Consumer's Reports: Which Fast Food Franchises are Best!!

Which fast food is poor ,ok, or actually down right good? Consumers Reports weighs in on the topic. Shock: Mickey D's and Pizza Hut do poorly! Which are good buys, which not? Survey says:
     http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/113053/fast-food-big-names-lose-consumerrep 
 
What do you think????

Ps...please note this is a survey of almost 37,000 readers...not a few supposed experts...It's a pretty big sampling!!!

Consumer Reports used to post their complete articles on AOL at one time, but now you have to pay. They are Old Skool in that they still sell the results of their surveys. The article on Yahoo is to pimp sales of the magazine. The owners of this website will probably get lawyer letters if a member posts the complete list.
 
I think it better if we add to the 2,466 comments already on Yahoo Finance rather than discuss it here. Let Yahoo editors take down posts written by people who took the trouble to type out the entire rankings.

David_NYC


Consumer Reports used to post their complete articles on AOL at one time, but now you have to pay. They are Old Skool in that they still sell the results of their surveys. The article on Yahoo is to pimp sales of the magazine.

Are you aware that Consumer Reports accepts no advertising and they do not allow their research to be quoted in anyone's marketing at all?  They do not accept freebies, and every single product they test is purchased at full retail price.  They only make money through subscriptions and through the purchase of their articles by consumers.  This is so their research can remain completely objective.   I think they're an amazing organization.
 

I lost some respect for the research done by Consumer Reports when they did a piece on Hoover Vacuums.
 
This was back in the '80s when I was selling vacuums in my brother's shop.
 
Two of the vacuums that were reported were the Hoover Concept I #3109 and the Hoover Concept I 3101.  The only differences between the two were cosmetic.
 
  One received rave reviews and the other not so gleaming when they were identical mechanically except for the cord winder which wasn't mentioned. 
 
However, some of their hints and suggestions are spot on.

In the article...
For burger fans, the best restaurants include In-N-Out Burger, rated highest of all 53 chains, Burgerville (39 in Oregon and Washington), Five Guys Burgers and Fries (750 nationwide and in Canada), Culver's (428 mainly in the Midwest), and Back Yard Burgers (120 mostly in the South and East).
 
I've eaten at In-N-Out... no big deal.  Burgers are so-so.  Walked in and back out at the Five Guys.  I wasn't impressed with their set up and didn't order.   Recently had the Culver's Original and it was the worst burger I've ever eaten.  I'd rather have a Whopper Jr. at Whataburger.

dimmie2


In the article...
For burger fans, the best restaurants include In-N-Out Burger, rated highest of all 53 chains, Burgerville (39 in Oregon and Washington), Five Guys Burgers and Fries (750 nationwide and in Canada), Culver's (428 mainly in the Midwest), and Back Yard Burgers (120 mostly in the South and East).

I've eaten at In-N-Out... no big deal.  Burgers are so-so.  Walked in and back out at the Five Guys.  I wasn't impressed with their set up and didn't order.   Recently had the Culver's Original and it was the worst burger I've ever eaten.  I'd rather have a Whopper Jr. at Whataburger.

Please elaborate on why you would walk out of 5 guys without ordering. I'm not that crazy about their food but I saw nothing unusual in their ordering process or food delivery setup.

I have subscribed to consumer's report for many years and I have found their info very helpful.  I use it in my decision making when I need to make a purchase.
 
I have never been a huge fan of Five guys and I have eaten there several times.  I have never had an occasion when I felt like walking out. 
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

dimmie2


In the article...
For burger fans, the best restaurants include In-N-Out Burger, rated highest of all 53 chains, Burgerville (39 in Oregon and Washington), Five Guys Burgers and Fries (750 nationwide and in Canada), Culver's (428 mainly in the Midwest), and Back Yard Burgers (120 mostly in the South and East).

I've eaten at In-N-Out... no big deal.  Burgers are so-so.  Walked in and back out at the Five Guys.  I wasn't impressed with their set up and didn't order.   Recently had the Culver's Original and it was the worst burger I've ever eaten.  I'd rather have a Whopper Jr. at Whataburger.

 
"....Walked in and out of Five Guys...."??????
Oh....come on......!!!

leethebard

dimmie2


In the article...
For burger fans, the best restaurants include In-N-Out Burger, rated highest of all 53 chains, Burgerville (39 in Oregon and Washington), Five Guys Burgers and Fries (750 nationwide and in Canada), Culver's (428 mainly in the Midwest), and Back Yard Burgers (120 mostly in the South and East).

I've eaten at In-N-Out... no big deal.  Burgers are so-so.  Walked in and back out at the Five Guys.  I wasn't impressed with their set up and didn't order.   Recently had the Culver's Original and it was the worst burger I've ever eaten.  I'd rather have a Whopper Jr. at Whataburger.

"....Walked in and out of Five Guys...."??????
Oh....come on......!!!

Why doesn't someone start a thread on 5 Guys?????????????????????????????

Good idea, Chewie!

Hell, has that ever been done????...how about ketchup on hotdogs...how about Waffle House breakfasts...how about  ranting and raving about fast food, even on the fast food forum..how about...........................oh hell..........

Ok, Would the person who said they walked in and out of 5 guys please explain why on one of the 5 guy threads

ces1948


Ok, Would the person who said they walked in and out of 5 guys please explain why on one of the 5 guy threads

Which one, there are over 300,000 of them it seems!

I think ces1948 might have been referring to dimmie2 in post #6 on this thread.

Pigiron

David_NYC


Consumer Reports used to post their complete articles on AOL at one time, but now you have to pay. They are Old Skool in that they still sell the results of their surveys. The article on Yahoo is to pimp sales of the magazine.

Are you aware that Consumer Reports accepts no advertising and they do not allow their research to be quoted in anyone's marketing at all?  They do not accept freebies, and every single product they test is purchased at full retail price.  They only make money through subscriptions and through the purchase of their articles by consumers.  This is so their research can remain completely objective.   I think they're an amazing organization.

Yes, I am aware of all that you wrote. In fact, I started reading Consumer Reports when they used to test Stereo-Hi Fi gear back in the 60's and printed detailed and boring technical specifications using the same test and measurement equipment on all equipment so that the results would be truly comparative. I also credit my irritating habit of lampooning hype by businesses to these boxes that CR used to run, making fun of misleading advertising. Now they are engaging in pimping themselves.
 
I recall that CU did publish for free quite a bit about the articles they got newspapers, radio, and blogs to pimp for them for free. So I did a little research and it seems we can discuss the survey without getting sued. First, CU published the results of four out of five categories on their website:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/august/food/fast-food/how-good-are-the-chains-main-dishes/index.htm
 
The burger survey is clearly labeled as a "summer repeat" from the October, 2010 issue. We even had a thread about it here:
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/Consumer-Reports-Readers-Rate-Best-Burgers-m609636.aspx
 
That story was also pimped in the media. A google search indicates local media often gave the ratings of their regional chains in addition to the "top line" ratings in their pimp article. But, I guess CU is not spending the money to sue users of their ratings anymore. Walk into any Home Depot and note the posters proclaiming their Behr Premium Plus Ultra was highest rated by a consumer organization. Retailers got smart, and most people now understand that when well known brands refer to a leading consumer publication, they are talking about Consumer Reports.
 
Anyway, this site published the rankings of all the burgers from the October 2010 survey report:
http://www.biteofthebest.com/the-worst-burger-in-america/
There may be others; don't have the time to look.
 
OK, so now we have the results without having to run down to the library and without getting sued.
 
My comment on the survey: I trust the posts by the regulars here more than the surveys compiled by CU. I don't know what kind of person responds to CU's survey requests any more. They don't seem to have the same Geschmack (taste) as I do.
ADDENDUM 3 hours later: My local newsstand just got the August 2011 issue of Consumer Reports. The hardcopy lists the same exact four new results of chicken, pizza, sandwich, and Mexican fast foods joints.  I think the burger listings are the same as those listed in the biteofthebest article, but I did the scan from memory and there may be a discrepancy or two.

One other item: this "first ever" survey of the QSR (read: Fast Food) category did not include seafood restaurants like Long John Silver's and frankfurter chains like Wienerschnitzel.

I'll answer.  I was with Dimmie when we both walked out.
 
It was dark, dirty and unappetizing.  The smell of dirty grease was in the air. Most of the tables were dirty.
 
The wait staff were just standing around doing nothing.
 
I'll give it another go, but the atmosphere needs to be better.

For continuity, I'd like to summarize what I posted on some of the 5 Guys threads: 5 Guys still does not crack the whip, or crack the ship often enough, at their exponentially-growing number of stores. A franchisee running a grease joint dimishes the value of the brand for the rest of the hard-working franchisees. More details in the 5 Guys threads.

Note: It's not a true scientific sample.  It's Consumer Reports subscribers who chose to participate.    Frankly, I'd like to see somebody like the Sterns, whose judgements I've come to trust, go and sample some fast food chain restaurants. 
 
Consumer Reports can be good when they take products apart and do real lab testing on them.  The main problem is by the time the articles come out, a lot of the models they tested are no longer being sold.  But I don't find much value in their subscriber straw polls.  Especially in the case of fast food restaurants.  My image of Consumer Reports groupies is politically correct, Birkenstock and hemp T-shirt wearing, organic types.  Not the sort to go for fast food or rood food.
 
If you want to read Consumer Reports without subscribing, most libraries have  current and back issues.  Mine has an online subscription I can access from home; maybe your's does, too.
 

In this article, the one area in terms of taste that I found interesting was with pizza.  Papa Murphy's seemed to shine in all categories (taste, value for money, etc.).  I have had a few Papa Murphy's pizzas in my day, but I certainly would not place them at the top in terms of taste.
The next two in line for taste were Round Table Pizza (California chain) and Papa John's (pretty much ubiquitous these days).  Having had many a pizza from these places over the years, I personally agree that for chain pizza restaurants, they serve excellent products (although there are occasional franchised locations that are sub par).

chewingthefat

ces1948


Ok, Would the person who said they walked in and out of 5 guys please explain why on one of the 5 guy threads

Which one, there are over 300,000 of them it seems!

 
Come on, Chewie, stop exagerating.  There can't be much more than a thousand of them!
 
 

Over a thousand????....can't be all hate mail.Some must be saying a lot of posts like,,"This is a site for roadfood purists. you chain people, get lost"....or...maybe, just maybe lot's of us enjoy this particular food along the roads of America. Live and let live!!!!!

Since the fast food has number of negative effects on our health so the Top brand product also included in this survey report.All the products from different MNC Food brands as well as the local products is not motivated to take it in regular basis.If you consume  then you will be suffered from different problems that's why the Govt. has made some standard for the food companies.