When it comes to fast-food restaurants, consumers have picked their favorite: Chick-Fil-A.
With a score of 87 out of 100, the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s Restaurant Report 2018 named Chick-Fil-A a crowd favorite for the third year in a row, followed by the group of “all other smaller fast food chains” in second place with a score of 82, and Panera Bread in third with a score of 81.
The ACSI report surveyed 22,500 customers, asking them about everything from the quality of food at each restaurant to customer service and even restroom cleanliness and layout.
Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, and Subway all tied for fourth place with scores of 80. Arby’s, Chipotle, and Domino’s tied for fifth place at 79, and Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks tied for sixth place at 78.
But the four major burger chains — Wendy’s [77], Burger King [76], Jack in the Box [74], and McDonald’s [69] — didn’t fare as well.
“Over the past three years, the four burger chains have exhibited flat—or nearly flat—customer satisfaction,” the report reads. “Guest enthusiasm for legacy burger chains appears to be stuck at a level well below the industry average.”
Although, a similar survey by Market Force released several months ago gave California’s In-N-Out Burger top honors, and put Chick-Fil-A in second place. In-N-Out restaurants are only operated on the West Coast and were excluded from the ACSI’s Restaurant Report, which included only national chains.
