Nation's Restaurant News named Pilot Flying J to its 2011 Top 100 list of food-service chains and companies.


The Knoxville-based travel center company came in as the 65th largest in revenue and second in terms of fastest revenue growth.

Pilot Flying J's No. 65 ranking was based on $451 million in U.S. food and beverage revenue during the highway travel industry leader's fiscal year ending December 2010. It is Pilot Flying J's first year on the NRN Top 100 list.

Pilot Flying J showed 67.72% growth in U.S. food service revenue that pushed the company to second on the magazine's list of the 100 fastest growing companies.

Pilot Flying J currently operates 286 branded restaurants and plans to open an additional five restaurant locations this year. By the end of 2011, Pilot Flying J will operate nearly 170 Subway restaurants, making the company the largest Subway franchisee in the world.

Pilot Flying J benefitted from the merger between Pilot Travel Centers and Flying J Travel Plazas during FY 2010 as well as deli openings at locations nationwide.

In the past six months, Pilot Flying J has opened 206 full hot deli areas in locations across the U.S. The hot delis include Pepperoni's handmade Italian pizza as well as cheeseburgers, Oscar Mayer hot dogs, Tyson chicken and several other hot meal options.

Pilot Flying J historically has been a leader in adding restaurants to its travel center network. Today, Pilot Flying J restaurants include Arby's, Chester's Chicken, Dairy Queen, KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell, and Wendy's.