Consumer Trends

America's favorite varied menu chains

Top chain Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen boasts the highest guest frequency of any Darden Restaurants brand.
seasons 52
Photograph courtesy of Seasons 52

As evidenced by the data, current customers are loyal fans of Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen. But Cheddar’s executives are realizing the need to get the word out about the concept, so they’re tinkering with their marketing approach to boost sales and traffic. The chain boasts the highest guest frequency of any Darden Restaurants brand.

Varied menuService & HospitalityUnit Appearance & AmbianceFood & BeverageConvenience & TakeoutValueOverall Score
Seasons 5265.5%61.2%59.0%53.3%45.7%57.7%
Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen62.2%56.5%56.4%53.0%49.1%55.6%
Yard House60.7%55.3%54.1%52.5%42.4%53.2%

Source: Technomic Ignite consumer data; scores represent the percentage of respondents who strongly agree with the statements, on a scale of 1 to 5.

Learn more about America's Favorite Chains.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Financing

The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

Trending

More from our partners