USA CNN
travel site named the world's best 20 Franchises.
20. Cinnabon
Country of origin: United States
Why we love it: A cinnamon roll big enough to use as a pillow when you slip into a sugar coma.
Why its logo is easier to remember than your mother's birthday: Using the sweet smell of cinnamon and sugar as an olfactory trap, Cinnabon has been luring customers since 1985.
Featuring a menu with seven variations on its classic cinnamon roll and iced beverages that typically feature whipped cream, it's found success in more than 30 countries and 750 locations.
19. Europcar
Country of origin: France
Why we love it: Freedom from buses, trains, scooters, bikes. pack mules, etc.
Why its logo is easier to remember than putting out the Do Not Disturb sign: Founded in Paris in 1949, Europcar has locations in more than 143 countries. Thanks to a buy-back business model with auto manufacturers, most Europcar cars are less than six months old, so if you like that new car smell, you're in luck.
Fast fact: Living up to its name, Europcar is the number one car rental company in Europe.
More: 49 journeys that'll change your life
18. Outback Steakhouse
Country of origin: United States
Why we love it: Since most people base their knowledge of Australia on "Crocodile Dundee," the restaurant feels completely authentic.
Why its logo is easier to remember than the capital of Australia: An Australian-themed restaurant founded in Florida and promoted, for a time, by a New Zealander (Jemaine Clement of "Flight of the Conchords"), Outback has more than 1,200 restaurants in 20 countries.
Known for its steaks but infamous for the Bloomin' Onion, a 1,948-calorie, one-pound crown of fried onion, Outback opened its first restaurant in 1988 and its first Australian restaurant in Sydney 13 years later.
Kooky name: When Outback Steakhouse came to Australia, its Kookaburra chicken wings were renamed Chookaburra to help differentiate them from Australia's kookaburra bird.
17. Panda Express
Country of origin: United States
Why we love it: Easy place to enjoy a Chinese banquet, even if you don't have any Chinese friends.
Why its logo is easier to remember than whatever she's gonna get mad at you for forgetting this week: Launched in southern California as Panda Inn in 1973, the operation was among the first to bring Mandarin and Szechuan flavors to the Cantonese-cuisine-dominated West Coast. It now operates 1,575 restaurants (no franchise stores, the Panda Restaurant Group runs them all) mostly in the U.S., where its Sweetfire chicken is an airport-meal standby for travelers hustling between connections.
Bear essential: El Panda opened its first international branch in Mexico City in 2011.
16. Marks & Spencer
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Why we love it: For 129 years, Marks & Spencer has concentrated on selling only the best of British-made goods -- brushed nylon jump suits, for example.
Why its logo is easier to remember than the chronology of all those powdered royals: The place where you can buy eggs and underwear at the same time has 1,184 locations.
Change up: Until 1988, Marks & Spencer had no changing rooms, so customers couldn't try on clothes. That's classy. Or, at least, it was.
15. Wagamama
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Why we love it: Nothing makes slurping noodles more acceptable than sitting on the same bench as 50 other noodle slurpers.
Why its logo is easier to remember than the Celsius-Fahrenheit conversion: Helping dispel the notion that ramen comes dried with a flavoring packet and eaten only by college students and poor vegetarians, Wagamama opened its first restaurant in London in 1992.
Inspired by Japanese ramen bars, it's since expanded to 118 locations around the world.
Fast fact: According to the Wagamama website, the company's name translates to "Naughty Child."
More: Stand and slurp at Tokyo's railway noodle bars
14. Tim Hortons
Country of origin: Canada
Why we love it: Founded by Tim Horton, a hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs -- unless you're talking Bill Shatner, Canadians don't come much cooler.
Why its logo is easier to remember than the name of Canada's prime minister: Having cornered 76% of the Canadian coffee chain market and expanded into the northern part of the United States, Tim Hortons recently took the next logical step and brought its signature coffee and donuts to 32 sunny locations in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait.
It has 63 varieties of donuts, and coffee served within 20 minutes of brewing or, as the company claims, "not at all."
13. Subway
Country of origin: United States
Why we love it: While many have asked "What is art?" Subway was the first company to answer, "Putting cheeses and meats on a sub roll."
Why its logo is easier to remember than packing your pajamas: The company's sandwich artists can be found applying a palette of mustard and mayonnaise in 40,319 stores around the world -- that's more than McDonald's with 34,000.
The company was started in 1965 by 17-year-old Fred DeLuca with a $1,000 loan from a nuclear physicist named Peter Buck.
Footy fact: Recently, in a response to an Australian man who complained that his "Footlong" sandwich was 11 inches long, Subway explained that "Subway Footlong" is just a descriptive name and not meant to denote actual measurement.
12. Hilton Hotel & Resorts
Country of origin: United States
Why we love it: Hilton was the first company to put TVs in its rooms. Presumably before this people just spent their time in hotel rooms staring at the space where a television should be.
Why its logo is easier to remember than returning your room key: The first hotel to bear the Hilton name opened in Texas in 1925. There are now more than 550 Hilton locations in 79 countries with more than 190,000 guest rooms.
Legendary fact: John Lennon wrote the lyrics to "Imagine" on Hilton stationery while staying at a New York Hilton.
11. DFS Galleria
Country of origin: Hong Kong
Why we love it: Why buy one bottle of Piper-Heidsieck when you get three in a handy carry pack?
Why its logo is easier to remember than the metric system (or whichever aggravating one you don't use): In 1960, the first DFS location opened in Hong Kong and two years later the company brought the first duty-free shop to the United States.
This, of course, changed your friends saying, "Thank you for flying 12 hours to see me!" to "Glad you're here, can you just pop in and grab me a couple bottles of whiskey and a pint of Chanel No.5?"
Now with 420 locations, DFS Galleria has both airport and city center mall shops.
Big numbers: According to the company, 200 million travelers visited DFS stores in 2012.
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