Regional Fast Food Beats Giant Chains in Nationwide Customer Survey

by Sara Bonisteel, Posted Jan 26th 2009 @ 5:30PM

in-n-out Photo: Scott Beale/Laughing Squid

The fast-food giants have nothing on America's regional favorites, according to a survey released this week.

Diners rated regional chains over traditional heavyweights in a survey of overall customer satisfaction. In-N-Out Burger of Irvine, Calif., took the top spot in the survey of 141 chains conducted by Sandelman & Associates.

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 Slashfood.

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.

"As a whole, the industry is satisfying customers to a much greater extent than they had the year prior, and that's good news because with people pinching pennies, they're going to look for the best value," Clarke said.

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

Filed Under: Chefs & Restaurants, Fast Food, Restaurants, News
Tags: chick-fil-a, chipotle, firehouse subs, FirehouseSubs, giordanos pizza, GiordanosPizza, in-n-out, panera bread, PaneraBread, pei wei, PeiWei, qdoba, raising canes, RaisingCanes, taco tote, TacoTote