The State of the Fast Food Industry: Q&A With Zagat

Restaurant-review empire Zagat Survey recently released the results of its second survey of the fast food industry. Just over 6,100 respondents weighed in on 103 chains across the country, nearly double the number of outfits analyzed two years ago, when Zagat put out its first fast-food barometer. Combined, all surveyors ate out an average of 11 times per month and ate more than 800,000 fast food meals over the course of a year.

Some survey highlights: Subway won for most popular mega-chain, Wendy's topped best mega-chain food and Starbucks won for best coffee. Since the release of the survey earlier this month, it gained plenty of attention, especially from some companies that performed well. Some of those outfits, such as burger chain Red Robin, even put out press releases announcing the results.

John Boris, a Zagat senior vice president, recently spoke with BNET Retail about the survey and what it means to the fast-food restaurant industry as a whole.

BNET: What has changed in the fast food sector since your last survey?
We continue to feel that fast food and chain-service restaurants continue to gain in popularity. They've become even more interwoven into the fabric of American culture. The economic downturn has made value more important, and if fast food and chain-service restaurants are synonymous with quickness and value, you've got a pretty natural evolution. Popularity has probably increased.

There also seems to be an interesting trend of places you would not consider fast food doing extremely well in this category, such as Panera Bread. It's a full-service chain restaurant, but it got very high marks for having the best salad and for being very healthy. Overall the mindset of what is fast food or chain restaurants has changed. In many instances what used to be a negative perception or connotation is expanding now. The quality of the food has increased so much, and the experience has increased in terms of the facilities and service across the board. The industry as a whole has raised its level of play.

BNET: So the recession pushing some of this popularity?
It's difficult to extrapolate that from the data. What we can say is that overall the number of times that people eat out per month has stayed relatively the same year over year. But I don't think there's anything that jumps off the page that says, "Oh my God, this is a serious shift in the way that people are behaving."

BNET: Were there any results from the survey that especially surprised you?
The importance of healthy and the number of people voting and voicing their opinions on this category. Obviously healthy eating is a very important element in this country. Fast food has typically been viewed as the antithesis of healthy eating. But that's no longer a perception. What's also interesting is that Subway, which was voted the top healthy choice was also voted top overall for food. Clearly, there's a link between the perception of healthy and the perception of quality. It's an interesting parallel to draw.

The other thing was the passion that people have for some local and regional chains, most notably In-N -Out Burger. They won overall for chains that have a multitude of locations. They tend to have a cult following, and it shows.

Also, McDonald's and Burger King did not make it in the top food. McDonald's did well in other categories, like child friendly and best drive-thru, but the fact that they weren't in the top five for food just says that our surveyors have the ability to discern between biggest and best, and according to them, biggest does not always mean best.

BNET: A lot of companies are putting out press releases on these results. Did you expect that kind of reaction?
It's something we expected. We're happy that they're doing it. This is something that's new ground for us, but it makes sense for us to get into. Does it mean that the best burger at Wendy's is as good as the Daniel Boulud burger? No, it's a separate category. We are "for the people, by the people," so it just makes sense that these companies gravitate toward it. It's a great accolade from their users and customers.

BNET: Any future fast food trends you can predict from the survey?
The financials that are being released from places like McDonald's are strong. Same-store sales are up year over year, which is great. I can't say that's the same for every chain across the board. Obviously you have some chains that will hurt this year, like the Steak & Ale and Bennigan's closings. You're seeing some shakeup in the industry, but it general it seems to be doing quite well.