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New study reveals America's favorite restaurants

A new large-scale consumer study conducted by Market Force Information reveals America's favorite quick service restaurants chains in four popular food categories.

March 24, 2016

A new large-scale consumer study conducted by Market Force Information reveals America's favorite quick service restaurants chains in four popular food categories: pizza, Mexican, chicken and sandwiches. Papa Murphy's topped the pizza category for the third straight year, aco Bueno ranked first for Mexican, Chick-fil-A for chicken and McAlister's for sandwiches, according to a press release from Market Force.

More than 10,000 consumers were polled in the study, which revealed consumers' QSR dining habits, brand preferences and use of technology to order and pay.

Pizza: Papa Murphy's and Pizza Ranch get largest slice of votes

In the competitive $40 billion pizza industry, Papa Murphy's was consumers' favorite chain for the third consecutive year. Pizza Ranch again took the No. 2 spot and Marco's Pizza landed at No. 3.

Little Caesars wins on value, Pizza Ranch on service

Carryout chain Little Caesars offers the best value and has the third-fastest service of the chains studied, according to Market Force's rankings. Papa Murphy's ranked first for food quality and led by a large margin in the healthy options category, one of the only areas where the brands weren't tightly clustered. Pizza Ranch earned top marks for friendly service and atmosphere.

Other Pizza Category highlights:

28 percent visited a pizza chain at least five times in the previous 90 days.
Marco's Pizza had the most new trials.
17 percent brought children on their visit.
Pizza Ranch led in loyalty card awareness — 89 percent know they offer one.
53 percent have downloaded a pizza chain's app.
Domino's has the greatest awareness for its mobile app — 60 percent know of it.

Mexican: Taco Bueno edges out Chipotle

For the first time, Taco Bueno earned enough votes to qualify for Market Force's QSR study and it took the top spot in the Mexican category, beating out Chipotle and Qdoba, which tied for first in 2015. Chipotle ranked second and Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill — another newcomer — ranked third. Qdoba and El Pollo Loco rounded out the top five.

Rubio's is clean and friendly, Chipotle offers best food

Although Taco Bueno was the favorite in the Mexican food category, it only ranked first in one area — value for the money, a category in which Del Taco was a close second and Qdoba was last out of the brands studied. Chipotle and Rubio's out performed others in food quality, and Rubio's also excelled in atmosphere, cleanliness and friendliness. Diners think Chipotle offers the healthiest options, followed by El Pollo Loco. Taco Cabana ranked lowest of the chains studied in friendliness, speed and cleanliness.

Other Mexican Category highlights:

18 percent visited a Mexican chain at least five times in the previous 90 days, a significant drop from 2015 when 14 percent were visiting at least 10 times every 90 days.
20 percent brought children on their visit.
Baja Fresh had the most new trials.
Qdoba led in loyalty card awareness — 63 percent know they offer one.
45 percent have downloaded a Mexican food chain's app.
Taco Bell has the greatest awareness for its mobile app — 35 percent know of it.

Chicken: Chick-fil-A rules the roost

Chicken is one of the fastest-growing segments in the QSR space. In the study, Chick-fil-A led for the second year with a 77 percent score, while Raising Cane's ranked second with 70 percent, Zaxby's third with 63 percent, Bojangles' fourth with 60 percent and El Pollo Loco fifth with 59 percent. Wingstop dropped slightly in the rankings, while Church's Chicken made substantial gains, jumping 16 percentage points over 2015.

Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane's dominate in key attributes

Chick-fil-A captured the top spot in nearly every attribute that Market Force studied, including food quality, fast and friendly service, atmosphere, and cleanliness. Raising Cane's was the value leader and ranked second in every other area but one. El Pollo Loco was recognized for offering the healthiest food options, followed by Chick-fil-A and Boston Market. KFC scores last out of the brands studied on four of the seven measures.

Other Chicken Category highlights:

48 percent visited a chicken chain at least five times in the previous 90 days, with 22 percent visiting at least 10 times.
18 percent brought children on their visit.
Wingstop had the most new trials.
Raising Cane's led in loyalty card awareness — 29 percent know they offer one, the lowest of any category.
40 percent have downloaded a chicken chain's app, the lowest of any category.
Wingstop has the greatest awareness for its mobile app — 24 percent are aware of it.

"In the fast-growing QSR industry, chicken chains must embrace every opportunity to differentiate and pull ahead of the flock," said Cheryl Flink, chief strategy officer for Market Force Information. "Our research reveals that there's room for chicken brands to differentiate by building their loyalty card programs, increasing their app usage and adding more healthy menu options."

Sandwiches: McAlister's and Firehouse Subs

Even though there are more QSR cuisines and options, diners are still lining up for sandwiches for many of their meals, and McAlister's takes the top spot in the segment. It beat out Firehouse Subs, which ranked second, followed by Jersey Mike's and Panera. Last year's favorite, Jason's Deli, fell four spots to fifth place.

Jason's Deli has tastiest food, Wawa offers best value

No one brand dominated the attributes in the sandwich category. When it came to food, Jason's Deli was tops for quality and Panera for healthfulness. Convenience store chain Wawa ranked highest for value, and will continue to put pressure on the sandwich category. Jimmy John's outpaced the others for speed of service.

Other Sandwich Category highlights:

39 percent visited a sandwich chain at least five times in the previous 90 days.
11 percent brought children on their visit.
Firehouse Subs had the most new trials.
Panera led in loyalty card awareness — 74 percent know they offer one.
50 percent have downloaded a sandwich chain's app.
Panera also has the greatest awareness for its mobile app — 36 percent know of it.

Ordering on tablets is up

Significantly more diners are picking up tablets to place their orders at QSRs. Twenty-two percent have ordered using a tablet in the previous 90 days, up 340 percent from 2015. Twenty-three percent used a mobile app and 16 percent used a kiosk. Still, most favor placing their orders in person, as 30 percent prefer ordering via tech and 70 percent said they prefer ordering at the counter.

Nearly one-quarter used technology to pay for their meals, either using a mobile app or digital wallet. Younger generations were nearly twice as likely to pay using an app than their older counterparts.

The survey was conducted online in January 2016 across the United States. The pool of 10,477 respondents represented a cross-section of the four U.S. census regions. Fifty-one percent reported household incomes of more than $50,000 a year. Respondents' ages ranged from 18 to over 65. Approximately 68 percent were women and 32 percent were men.