9 Fast Food Chains Serving Only Pepsi Beverages

If you’ve ever eaten a snack food, drank a soda, or stopped to enjoy fast food, there’s a good chance you’ve consumed a PepsiCo, Inc. product. Pepsi-Cola (the drink, not the company) was first created by a pharmacist in 1898. Caleb D. Bradham concocted the drink as a means to compete with Coca-Cola, which was first served in 1886 and was also created by a pharmacist, Dr. John Pemberton. At the time, carbonated beverages were sold in pharmacies for a surprising reason: to aid in digestion. Yes, early glasses of ice-cold Coca-Cola and Pepsi were sold as health products. And while Pepsi didn’t have any drugs included in the original recipe (we’re looking at you, Coca-Cola), it did have pepsin, a digestive enzyme, which also reportedly inspired the Pepsi-Cola name.

Today, the rivalry between Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola is still alive and well, over 100 years since the two companies were founded. Over the decades, people have chosen their sides, and so too have restaurants. According to Statista, Americans on average consume over 38 gallons of soda every year, which makes restaurant contracts with soda purveyors a very lucrative business. We’re exploring which fast food restaurants sell PepsiCo products, from Taco Bell to Jersey Mike’s.

Every year, Taco Bell serves food to over 2 billion customers, from lovers of the (once upon a time controversial) Mexican pizza to its bestselling Crunchwrap Supreme®. Known for its Tex-Mex style foods, Taco Bell has over 8,000 locations, including its famous Taco Bell Cantinas, with origins dating back to 1951 when founder Glen Bell created his version of the Crunchy Taco. Today, Taco Bell is a part of Yum! Brands, Inc., which also includes fast food giants like Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Pizza Hut.

But once upon a time, Taco Bell was owned by PepsiCo. The company bought Taco Bell in 1978 for $125 million (accounting for inflation, that would be over $610 million today). At the time of the acquisition, Taco Bell had 868 restaurants, which grew exponentially under the tutelage of PepsiCo. A few decades after the acquisition, PepsiCo divested its restaurant brand, which later became known as Yum! Brands. Still, Taco Bell kept serving PepsiCo products and still does today. However, if you go to other countries outside of the United States, you may see Coca-Cola products being served since contracts with vendors can be negotiated differently in other countries.

Another brand once owned by PepsiCo, KFC got its humble beginnings in 1930. That’s when the Colonel (yes, the KFC mascot was inspired by its founder), also known as Harland Sanders of Indiana, first sold his Southern-style fried chicken to patrons at a motel in Kentucky. But it wasn’t until 1939 that Sanders perfected his recipe. If you are a longtime fan of the restaurant, then you probably know what made the chicken just right. Need a guess? Try the 11 herbs and spices that the company has kept a closely guarded secret since its inception.

After Sanders had donned the white suit he became known for (as did the KFC mascot), the first franchise opened in Utah, and today, KFC has over 30,000 restaurants worldwide. Its chicken is so popular that it’s a Christmas tradition in Japan to eat a KFC party barrel complete with fried chicken, dessert, and sides. As with Taco Bell, Pepsi spun KFC off into Yum!, but that doesn’t mean the love between the two brands died. KFC is a loyal seller of PepsiCo products and has even had exclusive flavors for its patrons to try.

Do you know why Pizza Hut is called that? It’s a much simpler reason than you might think. In 1958, two brothers — Dan and Frank Carney — opened a pizza shop in Wichita, Kansas, and when they went to look at the sign, they realized they only had room for eight letters, hence the short and sweet name. Over a decade later, the famous red roof was incorporated into the aesthetic of Pizza Hut exteriors. Famous by 1971, the red roof became the official logo of the company and is still used today. In 1986, Pizza Hut celebrated its 5,000th store, and today there are over 20,000 locations in 110+ countries and territories around the world.

Like Taco Bell and KFC, Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands and was at one time owned by PepsiCo. And as with Taco Bell and KFC, Pizza Hut still sells PepsiCo products today. In 2022, the two companies teamed up for Pepsi-Roni Pizza — a pizza topped with pepperoni infused with caramel and citrusy Pepsi flavoring.

The South can’t get enough of its fried chicken, and Bojangles (we can hear the faint calls of “It’s Bo’ Time” echoing in our ears) delivers. Founded in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1977, Bojangles was the brainchild of Jack Fulk and Richard Thomas. Together, they saw an opportunity to deliver well-seasoned and delicious scratch-made food to patrons with friendly service. The Bojangles brand grew after that, ballooning to more than 500 franchise locations in the South and Southeast. The company is probably best known for its fried chicken biscuit, which, according to its franchise site, takes over 49 steps to complete.

While we can’t be sure of the exact reason that Bojangles chose to partner with PepsiCo as its soda brand of choice, one thing could be solidarity. PepsiCo was founded in New Bern, North Carolina, which is only four hours and some change away when driving and 220 miles in straight-line distance. Plus, on its website, Bojangles notes that PepsiCo was, “Founded in North Carolina back in 1898, Pepsi® is truly a Southern soda.”

Dunkin’ has gone through a few name changes during its time. Originally founded in 1948 by Bill Rosenberg under the name Open Kettle, Dunkin’ was then named Dunkin’ Donuts in 1950. And today America really does “Run on Dunkin'” as Dunkin’ reportedly sells 60 cups of coffee per second. But beyond the iced and hot coffee, Dunkin’ is also well known for its donuts, which leads us to Dunkin’s second name change to remove the Donuts part of the name. In 2018, it released its new campaign “Just Call Us Dunkin’,” which was a means of pivoting to be a beverage-led powerhouse. The company’s chief marketing officer at the time, Tony Weisman, shared that the change in modernizing the name would be “an opportunity to create an incredible new energy for Dunkin’, both in and outside our stores.”

Even with its pivot, Dunkin’ still makes sure its food meets customers’ standards, offering not only delicious donuts (and the famous Munchkins) but also wraps, sandwiches, bagels, and more. To go along with the food, Dunkin’ also has PepsiCo products to offer patrons. Over the years, Dunkin’ has flip-flopped between PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, but the latest switch in 2023 brought Dunkin’ back to PepsiCo products.

Dairy Queen fans can give their thanks to founder John Freemont McCullough, Sherb Noble, and McCullough’s son Alex. The three came together and took a recipe for soft-serve (which McCullough, alongside Carvel founder Tom Carvel, has been credited with popularizing) and turned it into an empire. The first Dairy Queen shop opened in Joliet, Illinois. Following that opening, the Dairy Queen team continued to franchise and expand restaurant offerings to include food and hard-packed ice cream. Over the years, Dairy Queen introduced beloved treats like the Dilly® Bar and Blizzard®, and as times changed, so did offerings to include a gluten-free, dairy-free, plant-based Dilly® Bar.

Serving snack classics like hot dogs, chicken tenders, and burgers, Dairy Queen also serves up PepsiCo products. Berkshire Hathaway — the company founded by American investor Warren Buffett — owns the Dairy Queen brand and shared that while most Dairy Queen restaurants are franchised and can make their own choices, including a choice to serve Coca-Cola, they choose Pepsi.

The founder of Papa John’s may have a controversial status today, but back in 1984, John Schnatter was a pizza delivery guy who wanted to be the architect of said pizzas. He ended up opening the first Papa John’s soon after and, within the year, had opened four additional restaurants. In 1993, Papa John’s went public and raised money for additional expansions that took the running tally up to over 1,000 by the turn of the century. By 2019, Papa John’s had $1.7 billion in annual revenue and over 5,000 stores internationally. Then, Schnatter, who was also the spokesperson in commercials for the brand, spoke out about the NFL national anthem protests, followed by news that he’d used a racial slur on a conference call.

Following Schnatter’s departure from the brand he grew, Papa John’s dealt with setbacks like losing its promotional partnership with Major League Baseball (which has since been reinstated). In 2024, the company reported earnings of $2.06 billion, showing many fans were undeterred by the controversy. North American stores in 2024 received news of a continued partnership with PepsiCo as Papa John’s signed a 10-year extension.Pizza lovers can have Mountain Dew, Pepsi, and Starry’s with their large pepperoni pies, should they so choose.

Before Jersey Mike’s, there was simply Mike’s Subs. A submarine sandwich shop in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, Mike’s Subs laid the groundwork for 17-year-old Peter Cancro to create Jersey Mike’s. Cancro worked at Mike’s, and while still in high school, he bought the sub shop. As the years passed, Cancro continued to expand Mike’s and when he and his wife began franchising in the 1980s, he changed the name to Jersey Mike’s as an homage to its history and roots. With over 3,000 locations, Jersey Mike’s prides itself on slicing its meats and cheeses right in front of the customer per order.

In 2011, when Jersey Mike’s signed an exclusive agreement with PepsiCo, founder and CEO Cancro said, “I grew up enjoying Pepsi products … The Pepsi team has consistently demonstrated a commitment to Jersey Mike’s by developing customized field support for our franchisees.” The deal also included Frito-Lay products, a subsidiary of PepsiCo.

Much like Jersey Mike’s, Subway was also founded in part thanks to a 17-year-old. Fred DeLuca teamed up with family friend Dr. Peter Buck to form a business partnership that led to what would be the first Subway, which opened in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1965. The name officially switched from Pete’s Super Submarines to Subway in 1968. By the mid-1970s, the duo had over a dozen locations in Connecticut and began franchising, leading to the nearly 38,000 Subway restaurants around the world.

In 2024, Subway shocked many long-time franchisees when it announced a new 10-year agreement with PepsiCo. Previously, Subway had worked with Coca-Cola for nearly 20 years. Some franchisees balked at the change, but Subway’s North American president shared via Today that “The partnership with PepsiCo is an exciting milestone in our journey to become America’s favorite place to eat, drink, and work.” The transition began in early 2025, and Subway’s partnership with Frito-Lay was extended as well.