While McDonald's and Burger King battle each other in the burger wars, consumers have crowned smaller regional burger chains the victors. Five Guys Burgers and Fries and In-N-Out Burger beat out McDonald's and Burger King in a national consumer restaurant chain survey conducted by Market Force Information.
Five Guys, a beloved East Coast chain, earned the most votes per store, with 7.2 percent of the total, while In-N-Out Burger, a West Coast favorite, placed second, with 5.9 percent. McDonald's, with 0.3 percent of the votes, and Burger King, with 0.1 percent, placed 11th and 13th, respectively.
Survey respondents were also asked to rate the chains by attributes including taste, food quality, service, cleanliness and value. In-N-Out scored highest in food quality and second highest in friendly service and value. Though Five Guys didn't top any of the categories, Market Force reports it performed "consistently well" in all categories. Meanwhile, McDonald's scored the second highest for speed of service but second lowest for quality of food.
More than 4,500 consumers, ranging in age from 18 to 70+ and representing a broad spectrum of income levels, participated in the second annual survey. Five Guys earned the top spot in last year's survey as well.