• September 1, 2011

Five Guys Burgers and Fries has emerged as consumers' favorite quick-serve restaurant for the second year in a row in the annual consumer restaurant chain survey conducted by Market Force Information (MFI).

This year's study surveyed more than 4,500 North American consumers during August 2011.

Five Guys earned the top spot based on total votes as indexed or adjusted to account for chains' numbers of locations (getting 7.2% of votes). On the same basis, West Coast chain In-N-Out ranked second (with 5.9%), Chick-fil-A third (4.1%), Panera Bread fourth (4%), Chipotle fifth (2.7%) and Panda Express sixth (1%).

No other chains drew 1% or more of votes.

On a non-indexed, straight number-of-votes basis, the leaders were Chick-fil-A (10.4% of votes), Panera Bread (9.9%), Five Guys (9.1%), McDonald's (7.5%) and Subway (7.1%).

Asked to rank QSRs on various attributes, consumers' assessments differed most markedly on the "friendly service" attribute, and least on the "taste" attribute -- suggesting that they perceive the greatest differentiation, and value, in restaurants with the best service.

Five Guys did not dominate leadership in any of the attributes, but performed consistently well across most of them. In-N-Out Burgers scored highest in food quality and second-highest in friendly service and value. Other chains were less consistent. For example, McDonald's scored the lowest for quality of food, but ranked second for speed of service, behind Sonic. Similarly, Taco Bell was lowest in cleanliness, but highest in overall value.