Chains look to link up

Smoothies, pizzas and pretzels.

Those are some of the freshest products from franchise chains with growth plans in the Tampa area and potentially other Gulf Coast markets. The specific companies are Smoothie King, Toppers Pizza and Philly Pretzel Factory.

All three entities have likely noticed Tampa's surge in national rankings. The latest comes from hospitality trade publication QSR Magazine, which pegs Tampa as the sixth-best large city in the country for market opportunities in the quick-service segment. The publication uses proprietary research from the NPD Group, which studies population growth and quick-service restaurant density in a given market. The top large region for market opportunities in the country, according to QSR, is Minneapolis-St. Paul. The top five large list includes Miami-Fort Lauderdale and the Orlando area, and the Fort Myers-Naples region placed seventh on the medium market list.