Restaurant chains count $3.5B in sales / The list: OC-based restaurant chains

The largest restaurant chains based in Orange County cooked up $3.5 billion in revenue

The 15 restaurant chains, which employ more than 12,000 workers here, saw a 7.5% gain in 2002 sales from a year earlier, according to the Business Journal's first list of chains based here.

The list includes sit-down, casual dining and fast food operators based here or subsidiaries that have their brand headquarters in OC.

The list reflects OC's role as a hub for restaurants.

"A lot of leading brands have come out of here," said Doug Cavanaugh, chief executive of Newport Beach-based The Ruby Restaurant Group, operator of Ruby's Diners. "And if brands weren't here, chief executives decided to bring offices here because you have a very desirable place to live, a place that's conducive to creativity and an adventurous dining clientele that's willing to try anything."