Sandelman Names 2012 Fast-Food Awards of Excellence Winners

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Four of the Top 10 best-rated large quick-service restaurant chains—Panera Bread, Firehouse Subs, Jersey Mike’s Submarines and Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches—are not coincidentally among the fastest growing fast-casual sandwich concepts. And several other Top 10 large chains are also fast-casual concepts (Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Zaxby’s and Starbucks). Congratulations to this year’s winners.

The 2012 Top 10 Excellent Fast-Food Chains are:

Top 10 Quick-Service Restaurant Chains (all chains)	Top 10 Large Quick-Service Restaurant Chains (500+ units)
1. Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers	1. Chick-fil-A
1. Chick-fil-A	2. Five Guys Burger & Fries
3. Cafe Rio Mexican Grill	2. Panera Bread
3. In-N-Out Burger	4. Firehouse Subs
5. Jason's Deli	4. Chipotle Mexican Grill
5. Capriotti's Sandwich Shop	6. Jersey Mike's Submarines
7. Thundercloud Subs	6. Zaxby's
8. The Habit Burger Grill	6. Papa Murphy's Pizza
8. Five Guys Burger & Fries	9. Starbucks
8. Panera Bread	10. Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches

In 2012, fully 63 percent of Raising Cane’s and Chick-fil-A’s customers rated their most recent visit “excellent” overall (rating of “5” on a 5-point scale).

“It’s notable that four of the Top 10 excellent large chains are in the sandwich business,” says Bob Sandelman, CEO and founder of Sandelman & Associates, celebrating its 25^th anniversary in business. “These Top 10 chains offer high-quality fresh food, served in comfortable and inviting surroundings, and they’re raising the bar for all quick-service chains.”

Awards of Excellence are given for overall satisfaction and for the best performances on 16 attributes of the dining experience, such as “taste and flavor of the food” and “quality of the ingredients.” Café Rio, a fast-casual Mexican chain based in Salt Lake City ranked No. 1 on “taste and flavor of the food.” For the fifth consecutive year, Little Caesars garnered the top spot for “affordability of the prices” and finished in a virtual tie with Papa Murphy’s Pizza on “value for the money.” Fast-food unit leader Subway continues to be highest rated for healthy and nutritious food. Sales leader McDonald’s for the second year in a row has been supplanted in the No. 1 spot on kid appeal by Chick-fil-A.

The awards are based on results reported in the quarterly syndicated Quick-Track^® study conducted by San Clemente, Calif.-based Sandelman & Associates. Celebrating its 25^th anniversary, the market research firm tracks attitudes, awareness and usage at the media market level for the restaurant industry. In 2012 Quick-Track surveyed more than 110,000 quick-service restaurant users, gathering information about 1.4 million fast-food visits in over 90 U.S. media markets.

Information from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying Sandelman & Associates as the publisher and Quick-Track as the source. The information contained in this press release cannot be used for advertising, public relations or promotional purposes without the express prior written consent of Sandelman & Associates. For more findings or information about methodology, call Paul Clarke at [phone] or E-mail [e-mail].