As you well know, food costs are on the increase. Interestingly, so is customer satisfaction with restaurants.
That’s the takeaway from the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s (ACSI) Restaurant Study 2022-2023, which grades restaurants on several customer experience benchmarks including the variety of food offered, beverage quality, restaurant layout and cleanliness.
And the #1 Restaurant in America Is …
Chick-fil-A retains its perch at the top, according to the latest ACSI restaurant rankings. Not only did the Georgia-based chain have the highest score (85) among all restaurants in the report, but this is the ninth consecutive year that Chick-fil-A has led ACSI’s list of fast-food restaurants.
When he wants a quick bite, money expert Clark Howard saves money by using fast food apps, which send deals straight to his phone.
“I have the Whataburger, Chick-fil-A, Del Taco, In-and-Out, Krispy Kreme, McDonald’s, and Shake Shack apps on my phone,” he says. “The Chick-fil-A app is one of my favorite food apps because I can choose to pick up my order and skip the lines.”
Here are some key findings from the report, which scores restaurants on a 100-point scale:
- Among fast-food restaurants, Jimmy John’s surged 6% (ACSI score of 84) to land in second place behind Chick-fil-A.
- Outback Steakhouse takes the top spot in the full-service restaurant category, rising 8% for an ACSI score of 83.
- Customer satisfaction with full-service restaurants overall earned a score of 81, a 1%-gain over the previous survey. Fast-food restaurants scored a 78 overall, rising 3% compared to the previous study.
Here is the rundown for the top full-service restaurants, according to the ACSI rankings.
Best Full-Service Restaurants in America
| Company | 2023 Score | % Gain/Loss Compared To Last Year |
|---|---|---|
| Outback Steakhouse | 83 | 8 |
| Cracker Barrel | 82 | 5 |
| LongHorn Steakhouse (Darden) | 82 | 3 |
| Texas Roadhouse | 82 | 3 |
| Olive Garden (Darden) | 80 | 4 |
| Applebee's (Dine Brands) | 79 | 8 |
| Buffalo Wild Wings (Inspire Brands) | 79 | 7 |
| Red Lobster | 79 | 5 |
| The Cheesecake Factory | 78 | 3 |
| Chili’s | 77 | 1 |
| Denny’s | 77 | 3 |
| Friday's | 77 | -1 |
| Red Robin | 77 | 0 |
| IHOP (Dine Brands) | 72 | -1 |
| Average of All Full-Service Restaurants in Survey | 81 | 1 |
Here is the rundown for the top fast-food restaurants, according to the ACSI rankings.
Best Fast Food Restaurants in America
| Company | 2023 Score | % Gain/Loss Compared To Last Year |
|---|---|---|
| Chick-fil-A | 85 | 2 |
| Jimmy John's (Inspire Brands) | 84 | 6 |
| KFC (Yum! Brands) | 81 | 4 |
| Papa Johns | 80 | 5 |
| Domino’s | 78 | 0 |
| Five Guys | 78 | 3 |
| Pizza Hut (Yum! Brands) | 78 | 1 |
| Starbucks | 78 | 1 |
| Arby’s (Inspire Brands) | 77 | 1 |
| Dunkin' (Inspire Brands) | 77 | 4 |
| Panda Express | 77 | 3 |
| Burger King (RBI) | 76 | 1 |
| Panera Bread | 76 | -1 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 75 | -3 |
| Dairy Queen | 75 | 1 |
| Subway | 75 | 0 |
| Little Caesars | 74 | -1 |
| Popeyes (RBI) | 74 | 4 |
| Wendy's | 74 | 1 |
| Jack in the Box | 73 | 1 |
| Sonic (Inspire Brands) | 72 | -3 |
| Taco Bell (Yum! Brands) | 71 | -1 |
| McDonalds | 69 | 1 |
| Average of All Fast-Food Restaurants in Survey | 78 | 3 |
The recently released report was compiled from interviews with 16,250 customers between April 2022 and March 2023.
