In the battle of the burger chains, it’s not the golden arches Americans are longing for.

For the first time ever, Five Guys, was named Burger Restaurant Brand of the Year — ousting two-time honoree In-N-Out Burger — according to The Harris Poll.

The Washington D.C. based burger joint beat out In-N-Out Burger, followed by Shake Shack, Wendy’s, Culver’s, Whataburger, McDonald’s, Sonic, Smashburger, and Steak ‘n’ Shake to take the top spot.

Not surprisingly, McDonald’s still hold the highest in familiarity across all brands.

“The burger brand category has become less fragmented, as regional brands expand and become available in more parts of the country,” said Joan Sinopoli, vice president of brand solutions at The Harris Poll. “This is certainly the case with Five Guys, who has shed its ‘small regional player’ designation as it expands its footprint and marketing budget along with its fandom, which is a tremendous contributor to brand equity.”

Five Guys was founded in 1986 in Arlington, Virginia by Janie and Jerry Murrell; Jerry and the couple’s four sons were the inspiration for the name. Today, the brand serves up custom burgers in nearly 1,500 restaurants throughout Canada, France, Ireland, Spain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, and the US.

The poll was determined by calculating three separate scores in familiarity, quality, and purchase consideration. Brand of the Year is determined by combining scores.

Comments

comments

Author

Meghan is a full-time writer exploring the fun facts behind food. She lives a healthy lifestyle but lives for breakfast, dessert and anything with marinara. She’s thrown away just as many meals as she’s proud of.