The biggest surprises in this group consist of Zaxby's, which was previously not listed, and Pizza Hut, which has jumped up considerably in the rankings from last year. The Hut made steady progress improving its image, and its quality. These restaurants hover on the edge of true recognition but all have some work yet to be done in refining their identity and market.
15 DQ (+ 2)
Taste: 6
Value: 6
Variety: 3
Rep: 6
DQ something better? Not very hard if you're looking for anything but ice cream. Once again, only Sonic could be mentioned in the same breath of dessert competence, but the Queen flounders in broader relevance.
14 White Castle (- 1)
Taste: 5
Value: 7
Variety: 4
Rep: 8
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like White Castle bats around .500 in terms of locations that have very tasty products and where I can hardly choke down two of their sliders. It's the exact same stuff! Barring these inconsistencies, White Castle enjoys continued power through an extremely vocal cult following.
13 Pizza Hut (+ 7)
Taste: 8
Value: 3
Variety: 8
Rep: 7
What makes Pizza Hut good: the variety and irrefutable taste. What makes it bad: Shameful price inflation in the face of decent competition and abandoning a model of family friendly, eat-in style restaurants.
12 Chipotle (+ 4)
Taste: 8
Value: 3
Variety: 7
Rep: 8
Who doesn't want hearty, dependable Mexican food that doesn't make your stomach churn with cries of self-loathing bewilderment a couple hours later? Chipotle has plenty of space to spread its wings within the skies of fast food franchises, but still needs reconcile their identity and pricing. Even moderately pricy Mexican is a tough pill to swallow in the fast food world.
11 Zaxby's
Taste: 8
Variety: 5
Value: 7
Rep: 8
This primarily Southern based chicken joint has great potential. I know they are striving for quality, but right now they are flirting with the boundaries of sit-down eating, a model which Zaxby's cannot endure. They also need to push their brand to better recognition to achieve top ten status.
The full list:
#20 - 16, #15 - 11, #10 - 6, #5 - 1
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