Mickey D Dead Last in New Fast Food Survey

There's an annual survey out today that ranks how satisfied customers are with restaurants they visit, and in the fast-food category, our old friend McDonald's has come in dead last. The people who do the survey, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), is an independent national measure of customer satisfaction with the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. Each year, 70,000 customers are surveyed about the products and services they use the most. Here are the latest rankings along with last year's figures:

According to the survey, Americans ate out an average of four meals per week in 2013. This is a 60% increase since the end of the Great Recession. Consumers are more likely to spend on dining out as the economy improves, and higher levels of customer satisfaction help as well, with full-service restaurants gaining 1.2% to an ACSI score of 82 on a 100-point scale. (During eight years of ACSI measurement, the industry’s customer satisfaction has never fallen below 80.)

This year’s small gain is driven by improvement in smaller chains and restaurants, which make up the bulk of the sit-down industry. The largest chains fall somewhat below the industry average and there is considerable variation from top to bottom. Darden’s Olive Garden brand and Outback Steakhouse (-1%) tie for the top spot at 80. Despite Darden’s efforts to update Olive Garden’s menus and restaurants, diner satisfaction is down 4% from a year ago, accompanied by flagging sales. Here are the scores for full-service chain restaurants: 

Among the major fast food chains, pizza dominates the category, with all four of the largest pizza makers surpassing the other operators for customer satisfaction. Papa John’s (unchanged) and Pizza Hut (+3%) share the top spot at 82, with Little Caesar (-2%) and Domino’s Pizza (-1%) not far behind with scores of 80. The combination of high-quality food, convenience, and price keeps customer satisfaction with pizza chains strong. While the four big pizza chains overall saw little decline over the past year, the same cannot be said for sandwich makers and other types of fast food. Subway falls out of the top spot after a 6% drop to an ACSI score of 78 and ties Wendy’s (-1%). A notch below, several chains bunch together, including an unchanged Burger King at 76. Starbucks falls 5% to 76, followed closely by coffee rival Dunkin’ Donuts at 75 (-6%). After surging to an all-time high in 2013, KFC plunges 9% to an ACSI score of 74, showing the biggest decline among all restaurants—either fast food or full-service. While KFC is by far the largest of the chicken chains, it has struggled with increased competition from smaller chains like Chick-fil-A and Popeye’s. Over the past five years, KFC has closed 600 stores. Like KFC, fellow Yum! Brands chain Taco Bell is weakening, down 3% to 72. Thus far, Taco Bell’s effort to refresh its menu with a line of breakfast items has not resonated well with customers. McDonald’s also dips 3% to 71 and continues to occupy the bottom of the industry.