Best Stock to Buy and Hold Forever: Dutch Bros vs. Wingstop

Great restaurant and service brands can turn everyday habits into decades of recurring revenue, giving investors a powerful combination of customer loyalty and expansion-driven growth. If I could only buy one restaurant stock to hold for the next 20 to 50 years, these are the two I'd consider first -- and the one I'd choose today.

Dutch Bros: Community in a cup

Dutch Bros (NYSE: BROS) was founded in 1992 by two brothers selling espresso from a pushcart in Grants Pass, Oregon. That origin story isn't marketing, it's the company's operating philosophy. Every Dutch Bros shop is required to maintain a culture of genuine human connection while selling coffee. Employees are trained to learn customers' names, memorize orders, and treat the drive-thru window like the front door of someone's home. That sounds soft until you look at the economics: Dutch Bros has one of the highest same-store sales growth rates in the entire quick-service sector.

Image source: Getty Images.

The company now has just over 1,000 locations and a long-term target of over 7,000. It is opening at least 181 new shops in 2026 alone. For context, that means Dutch Bros is still in the first quarter of its eventual footprint, a stage of growth where unit economics are proven and the brand is established, but the runway is almost entirely ahead.

What's new and worth noting: Dutch Bros launched a CPG line in early 2026 -- canned iced coffees, ground beans, creamer pods -- now available at Walmart and Amazon, among others. That move turns a regional drive-thru experience into a national household brand. When someone who's never been near an Oregon highway can grab a Dutch Bros can from their local grocery store, the brand footprint grows faster than the shop count. RBC Capital Markets named Dutch Bros its top restaurant pick for 2026, specifically because of this kind of category expansion layered on top of the core unit growth story.

The risk with this company is labor. Dutch Bros' differentiation lives entirely in its people. Hiring and retaining employees who can deliver that culture at scale -- across 1,000 shops now and eventually 7,000 -- is the hardest operational challenge in the business model. If the culture dilutes as the company grows, the moat shrinks with it.

Wingstop: The franchise machine

Wingstop (NASDAQ: WING) is one of the most asset-light restaurant businesses in the country. The company owns almost none of its own locations -- it franchises them -- which means it collects royalties while its franchisees carry the capital costs of building and operating. That model generates free cash flow at a rate that most restaurant operators can't match, and it means that when Wingstop's brand heat is high, growth is almost frictionless.

Brand heat is very high. The company's digital ordering rate exceeded 70% of all transactions at one point, and its social media-driven marketing approach -- leaning on food creators, viral moments, and celebrity partnerships -- has made Wingstop one of the most searched food brands among 18- to 34-year-olds. Same-store sales have grown for 20-plus consecutive quarters. International unit growth is accelerating, with the brand now operating in 14 countries and targeting a much broader global presence over the next decade.

RBC also named Wingstop its other top restaurant pick for 2026, specifically calling out the potential upside to consensus unit growth estimates of 16% this year. The company's digital infrastructure -- which tracks customer preferences, order frequency, and basket size -- also gives it a data flywheel that most QSR brands are still trying to build.

The honest risk is chicken prices. Wingstop's product is essentially one ingredient, and bone-in wing prices have historically been volatile. The company has managed this by shifting its menu mix toward boneless wings and thighs, but a sharp commodity price spike can still compress franchisee margins and slow new-unit growth.

Why I'm picking Dutch Bros

Both of these are forever-quality consumer brands with real cultural moats and expansion runways that are nowhere near exhausted. To me, Dutch Bros edges it for a truly long hold. The personal connection it builds with customers -- the kind that turns a cup of coffee into a daily ritual and a reason to pull off the highway -- is harder to replicate than a franchise algorithm.

Also, it's shown stronger unit economics and a more aggressive expansion runway, with hundreds of new drive-thru locations planned in underpenetrated markets across the U.S., giving it a longer growth story than Wingstop's more mature footprint.

Micah Zimmerman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Dutch Bros, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Wingstop. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.