Five Guys, Subway Top In-N-Out, Taco Bell In Zagat's Fast Food Survey

Zagat recently polled 6,064 people for its annual Fast Food Survey, in categories ranging from best coffee (Starbucks) to best salad (Panera). Among chains with up to 5,000 locations, Five Guys was deemed the most popular (which perhaps comes as no surprise), followed by Panera, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A and in fifth place, In-N-Out. Last year, Five Guys also took top prize, though In-N-Out was the victor in 2009. Five Guys was not only the most popular chain; it also dominated the best burger category, putting In-N-Out in second place and McDonald's in fifth. McDonald's did, however, rank highest in value, child-friendliness and drive-thru experience.

Among chains with over 5,000 locations, Subway took the top popularity spot, followed by McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and Taco Bell bringing up the rear.

The survey also covered full-service chains. Cheesecake Factory won in best salads, appetizers, desserts and value, but fell to fifth place for its pasta offerings. Although Maggiano's Little Italy dominated the pasta category, its value, steak and seafood were not as well-liked. Other notable winners included Red Robin for its burger, IHOP for its coffee and Cracker Barrel for its breakfast.

The survey participants averaged 6.3 meals per month at a fast food chain (the national average is about 10 fast food meals monthly) and 4.4 visits to a full-service chain.

Here are some of the key results of Zagat's fast food survey:

Fast Food - Large Chains
1. Five Guys
2. Panera Bread
3. Chipotle Mexican Grill
4. Chick-fil-A
5. In-N-Out Burger

Fast Food - Mega Chains
1. Subway
2. McDonald's
3. Wendy's
4. Burger King
5. Taco Bell

Best Burger
1. Five Guys
2. In-N-Out Burger
3. Wendy's
4. Burger King
5. McDonald's

Best French Fries
1. McDonald's
2. Five Guys
3. Wendy's
4. In-N-Out Burger
5. Chick-fil-A

See the full results here.

Do you agree with the results? Let us know in the polls below. Fast food chains listed are based on Zagat's results for most popular chains.

What is your favorite fast food "Large Chain"?

Five Guys

Panera Bread

Chipotle

Chick-fil-A

In-N-Out

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What is your favorite fast food "Mega Chain"?

Subway

McDonald's

Wendy's

Burger King

Taco Bell

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

Comments

[Leighton Bradford]

12:34 PM on 11/03/2011

Five Guys is a +
In-N-Out is a ++

But how about some acknowledgment for New York's very delicious Shake Shack (+++!)

For those of you who don't know about our favorite burger joint in NYC, this blog post has a great roundup:
http://www.franchisehelp.com/blog/profiling-the-best-burger-chains-in-america

[Food Review 101]

10:24 AM on 09/30/2011

http://www.foodreview101.com/ loves those chains and reviewing them at the same time

[ldeibler]

01:59 PM on 09/13/2011

Pavone Food & Beverage has an interesting take on Zagat's recent poll and creates a few rather interesting awards of their own. My personal favorite is Jimmy John's Restroom Signage award.
The blog post can be viewed at:
http://www.pavonefoodandbev.com/wendys-on-top-in-zagat-poll-and-we-come-up-with-a-few-categories-of-our-own/

[charcard]

09:40 PM on 09/11/2011

5 guys - 5 stars

[kjallyn]

08:25 PM on 09/11/2011

Long John's is robbed! Robbed, I say! Planks are the food of Jesus.

[Nora Bahr]

01:39 AM on 09/09/2011

I want 5 Guys now. . . I agree 100% that they are the best chain-burger you can get.
(I -did- say chain-burger! Not best burger ever.)

[Gary Susie]

09:50 PM on 09/07/2011

steak and shake,best burgerand fries. Tried em all but they couldn't beat steak and shake.

[c-tom]

01:12 AM on 09/09/2011

I thought they were the best chain burger I've ever had - but 'Steak N Shake' isn't from CA. so lots of people on this site will never agree with us. They seem to believe only the West coast can make good burgers.

[Joshua Ozersky]

04:03 PM on 09/07/2011

Five Guys should get the "Mr. Brainwash Hype Award" for its popularity. It's worse than Wendy's, which is saying something.

[charcard]

09:41 PM on 09/11/2011

your taste is in your ___.

[KMBerger]

03:23 PM on 09/07/2011

Our addiction to fast food is the main reason we have an obesity problem and impatience to prepare wholesome meals at home. Time to get off the processed food, soda, and get back to eating like human beings again.

[c-tom]

01:00 AM on 09/09/2011

I'm sorry you have an obesity problem.

[KMBerger]

01:12 AM on 09/09/2011

That's a pretty absurd assumption you are making; a bit offensive since it is not true.

[Ted Johnston]

02:26 PM on 09/07/2011

White Castle? On a road trip to Quebec this summer we went out of our way to find one. The sliders are a disgusting, but surefire way of getting heartburn. And there is too much packaging. Even a small meal generates twice as much throw out stuff as any other fast food place. Did you see all the trash Harold and Kumar generated with their meal? Sickening. I would never go back. The best fast chain burger, in my opinion, is Whataburger. Freshly made, lots of meat, a tasy bun, great condiments -- just what a burger was meant to be. We have WB here in Texas and also in New Mexico and in Arizona, but I don't know if they exist in other states. In n out -- call it the blah burger. It doesn't taste like anything, but the price is right.

[billjones224]

01:53 PM on 09/07/2011

East people, the west has both in-n-out and 1 guy plus his slow friends. I'm sorry that you only have the slow boys but please try to understand that in-n-out is simply superior. Look to the west when you want the answers and we say in-n-out!

Conversation over

[too young but old enough]

01:34 PM on 09/07/2011

There should be a special award for Sonic's chicken-fried steak sandwiches...Throw in 'tater tots and a cherry limeade, and it's hard to beat.

[billjones224]

01:54 PM on 09/07/2011

Sounds interesting!!! I'm going to try this

[Judith Ann Bowen Colson]

01:18 PM on 09/07/2011

A hard artery is a strong artery. Eat up!

[Edna Crabapple]

12:38 PM on 09/07/2011

The best fries come from my local Puerto Rican take-out place. They are made from yucca root, and they are better than plain old potato fries any day of the week.
That's the greatest thing about a multi-cultural society like ours- all the different foods. :-)

[TheBestLackAllConviction]

12:36 PM on 09/07/2011

On a serious note, these "dollar menus" are really bad. With money tight it is a real viable option for folks that are pinching pennies. The long-term implications of this type of diet are well know and very costly on many levels.

My thought would be that 'dollar menu' options are made healthy as possible - I'm sure marketing and focus groups would beg to differ...

[dirtyliberal88]

09:56 AM on 09/08/2011

I wish they were too! But the chains try and healthy products never wind up selling enough. 5 guys french fries are the greasiest (in my experience) on that list and they top it.