Consumers' Choice in Chains: Chicken
-- Restaurants & Institutions, September 15, 2008
| Chicken | 
|
||
| Chick-fil-A | Zaxby’s | El Pollo Loco | |
| Overall Score | 67.2 | 58.1 | 55.4 |
| The Chain | Headquarters: Atlanta CEO: Dan Cathy Units: 1,380 R&I Top 400 Chains rank: 19 Respondents aware of chain: 65% Respondents who visited in previous 12 months: 20% Respondents who visited in previous 12 months and plan to return: 89% | Headquarters: Athens, Ga. CEO: Zach McLeroy Units: 420 R&I Top 400 Chains rank: 68 Respondents aware of chain: 14% Respondents who visited in previous 12 months: 5% Respondents who visited in previous 12 months and plan to return: 83% | Headquarters: Costa Mesa, Calif. CEO: Stephen Carley Units: 389 R&I Top 400 Chains rank: 63 Respondents aware of chain: 29% Respondents who visited in previous 12 months: 5% Respondents who visited in previous 12 months and plan to return: 86% |
| Why It Won | Consumer cachet: Cows remain the company’s effective, if unusual, mascot, and Chick-fil-A’s menu continues to diversify. Besides adding larger chicken strips to the menu, the chain has repackaged four entrée salads, including a new grilled-chicken and fruit offering, for easy transport. With its expansion to California, the company quickly is acquiring new fans. | Consumer cachet: Coinciding with rapid expansion plans, the restaurant operator and franchisor specializing in made-to-order fried chicken has rolled out a new prototype design that emphasizes natural light, floor-to-ceiling brick walls and comfortable booths. The refreshed look gives each new quick-service unit a casual-dining feeling at a lower price point. | Consumer cachet: Its “flame-grilled” chicken is the differentiation factor for El Pollo Loco. The menu celebrates Mexican offerings such as citrus-marinated grilled-chicken tostadas and sides of black beans or Spanish rice, but a recent limited-time offer—a grilled chicken sandwich with avocado and pico de gallo—attracted guests from beyond the chain’s core audience. |
| Overall Score | Atmosphere | Cleanliness | Convenience | Food Quality | Good Reputation | Menu Variety | Service | Value | |
| Note: Overall Score is an index; percentages for each attribute represent respondents who rated the chain a 4 or 5 on a scale of a low of 1 to 5. | |||||||||
| 1. Chick-fil-A | 67.2 | 56% | 69% | 59% | 78% | 78% | 56% | 69% | 57% |
| 2. Zaxby’s | 58.1 | 58 | 61 | 52 | 71 | 63 | 53 | 55 | 45 |
| 3. El Pollo Loco | 55.4 | 41 | 48 | 49 | 69 | 59 | 55 | 51 | 55 |
| 4. Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits | 51.8 | 38 | 41 | 49 | 67 | 62 | 49 | 46 | 51 |
| 5. Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ’n Biscuits | 46.8 | 28 | 38 | 42 | 59 | 50 | 46 | 43 | 49 |
| 6. KFC | 44.1 | 27 | 37 | 52 | 54 | 55 | 42 | 39 | 42 |
| 7. Church’s Chicken | 40.8 | 23 | 30 | 41 | 49 | 42 | 34 | 37 | 50 |
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