The 9 Most Satisfying Restaurant Chains in America

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Group of friends smiling and drinking beer while eating at a restaurant
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Where can you get a good meal in this town? Everybody will likely have a different answer — but there is a consensus about some establishments.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index’s latest annual Restaurant Study highlights the restaurant chains Americans approve of the most, based on interviews with more than 16,000 customers.

Following are the highest-scoring fast food and full-service restaurants.

9. Olive Garden

Olive Garden
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Customer satisfaction score this restaurant received for:

  • 2023: 80 out of 100
  • 2022: 77 out of 100

Home to one of the “8 of the Most Fattening Restaurant Meals” this longstanding Italian chain famously offers unlimited breadsticks.

8. Papa Johns

Papa John's
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Customer satisfaction score this restaurant received for:

  • 2023: 80 out of 100
  • 2022: 76 out of 100

The fourth-largest pizza chain in the U.S. is the only one to make this list. It has more than 5,000 locations in 45 countries, suggesting there’s something to its claim of “better ingredients, better pizza.”

7. KFC

KFC
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Customer satisfaction score this restaurant received for:

  • 2023: 81 out of 100
  • 2022: 78 out of 100

Annual sales of $5.1 billion at more than 24,000 locations around the world might not make KFC the most popular chicken chain on this list, but there’s no question its “finger lickin’ good” food is well-loved.

6. Texas Roadhouse

Texas Roadhouse
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Customer satisfaction score this restaurant received for:

  • 2023: 82 out of 100
  • 2022: 80 out of 100

Steak chain Texas Roadhouse is one of many restaurants known to offer free gift cards around the holidays. It celebrated its 30th birthday in 2023.

5. LongHorn Steakhouse

Longhorn Steakhouse entrance
Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

Customer satisfaction score this restaurant received for:

  • 2023: 82 out of 100
  • 2022: 80 out of 100

LongHorn Steakhouse matches Texas Roundhouse in popularity. It has more than a decade on its rival, though, having been founded in 1981.

4. Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel
Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

Customer satisfaction score this restaurant received for:

  • 2023: 82 out of 100
  • 2022: 78 out of 100

If it seems like every Cracker Barrel sits just off a major highway, that’s on purpose. Founder Dan Evins started Cracker Barrel in 1969 to provide interstate travelers a place to “stretch their legs, refuel, and find a good meal at a fair price.”

3. Outback Steakhouse

Outback Steakhouse sign
Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com

Customer satisfaction score this restaurant received for:

  • 2023: 83 out of 100
  • 2022: 77 out of 100

The highest-scoring steakhouse on the list was founded in 1988. Despite the name and its famous Bloomin’ Onion, it’s only Australian-inspired. The chain got its start in the city of Tampa, Florida.

2. Jimmy John’s

Jimmy John's
Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

Customer satisfaction score this restaurant received for:

  • 2023: 84 out of 100
  • 2022: 79 out of 100

Sandwich John outscored pizza John by 4 points, securing a clear second place for customer satisfaction at American restaurant chains. Jimmy John’s bakes its bread in-store and says it never serves bread more than four hours old.

1. Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A
Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com

Customer satisfaction score this restaurant received for:

  • 2023: 85 out of 100
  • 2022: 83 out of 100

Famous for its waffle fries and being closed on Sundays — and in some places for snarling up traffic — Chick-fil-A is the restaurant chain in the U.S. that leaves customers the most satisfied. The family-owned chain started in 1946.

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