A new survey of Americans’ favorite restaurants has once again given its lowest score to one of the country’s (and the world’s) largest eateries. McDonald’s received a score of 70 (out of a possible 100) on the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Restaurant Study.
The survey included customers’ views on both full-service and limited-service (aka, quick-service or fast-food) restaurants. The fast-food industry maintained its overall score while full-service restaurants boosted the scores by one index point.
Among full-service restaurants, IHOP (74) was the least favorite. Red Lobster’s index score dropped 3% to 77 this year, the biggest drop in the full-service group. In the limited-service group, Subway’s index score dropped by 5% to 75, while both Chipotle Mexican Grill and Wendy’s saw drops of 4% to 77 and 73, respectively.
David VanAmburg, managing director at the ACSI, commented: “During the pandemic, folks got a taste for what it’s like to have food from their favorite restaurants delivered right to their door. And now that they’ve gotten used to this service, there’s no going back.”
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Dining in at U.S. restaurants practically did not exist in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders and recommendations kept customers away and restaurants were forced to reconsider how to conduct business or risk extinction.
Americans have gotten so used to food deliveries and drive-thru dining that McDonald’s earlier this month rolled out nationally a loyalty program in which customers get points for certain purchases. The points can then be redeemed for some menu items.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said at a CNBC conference last week he expects his company’s dine-in numbers to bounce back: “I think in the U.S., we may see dine-in take longer to recover, but we know and we’re certainly expecting that dine-in is also going to be an important part of the McDonald’s experience.” In 2019, dine-in customers accounted for about one-quarter of all U.S. sales.
The ACSI Restaurant Study 2020-2021 is based on interviews with 19,423 customers, chosen at random and contacted via email between April 1, 2020, and March 29, 2021.
Here are the survey results for fast-food restaurants:
- Chick-fil-A: 83
- Domino’s: 80
- KFC (Yum! Brands): 79
- Starbucks: 79
- Five Guys: 78
- Panera Bread: 78
- Pizza Hut (Yum! Brands): 78
- Arby’s (Inspire Brands): 77
- Chipotle Mexican Grill: 77
- Dunkin’ (Inspire Brands): 77
- Papa John’s: 77
- Burger King (RBI): 76
- Little Caesars: 76
- Panda Express: 76
- Subway: 75
- Dairy Queen: 74
- Taco Bell (Yum! Brands): 74
- Jack in the Box: 73
- Popeyes (RBI): 73
- Sonic (Inspire Brands): 73
- Wendy’s: 73
- McDonald’s: 70
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