In-N-Out Burger has topped satisfaction ratings among all quick service restaurants in the new J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Restaurant Satisfaction Study.
Two other chains with restaurants in Arcadia also ranked among the leaders in their categories: The Cheesecake Factory and Marie Callenders.
Westlake Village, Ca.-based marketing information services company J.D. Power ranked restaurant chains in 10 U.S. markets by price, service, meal taste and quality, and environment.
Irvine-based regional In-N-Out Burger chain, founded in 1948 in Baldwin Park that has a drive-through stand on Santa Anita Avenue, was the only eatery in the quick service group that had ratings of 5 out of 5 in every category. It was also the top-ranked restaurant in the Los Angeles/Riverside/Ventura County market and the San Francisco Bay area, all of which combined to make In-N-Out the overall winner in the quick service category, ahead of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Baja Fresh and Panda Express, the latter of which is also represented in Arcadia in the Westfield Santa Anita mall and in the shopping center off Baldwin and Naomi Avenue.
Calabasas Hills, Ca.-based The Cheesecake Factory, with a shop at Westfield Santa Anita, topped the casual restaurant group in Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay area, and was second in three other markets. In the Los Angeles/Riverside/Ventura County market, Cheesecake Factory was third, edged out by Claim Jumper, which has an outpost in Monrovia just beyond the Arcadia border on Huntington Drive.
In the family restaurant category, Marie Callender’s, with a dining room on Baldwin Avenue, also ranked highest in the Los Angeles/Riverside/Ventura County and San Francisco Bay area markets. The International House of Pancakes (IHOP), which has a shop on Baldwin Avenue, ranked second in L.A. and two other markets, and third in Phoenix.
The study was based on responses from 93,410 customers of more than 100 major restaurant chains who dined at a restaurant between May and July 2010 in the above-mentioned markets as well as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York/Northern New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.
— By Scott Hettrick