Do you like Subway? Taco Bell? Burger King? The much-maligned Chipotle Mexican Grill? You Do? Awesome. But which is your favorite? Is it McDonald’s? Carl’s Jr.? Panera? Hard to choose, right? Fortunately for you (and for me, because this is definitely going to impact where I have dinner tonight), Market Force Information has put out the results of their yearly survey — revealing which fast food places are the nation’s favorite. There are some definite surprises on the list.
Before we start arguing about the results — which will be controversial and will likely send you into a minor panic for approximately two to five minutes — let’s break down how Market Force Information put their results together. In order to get us only the best and most valid information (this is serious business, after all), the group surveyed over 11,000 people and then created a loyalty index which took into account food quality, service, value, and ambiance (among a whole host of other things). What’d they come up with? Let’s take a look. (But remember, let’s not start slinging arguments like “how the hell is a restaurant that sells e.coli and charges extra for guac going to be on this list?” until the end.)
According to CNBC, which rounded up all the winners — there are too many restaurants to just list every one individually — the nation’s favorite burger chain is In-N-Out, which, if you haven’t been, must have been no easy feat. The restaurant’s offerings (while slim if you don’t know the secret menu) are very delicious and always seasoned just right (an important plus), but going through the drive-thru (or even eating inside) can often take almost as much time as sitting down for a meal at Denny’s because everyone wants their Double-Double and they want it right now. Where should you go if you don’t have an In-N-Out in your area? Five Guys (where you can throw peanuts on the floor! Right?) (I always throw them on the floor) is a safe bet, as is SmashBurger. Carl, The King, and Mickey D’s? They all brought up the rear. (That’s not a poop joke.)
Moving over to Mexican food, we need to discuss how badly Taco Bell was robbed. If my editor had allowed me to do what I wanted, which was to rank these restaurants on my own and based only on my subjective experiences of them, the home of the Potato Griller would be #1. But since “reporting the news” is “my job” I have to tell you that Chipotle beat out Taco Bell this year. Why? You can’t even get married at a Chipotle. So what if they’ve got actual ingredients and their food doesn’t taste like it was all made at Sizzler’s nacho bar? So what? They charge extra for guacamole!
I’m pleased to announce that Chipotle didn’t beat out other restaurants as handily as places like In-N-Out did, though. And that’s probably got to do with the fact that so many of us were afraid to eat there for months. (Not me, I ate at Chipotle the day after the e. coli outbreaks started because I welcome both the possibility of death and winning a hefty class action lawsuit.)
Marco’s Pizza earned the top spot for fast Italian, Firehouse Subs beat out both Panera (rated lowest value, which is true because it is so expensive) and Subway (wrong!) for best sandwich place, and Chick-Fil-A earned top honors when it came to enjoying a nice cardboard container full of chicken on a Thursday night. There you have it, it’s official.
