America’s top dining, fast food go-tos
LongHorn Steakhouse, Chick-fil-A lead pack
From new delivery services to curbside pickup to outdoor dining, restaurants forcibly pivoted due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the changes from full-service restaurants weren’t enough to keep Americans happy.
Results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index report show that full-service restaurants are losing the most favor with U.S. consumers – falling, in general, 2.5% to an ACSI score of 79 out of 100.
Customers were asked to evaluate their recent experiences with the largest (in terms of market share) sitdown and fast food restaurants.
Darden’s LongHorn Steakhouse has had a steady rating for a third year in a row, with a ranking of 81, besting last year’s industry leader and rival Texas Roadhouse’s ranking of 80.
At the low end of the full-service industry, Denny’s, Red Robin and Ruby Tuesday stand together at 76.
While Red Robin closed 10 underperforming locations in 2019 as it continued to encounter foot traffic declines, Ruby Tuesday shut down 26 of their own restaurants in 2019 after shuttering 51 the year before.
According to customers, Ruby Tuesday’s mobile app rates worst in class for
reliability.
At the very bottom of the list in its industry is Chili’s, with a ranking of 75. Customers find Chili’s service quality to be lacking compared with all other full-service chains.
“American diners crave convenience. They want their order quickly, and COVID has only exacerbated demand for takeout and delivery options. Creating fast, efficient, and accurate processes not only keep businesses operational, but done right, they make customers happier,” said David VanAmburg, managing director at ACSI, in a statement to USA TODAY. “It’s an opportunity the ACSI has found can be majorly improved upon.”
For their part, limited-service or fast-food restaurants did not slide as badly on customer satisfaction – down only 1.3%, to an ACSI score of 78, due to the segment’s quick adaptability and cheaper prices.
Chick-fil-A, with a ranking of 84, has been No. 1 with customers for six years in a row. McDonald’s takes the bottom position, with a ranking of 70, for what the ACSI report deems “consistent with its track record of lastplace customer satisfaction.”
For fast food apps, the report shows that reliability has instead improved such that it now matches the full-service segment, and customers continue to be happier with food quality.
That’s not to say the pandemic hasn’t hit the restaurant industry indiscriminately. Overall, as industries, full-service restaurants ranked at 16th and limited-service restaurants at 20th among customer industry satisfaction benchmarks. Leading the pack? Breweries and personal care and cleaning products.
The report’s results are based on surveys of 23,312 random customers conducted from April 2019 to March 2020 – the first month of stay-at-home policies.