I-275 is the longest beltway in the interstate system: an 84-mile lasso around Cincinnati that clips three states, which no other loop in America does. Everyone here has a strong opinion about their side of it. We have the database. So we counted every business at every one of its exits.
23 UDF locations to McDonald's 22. On Cincinnati's own loop, the hometown chain beats the biggest restaurant brand on earth. Marathon (40) and Shell (39) lead overall.
| Brand | Locations on the loop |
|---|---|
| Marathon | 40 |
| Shell | 39 |
| Sunoco | 24 |
| United Dairy Farmers | 23 |
| Speedway | 22 |
| McDonald's | 22 |
| Choice Hotels brands | 22 |
| Subway | 21 |
The Ohio arc is two-thirds of the loop and reads like it: 34 exits carrying 1,479 businesses, including 773 places to eat. The Kentucky arc is shorter but denser than its reputation: 18 exits, 707 businesses, 389 restaurants, plus the airport corridor's hotel row. (The few miles through Indiana are the quietest on the loop, which Hoosiers will tell you is the point.)
Beyond the chains, the loop's exits hide an unreasonable number of independents: the barbecue joints, taquerias, diners, and one-off coffee shops that don't buy billboards. That's most of what the 1,162 food listings actually are, and finding them is the whole reason Pit Stop exists.
Every I-275 exit has its own live guide page listing everything there: Exit 46 (Tri-County), Exit 50 (Montgomery), Kentucky Exit 4A, and the other 49. Local businesses can also claim the featured spot at their exit: one business per exit, first come, first served, which around here has become a small turf war of its own.