Study finds small chains outrank super-sized competitors in overall customer satisfaction, but fast-food industry improving as a whole
by Sara Bonisteel
The fast-food giants have nothing on America's regional favorites, according to a survey released this week.
Top Fast Food Chains
By Sara Bonisteel
In-N-Out Burger
This Irvine, Calif., fast-food chain won top honors in the 2008 Quick-Track Awards of Excellence, grabbing "excellent" overall ratings from 60 percent of the survey's participants. The chain finished in the top three of eight of the 15 categories surveyed.
Matt York, AP
Raising Cane's
Based in Baton Rouge, La., this new chicken-tenders chain garnered 59 percent "excellent" approval on overall customer satisfaction. Must have something to do with the sweet tea and Texas toast.
Bill Haber, AP
Giordano's Pizza
This Chicago pizza favorite received a 56 percent "excellent" rating in the 2008 survey for its gooey stuffed pizza touted by the chain as "world famous."
laffy4k, flickr
Chick-fil-A
The Atlanta-based chicken chain, renowned for its sandwiches and waffle fries, made the grade with 55 percent "excellent" approval.
Chick-Fil-A
Panera Bread
This St. Louis-based bakery-café, which serves up artisan breads and hot panini, ranked fifth in the 2008 Quick-Track Awards of Excellence, winning 54 percent "excellent" ratings from diners.
Panera, LLC.
Chipotle
The Denver-based home of the burrito bowl scored 52 percent "excellent" ratings in the survey of 93,800 diners.
Chipotle.com
Pei Wei
The 2007 overall excellence winner dropped to seventh place in the 2008 survey, but the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based chain still won a respectable 51 percent "excellent" rating for its pan-Asian flavors.
Cassandra Shie, AOL
Firehouse Subs
A Jacksonville, Fla., favorite blazed to eighth place in the 2008 survey, winning a 51 percent "excellent" rating from fans of its hot specialty subs.
firehousesubs.com
Taco Tote
El Paso's Mexican grill, Taco Tote, made its way to the fast-food superlative list with a 50 percent overall "excellent" rating from diners in the survey.
Getty Images
Qdoba
This Wheat Ridge, Colo.-based burrito chain rounds out the overall Top 10 in the 2008 Quick-Track Awards of Excellence with a 49 percent "excellent" rating from customers.
Business Wire/AP
Regional faves grabbed top honors in the survey released Monday: In-N-Out Burger moved to the top spot from second place in 2007, receiving a 60 percent "excellent" rating. The popular California burger chain was followed this year by Raising Cane's of Baton Rouge, La., with 59 percent and Giordano's Pizza of Chicago with 56 percent. Pei Wei, which won the satisfaction survey in 2007, finished seventh.
"It's more difficult to maintain the highest standards when you have say 14,000, 20,000 units across the country as opposed to units in two or three states," Paul Clarke, Sandelman's vice president of sales and marketing, told AOL Food.
The study found that almost 15 percent of chains overall saw a statistically significant improvement over the year before. The survey's overall rating is based on the taste of the food, service and the value for the money.
Fast Food Reviews
Domino's Mac and Cheese Bread Bowl
Grade: C-
This turbo-carbed heart stopper, bubbling over with cheese and penne pasta, was everything we expected it to be. We commenced chowing our way through the center, which was stuffed with a satisfying, if not especially adventurous take on mac 'n cheese and eventually tore apart the puffy crust. No kid in the world could pass this up. Our recommendation -- cut the pie into four pieces and enjoy a small portion. Sure, you could skip the extra starches altogether and order it without the bread bowl, but where's the fun in that?
McCafe Iced Mocha and Latte
Grade: A
One sip and we were hooked. A nonfat iced mocha loaded up with whipped cream was quite potent, with a strong aroma of Arabica coffee beans. To be honest, if we had been blindfolded, we wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between a Starbucks chiller and these eye-openers. They don't escape without some criticism; decaf is not currently an option. Lattes are, however, available with a shot of vanilla, caramel, hazelnut or sugar-free vanilla.
Wendy's Hand-Spun Twisted Frosty
Grade: A+
The Hand-Spun Twisted Frosty is perfection, and here's why: Most candied shakes only blend in one or two teaspoons of toppings (see: McFlurry). The Twisted Frosty, however, does not scrimp. They swirl in obscene amounts of toppings - nearly a 50-50 ratio of ice cream and candy, and the resulting maelstrom of flavor is all we've ever wanted from a candied shake. It's like drinking liquid Oreo! (Also available in equally delicious M&M and Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough.)
Rachel Been, AOL
Wendy's Hand-Spun Frosty Shakes
Grade: D
Wendy's, purveyor of the illustrious Frosty, has recently introduced two new varieties of their famous milkshake: The Hand-Spun Frosty Shake and the Hand-Spun Twisted Frosty.
Now, we love Frosty original. Its unparalleled vanilla-chocolatey thickness is the yardstick by which we measure all other fast food milkshakes. That said, these Hand-Spun Frostys are a downgrade. They start with a teeth-itchingly sweet vanilla Frosty base, then swirl in strawberry syrup (which tastes like Robitussin) or chocolate syrup (which tastes decidedly inferior to Frosty classic).
Next: Wendy's Hand-Spun Twisted Frosty
Rachel Been, AOL
McDonald's Filet-O-Fish
Grade: B
Remember the last time you ordered one of these? Neither could McD's, so they've whipped up a whole new wave of ads for their classic fishwich -- which so far as we could tell hasn't changed a bit in the decade or two since we'd downed one. The fried fish block melds softly into the featureless cheese slice, generous blob of tartar sauce and mushy bun with little to no variance in flavor or texture. Weirdly enough, this isn't a bad thing, but rather somehow comforting -- as if time had stood still. Now where's a McDLT when you need one?
Rachel Been
Wendy's Premium Fish Fillet Sandwich
Grade: B-
"Oh, it's made with real fish, right?" parroted just about everyone we polled. The ad campaign sure is working, but upon first bite our question is -- why make a big splash about real fish if it's not really good fish? The fillet we sampled was decently seasoned, but rather toughly breaded, stringy and swiped with a stingy bit of overly astringent tartar sauce. We applaud the effort, but this sandwich is gonna need some more schooling if it wants to swim with the big guys.
Rachel Been
Burger King Angry Whopper
Grade: A (if you're a chilehead) / F (if you can't take the heat)
Woah, BK -- simmer down now! What did our poor, innocent mouths (and digestive systems) ever do to you? With eight thick, unseeded slices of jalapeno, and very little else to soften the sting, this burger is more like a fraternity hazing than an item actually meant for human consumption. The little nibbles of bacon, fried "angry" onions and sweet "angry" onion sauce we managed before our tongues got their keisters whupped were holding hands and singing Kumbaya in comparison. Once the peppers muscled their way in it was impossible to concentrate on anything but the pain they packed. Even for a few hardcore chile lovers, it proved impossible to eat without an asbestos tongue. Seriously, BK, can't you enroll them in a yoga class? Spa retreat, perhaps?
Rachel Been
Wendy's Buffalo Dipped Chicken Sandwich
Grade: F
A fried chicken patty meets a sickly, stinging, neon orange sweet-and-sour sauce in a sandwich we wouldn't inflict on our worst enemy. One puckery, cloying bite scorched the throats of the testers and caused at least one to skip dinner that night. The taste of the chicken? We wouldn't know, because it was so completely overpowered, but it sure wasn't anything we'd call "Buffalo."
Keith Morrison
Burger King Mushroom and Swiss Steakhouse Burger
Grade: A-
After another burger chain's venture into mushroom-swiss terrain left our palates scarred, we were hesitant to sample another. But holy shrieking 'shrooms, were we glad we did! An intensely savory slathering of Worcestershire balanced a sweet kiss of BBQ sauce, and also seemed to nix the rubbery texture factor that plagues most mushroom-topped fast food. Swiss cheese and crisped-up onion were just barely visually evident, and played little to no role in the overall flavor. No matter -- that tasty meat slab totally ruled.
Keith Morrison
McDonald's Southwest Chicken Salad
Grade: B+
When we told our photographer this robust salad was from McDonald's, he nearly dropped his lens cap. Save for a few Titanic-sized chunks of lettuce core, vegetables (including roasted corn and tomatoes, tender, savory black beans and poblano peppers) held shockingly pleasant flavor and freshness, making for an appealing texture contrast with crunchy, zesty chili-lime tortilla strips and shreds of cheddar jack. We opted for the crispy chicken (the same well-seasoned patty used for their new Southern Style Chicken Biscuit and Sandwich), but a grilled cilantro-lime glazed version is also available. Additional dressing is eater-administered via a lime wedge and packet of Newman's Own Southwest Dressing.
We hope the folks at McD's are feeling their ears burn in the same pleasing way ours were after scarfing down this fiery and flavorful salad. More like this, please!
Nathan Ellis Perkel
While regional chains won overall raves, worldwide giants did take honors. McDonald's won for overall appeal to children and Subway won for its healthy and nutritious options.
Clarke said that "fast casual" chains -- like Qdoba, Chipotle, Pei Wei and Panera -- also did well on the list, attracting customers with their atmosphere, slightly higher prices and service, and the perception that they serve higher quality food.
"Definitely they've built a better reputation as being better for you and higher quality," he said.
Sandelman & Associates has been rating the fast-food industry for 20 years and surveyed 93,800 people for its 2008 Quick-Track Awards of Excellence. Participants were asked to rate chains on a scale of 1 ("poor") to 5 ("excellent").
A&W won in the burger category for most improved, with Papa John's garnering that honor in the pizza category. Mexican chain Taco del Mar, Hartz Chicken and Larry's Giant Subs also won most improved honors.
"When a lot of the players in the industry all improve, that's definitely a good sign for the industry," he said.
Top 10 Chains
1. In-N-Out Burger, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., 60 percent "excellent" overall
2. Raising Cane's, Baton Rouge, La., 59 percent
3. Giordano's Pizza, Chicago, 56 percent
4. Chick-fil-A, Atlanta, 55 percent
5. Panera Bread,St. Louis, 54 percent
6. Chipotle, Denver, 52 percent
7. Pei Wei, Scottsdale, Ariz., 51 percent
8. Firehouse Subs, Jacksonville, Fla., 51 percent
9. Taco Tote, El Paso, Texas, 50 percent
10. Qdoba, Wheat Ridge, Colo., 49 percent
