Generally speaking I am not the biggest fan of Indonesian cuisine, particularly in comparison with their south-east Asian neighbours. There is though a cheat, or get-out-of-food-jail free card, and that is fast food restaurants in Indonesia.
These include their take on die-hards like McDonald’s and KFC, but also local monsters like HokBen and Richeese Factory. What though, I hear you ask, are the most popular and indeed most palatable? Here’s my guide to Indonesian fast food, ranked proper, counting 11 to 1, with the biggest and most popular at the very end.
Table of Contents
Top 11 Fast Food Restaurants in Indonesia
As always we count from 11-1, with the best, or rather in this case the most popular coming at the very end of the list. Said list has been drawn from local sources and we feel is about as accurate as it can be.
The list of Indonesian fast food restaurants does though have a few curve balls that you might not expect.
11 Burger King around 175 outlets
Burger King exists here, but it is not dominant. You see it in Jakarta, Bali and a few provincial capitals, but you do not see it everywhere. The Whopper is the Whopper. It tastes like it does everywhere else. The problem for Burger King is that Indonesians prefer chicken over beef and there are bigger chicken players ahead.
10 Richeese Factory around 200 outlets
This is what happens when you take fried chicken and drown it in cheese sauce. It is loud, messy and aimed squarely at teenagers. The spice levels can be stupidly high and people seem to love proving something by ordering the hottest one. It has grown fast, but it is still outside the big league in raw numbers.
9 California Fried Chicken around 265 outlets
CFC has been around forever. It is basically Indonesian fried chicken in fast food format. Chicken, rice, sambal, done. It used to feel bigger, but newer chains have overtaken it. Still very common in secondary cities and not going anywhere soon.
Really not good I mean wtf has California got to do with chicken?
8 A and W around 285 outlets
A and W is much bigger than foreigners think. Root beer floats are still a thing here. Burgers are average, fried chicken is fine, but the nostalgia factor keeps it strong. You see it constantly in malls. Solid mid table operator.
A little bit of an Indonesian institution.
7 McDonalds around 305 outlets
McDonalds is big but not king. They have localised heavily. Ayam goreng McD with rice sells like crazy. Breakfast is strong. Promotions are relentless. It is everywhere in major cities, but once you get deeper into the provinces it thins out compared to the top players.
Have some trust excellent local dishes, but also all the classics.
6 HokBen around 375 outlets
Japanese style fast food that Indonesians treat as comfort food. Bento boxes, teriyaki chicken, tempura and rice. It is clean, consistent and extremely popular with families. In malls you will often see queues here while Western brands sit half full.
5 Kebab Turki Baba Rafi around 400 domestic outlets
This one exploded. Kebab stands, small shops, mall kiosks. Cheap, fast, portable. Students love it. Workers grab it for lunch. It spread aggressively across smaller cities and that is why the numbers are high.
4 Solaria around 500 outlets
Solaria dominates malls. Fried rice, noodles, chicken, local comfort food in fast service format. It is not Western fast food, but it absolutely qualifies as quick service at scale. Indonesians eat here constantly. Reliable and everywhere.
3 Pizza Hut around 600 outlets
Pizza Hut is huge here. Dine in, delivery, mall presence, standalone units. Indonesians treat it as family food. Birthdays, group dinners, casual dates. The footprint is massive and it reaches far beyond Jakarta.
2 Mie Gacoan around 600 plus outlets
Spicy noodles and chaos. This chain expanded insanely fast. Cheap prices, loud branding, young crowd. You will see lines outside some branches. It is one of the biggest growth stories in Indonesian fast food right now.
1 KFC around 720 outlets
This is the king. No debate. KFC is everywhere. Big cities, small towns, transport hubs. Indonesians love fried chicken with rice and sambal and KFC nailed that formula decades ago. In terms of raw outlet count it sits at the top of the fast food food chain in Indonesia.
Another behemoth that really has Indonesian flair to it.
So there you have it, the good, the bad and the very ugly of fast restaurants in Indonesia. Click to see the biggest brands in Cambodia.