SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — You’ve seen the lines; you’ve had to stand and wait in them. When was the last time you walked into an empty In-N-Out?
That’s likely because the SoCal-based burger chain is the top-rated fast food in San Francisco, according to a study by CashNetUSA released earlier this month. On the other hand, Domino’s Pizza was SF’s lowest-rated chain.
The study also analyzed two other Bay Area cities, San Jose and Oakland, and the result was the same — In-N-Out at the top and Domino’s at the bottom. The results were the same statewide in California.
In-N-Out was also the top-rated chain in every “major” California city analyzed, including Los Angeles and San Diego. All that had In-N-Out at the top, including Las Vegas and Tucson, Ariz., are West Coast cities.
It seems Bay Area residents are not big fans of Domino’s Pizza as it was also the lowest-rated chain in San Jose and Oakland.
Top-Rated Fast-Food Chains in California by Category
Notable findings include In-N-Out as the highest-rated burger chain in Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Colorado, according to the study. For the chicken category, Chick-Fil-A is the highest rated in all states analyzed except three.
Bottom-Rated Fast-Food Chains in California by Category
Notable findings: Burger King was named the lowest-rated chain in the burger category for California. Taco Bell and Wingstop were the lowest rated in their respective categories.
Methodology
The ratings were ranked based on the number of star reviews and total reviews on Google Maps for each chain restaurant. The data was gathered in June 2022, and the study was released on Oct. 12.
“For every individual restaurant, the number of reviews for each star rating was multiplied by the corresponding number of stars, ranging from 1 to 5,” the study read. “We summed up these values, and the weighted average rating was calculated by dividing the sum by the total number of reviews. We used the same process to calculate the weighted average rating for chains in each U.S. state and in the 50 most populous cities.”
The study added it used “a threshold of at least 1,000 reviews was applied for all sections to prevent entries with a small number of mostly positive or negative reviews from topping the charts.”
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When the study dove deeper, the fast-food chains were divided into five subcategories: burgers, pizza, doughnuts, chicken, and Mexican. The study analyzed the following chains from each category.
Burgers: McDonald’s, Burger King, Five Guys, Wendy’s, In-N-Out, Hardee’s, Whataburger, Sonic Drive-In, Culver’s, Jack in the Box
Pizza: Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Little Caesar’s, Papa John’s, CiCi’s. Chuck E Cheese’s, Papa Murphy’s, Marco’s Pizza, Godfather’s
Doughnuts: Dunkin’ Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Tim Hortons, Daylight Donuts, Shipley Donuts, LaMar’s Donuts, Winchell’s Donuts
Chicken: Chick-fil-A, KFC, Popeyes, Wingstop, Church’s Chicken, Zaxby’s, Bojangles’, Raising Cane’s, Boston Market
Mexican: Taco Bell, Chipotle, Qdoba, Del Taco, Taco John’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill, El Pollo Loco
For more on methodology, click here to access the full study.
