The 20 Best Casual Dining Restaurant Chains
This chain, which is located primarily in the Midwest and the Mountain states, fared well in the Nation's Restaurant News survey categories of service, menu variety and food quality, with diners also saying they were likely to recommend it to others.
flickr/thadd_f
The well-known rock-and-roll themed restaurant scored highest for reputation and atmosphere.
flickr/Yelp
Cleanliness and food quality were the best categories for this chain.
This restaurant scored the highest of 26 chains in the survey on "craveability." It also received high marks for food quality and diners being likely to recommend it.
This best rankings for this Italian joint were for food quality, cleanliness, service and likely to recommend.
flickr/Adam Dolch
Another Italian chain that did well. The highest ratings for Buca de Beppo were for food quality and likeliness to recommend.
flickr/Thomas Hawk
The best marks for this French-inspired chain were for menu variety, service and food quality.
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The best of the six steakhouses in the survey, Texas Roadhouse topped the other contenders in its category across eight of the 10 categories surveyed.
flickr/Jeremy Brooks
This chain had high marks for food quality, cleanliness, menu variety and atmosphere. But it also clocked in a poor rating for value.
This Asian-themed restaurant chain put up respectable ratings for food quality, cleanliness, menu variety, reputation, atmosphere and likely to recommend. It didn't do as well on the question of value.
flickr/denmate
This Tex-Mex joint has relatively high grades across all 10 categories diners were asked about, but performs best in cleanliness, service and likeliness to recommend.
flickr/su-tsen-wu
Among the six Italian/pizza chains in the survey, this chain got the highest rankings for menu variety, reputation, craveability and likely to return.
This chain had the best ratings for service and diners being likely to come back among the 26 chains that serve multiple kinds of food. It also scored high for food quality, cleanliness and likely to recommend.
Known for its salad and breadsticks, this chain gets the best ratings among Italian/pizza joints for value and diners being likely to return. It also scores well for food quality, cleanliness, service, reputation and diners being likely to recommend it.
This chain has the best ratings for food quality and service among the six Italian/pizza restaurants. But it recorded a poor score for value.
flickr/daniel harden
Rated the highest overall of the six Italian/pizza restaurants, this chain receives top marks in that category for cleanliness and atmosphere. It didn't score as well on value, though.
Among the three seafood chains, Red Lobster had the highest ratings for service, menu variety and craveability. But it had a low ranking for value.
Rated the best of the three seafood restaurants, Bonefish Grill scored the highest marks in its subcategory for food quality, cleanliness, reputation, atmosphere, and diners being likely to recommend it and likely to return. Its only blemish: value.
This fondue joint had the highest grade for atmosphere among the 26 chains that serve various types of food. It also scored high for food quality, cleanliness, service, reputation and diners being likely to recommend it.
The best of the best, this chain got the top marks for food quality, cleanliness, menu variety, reputation and diners being likely to recommend it among the 26 varied-menu restaurants. Still, it received a low mark for value.