SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Restaurant researcher Sandelman & Associates has announced the release of its 2008 Quick-Track Awards of Excellence, naming the Top 10 limited-service restaurant chains based on customer satisfaction.
In-N-Out Burger, the hamburger chain in a few Western states with an oversized cult following, received top honors in Sandelman & Associates' 2008 Quick-Track Awards of Excellence. Impressively, 60 percent of recent customers rated their last visit "excellent" overall.
Fast casual upstart Raising Cane's finished a close second. Raising Cane's specializes in providing high-quality fried chicken tenders and a variety of dipping sauces. Raising Cane's has a small base of users compared with the quick-serve giants, but 59 percent of those who recently patronized the chain rated their last visit "excellent" overall.
The Top 10 chains rated "Excellent" overall in Sandelman & Associates' Quick-Track study
are:
- In-N-Out Burger, 60%
- Raising Cane's, 59%
- Giordano's Pizza, 56%
- Chick-fil-A, 55%
- Panera Bread, 54%
- Chipotle, 52%
- Pei Wei, Ariz. 51%
- Firehouse Subs, 51%
- Taco Tote, 50%
- Qdoba, 49%
* Ranking is percent "excellent" overall, rating for last occasion
In 2008, 13 percent of QSR chains posted statistically significant improvement in customer satisfaction compared with 2007. More than half of the monitored QSR chains had a higher overall customer satisfaction rating compared with 2007, according to the Quick-Track report.
Regional brands, such as In-N-Out Burger, Raising Cane's, Firehouse Subs, Taco Tote, Giordano's Pizza and Pei Wei, continue to capture the highest customer satisfaction ratings. In all, 141 quick-service or fast casual chains were monitored by Sandelman & Associates in 2008.
Awards of Excellence are given not only for overall satisfaction but also for different aspects of
the dining experience, such as taste of the food, speed of service and value for the money.
Southern California's In-N-Out Burger has the highest "excellent" rating on taste of the food. But it also garners top-rated scores for quality of the ingredients, friendliness of the staff, accuracy in filling orders, and being "a place for someone like me." In all, In-N-Out finished in the Top 3 on eight of 15 attributes tracked.
Other awards included:
- Subway, top rating for healthy and nutritious food
- McDonald's, best for kid appeal
- Little Caesars, top rating for value and affordability
Other Top 3 excellent ratings include:
- Raising Cane's, for service, temperature of the food and accuracy in filling orders
- Firehouse Subs, for taste or flavor of the food, quality of the ingredients, appeal to kids and temperature of the food
The awards are based on the quarterly syndicated Quick-Track research program conducted by Sandelman & Associates. The Quick-Track Awards of Excellence are based on ratings provided by the study's respondents on fast-food chains they visited in the past three months. In all, Quick-Track surveyed more than 93,800 quick-service restaurant users in 75 U.S. markets during 2008.
