Google Maps + 10 Fastfood Chains = Fast Food Maps

Back in October I posted about FastFoodMaps (.com) that visually plotted the locations of 4 fast food chains in the US. The 4 chains included McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King or Jack in the Box and came to a total of 27,478 stores! This surprised me since it was only 4 big chains.

If FastFoodMaps was only a large size mashup before, it has definitely been super-sized with the most recent update! Its creator Ian Spiro dropped me a line to let me know about some of the improvements he has made:

- Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, Carl's Jr., Hardee's, and In-N-Out and has been added to the listings of McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King or Jack in the Box locations
- Somewhat more accurate geocoding of locations
- The interface provides statistics about the current screen / zoom level
- You can turn off layers of data.
- Animated map pins that bounce! :) (This is the first I've seen this on any mashup)

The total number of Fast Food stores in the US based on this database?
Just over 50,000!

The city with the most locations is Houston, Texas with 480!

The reason I think this mashup is unique is that the geo-plotted data means something different for everyone visiting. For some it will be a way to locate their favorite fast food chain on a Google Map, while for others, the littering of pins on the map will put them in disgust due the number of available fast food chains dotting the US landscape. No matter how you look at it, it's a powerful mashup and interesting topic (along with some great Google Maps API work!).

..Would you like fries with your mashup? :)

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