If you eat out 4.2 times a week like most Americans, you might be interested in how your favorite place to dine stacks up with all the others.
Technomic America's Favorite Chains survey answers just that question. The survey asked consumers about all the important factors in restaurant love: convenience and takeout, value, service and hospitality, unit appearance and ambiance, and, of course, the food and beverages.
Overall
When all the votes were added up, the third most-loved establishment was Dutch Bros.; second was Seasons; and topping all others was Ruth’s Chris Steak House which essentially secured the top slot with a service & hospitality score of 76.9%.
“Neither should be a surprise on their own, of course. The U.S. is the largest consumer of beef in the world, while coffee is our second-most consumed beverage behind water,” NRN.com’s Alicia Kelso said.
“To further illustrate this point, consider that 63% of Americans have a cup of coffee every morning, while nearly two out of three Americans would choose beef as their last meal.”
Other chains in the Top 10 include Capital Grille and Longhorn Steakhouse.
GenZ’s faves
GenZ – consumers who were born in the 1990s through the early 2000s – are probably more key to a restaurant's success than any other demographic, given their presence on social media.
For the GenZ’ers in the “full service” category, Seasons captured more hearts and mouths than any other. Then, First Watch -- which plans to build another 2,200 locations based on its success -- followed by Ruth’s Chris.
In the “limited service” category, Dutch Bros. took home the trophy there. They were followed by a couple of smoothie places – Smoothie King and Tropical Smoothie Cafe – and Torchy’s Tacos.
Millennial’s favorites
Ruth’s Chris ruled again among Millennials. Then, Longhorn Steakhouse, and The Brass Tap. Others in the Top 10 included Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bahama Breeze, and First Watch.
Favorite restaurants for chicken, pizza, and burgers
In the burgers category, the Top 3 finishers were: Culver’s, In-N-Out Burger, and Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburger.
In the pizza department, there were some surprises. First was Papa Murphy’s, with Marco’s Pizza and Cicis Pizza as the runners-up
Chicken was – as you might guess – all Chick-fil-A. But, newcomer Jollibee wasn’t far behind in second place, followed by Raising Cane’s. Chuy’s Tex-Mex and Jersey Mike’s Subs also made an appearance in the Top 10.