula: prices at roughly a third to two thirds of KFC and McDonald’s, small shops next to housing estates and schools instead of expensive city centres, and franchise fees far below its rivals’. In January 2014 it passed KFC in restaurant count, 4,800 to 4,600. It reached 10,000 shops by the end of 2018 and more than 20,000 by early 2023, most of them in China’s second- and third-tier cities and small towns.

Growth that fast came with problems. Wallace has been repeatedly criticised over hygiene at franchised shops, and in July 2021 an undercover video from a Beijing branch led to that shop’s closure and a summons for company managers from Shanghai regulators. The chain opened its first US store at the end of 2024 and its first Hong Kong shop in June 2026, where a spicy chicken thigh burger set cost 53 Hong Kong dollars against 29 yuan in Shenzhen.

More than 20,000 restaurants, mostly small franchised shops in China’s smaller cities and towns; one in Hong Kong and a first US store.

• Tastien (China, since 2012). China’s fast-growing “Chinese burger” chain, with hand-rolled buns baked to order and fillings from Chinese cooking. Also built on chicken and heat.
• Lucky Pierrot (Japan, since 1987). Hakodate’s beloved local burger chain, with circus-themed shops and a sweet-and-spicy Chinese Chicken Burger. Also built on chicken and heat.
• Mom's Touch (South Korea, since 1997). Korea’s chicken burger chain, famous for a whole fried thigh in a bun. Also built on chicken.
• Laya Burger (Taiwan, since 2002). One of Taiwan’s big three breakfast chains, now baking its burger buns from an 18-hour sourdough. Also built on chicken and heat.