Ranking American Chain Food

Chains are what make up the American landscape and when you drive through the country you won’t be able to miss them. They’re everywhere. From cities to highway exits to shopping and strip malls. Some are region specific but most are spread out on a national scale and beyond. The American chain is a woldwide phenomenon and has been for a very long time now. Have you ever heard of McDonald’s by chance? Burger King? KFC? Of course you have! America invented the concept of the chain restaurant and have over time kept it retro, re-invented it and dare I say perfected it.

So I have given myself the challenge of ranking all American chain food restaurants from the very best to the very worst. Why? Because I love the stuff for better or worse and it fits well with my idea of Rating Food that you also can find me doing on this blog. Of course I will have to visit the restaurants and eat there in order to put them in my ranking system.

The basic idea

I know that eating at EVERY American chain restaurants won’t be a weekend project. It will definately not be done in a couple of years, maybe not even in a decade. Maybe not ever. It might be a lifelong foodie investigation. But like my other idea of rating food is going be an ungoing investigation so will ranking chain food and especially due to the fact that I don’t live in the US but in Europe where only the most popular chains are present. When that’s been said the US is one of my favorite travel destinations so I’ll be there from time to time. When that’s not possible I’ll have to look out for American chains closer to home and luckily there are still a few options.

Here in Denmark where I live I will have to do with the likes of McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Domino’s and Starbucks as the really big ones.There are other chains which I’ll get back to a little later, along with what my thoughts are in ranking these chains here in Denmark. Are they perhaps different from their American versions?

The Rules

In order for the chain to even be considered. It has to be an American chain. So no Le Pain Quotidien (Belgian), Jollibee (Filipino), Pret a Manger (British) etc. even though they’re popular in the States and pretty prevalent.

Also it must be a chain that has more than 10 locations and are spread across 3 states or more (or abroad of course). This means no chef-driven restaurants that have turned into mini-chains and have a location in New York or Las Vegas besides their city of origin. And no hyper-local pizza or taco chain – except if the aformentioned rule applies.

How the ranking system works

I’ve been to a lot of these places before and could already now start compiling a list, but that would be beside the point and therefore it’s whenever I visit a place from now on that counts.

So what would constitute as a visit? Would eating a snack be enough?

No. I would have to at least get 2 menu items and one of them being an item the chain is well known for or at the very least a combo. I don’t have to go through the entire menu in order for it to be on the list.

So when I’ve tried a place and felt like I’ve gotten a fair assement. I put it into the ranking. Let’s say my very first places to try are Burger King and McDonalds, if so I have to figure out on those visits if BK or McD should be in first place. The more places I visit the longer a specific restaurant could slip down the list or retain it’s position, depending on how I rank them, of course. There is no point score or anything to judge on, I just rank them as I see fit.

Return visits are allowed. Let say that I rank BK ahead of McDonalds and then 2-3 years down the line a visit to McD and BK makes me think McD is better, then McD will surpass BK.This might be a myth, but I’ve heard that BK has fallen on some bad times in the US and that BK is a lot better in Europe. If I decide to try BK and McD in the States and happen to change my opinion of my ranking from Europe, It’s the American version of the chain that will be the deciding one. I hope that makes sence. I could also se myself be very disapointed by a chain, or to a lesser extent pleasantly surprised, and then would have to do a repeat visit in order to judge it fully.

All categories of chain restaurants – Fast Food, Fast Casual, Sit-down/table service will go into the same ranking list. The ”dynamic” list can be found here… and it will be updated every time I visit a new place. I will write a little post every time I update the list but not all chains get a complete written review, some just get put into the list. Down at the buttom of the complete list you’ll find category lists based on their position on the complete list. Ie. Best of Fast Food/Fast Casual, Sit-Down/Table-Service, Best Burger Place, Best Pizza Place, Best Chicken Place etc. I will also do ungoing updates to those lists though it’s still the complete list that’s the most important.

Once a year I’ll do an update post where I take a look at the lists and do an overall review and also find out what the best new places are in the different categories.

The Shortlist

At the time of writing this post (early 2020) here is a little shortlist of places I will get to visit soon, because they’re available here in Denmark where I live. Also on the shortlist are places that are close to where I live, ie. London, Germany, France, Spain etc. The last entrys on the shortlist are the places I will be looking to try first, the next time I’m in the states.

(* chain I’ve never tried before)

In Denmark:

McDonald’s – Burger King – KFC – Carl’s Jr. – Subway – Domino’s – Starbucks – Dunkin’ Donuts – TGI Fridays – Hard Rock Café (started as a British chain, but is now American owned)

Rest of Europe:

Taco Bell* – Pizza Hut – Chipotle Mexican Grill* – Tony Roma’s – Five Guys

UK:

Wingstop* – Shake Shack – Halal Guys* – Bubba Gump Shrimp* – Rainforest Cafe* – Benihana* – Planet Hollywood

United States:

Chick-Fil-A* – Popeyes* – Whataburger* – Arby’s* – Del Taco* – Steak n’ Shake* – Waffle House* – Denny’s – Ihop – Red Lobster* – Luke’s Lobster – Buffalo Wild Wings* – Little Caesar’s* – Dairy Queen – Panda Express* etc.

If you know of any places in Europe that I didn’t mention, feel free to drop a comment below. If there are any chains in the US you think I shouldn’t miss the first time around. Please do tell me, I would love to hear from you.

McD’s vs. BK

As I mentioned before the first two entrants on my list could very well be these two powerhouses of chain food. The clown versus the crown. I have been to either I think within the last couple of months or so, and they are the two American chains I visit the most. That’s merely out of convenience and not so much the quality. I mean if Shake Shack or Five Guys were in every town like McDonald’s more or less is here in and around Copenhagen. I would probably go there instead. (hope I’m not already revealing too much already).

So be prepared for the first post out of many, coming very soon.

You can also find my quest for the Best and Worst American chain food on instagram and on my youtube channel. Where I’ll do small review videos and updates from time to time.

Instagram @danevores

Youtube @danevore

How does your American chain top 3 look like? Send me comment below.