Wendy's, In-N-Out Top Zagat's Best Chain List

Zagat announced the results of its best chain restaurant poll yesterday, and surprise, surprise, Wendy's and In-N-Out won (Full disclosure: This writer is a native Californian.).

Wendy's was ranked as the Top Overall Chain in the mega-chain category, while In-N-Out won Top Food, Most Popular Top Service, and Top Overall in the large chain category. Both chains were also ranked top overall chain in their categories  in 2011.

This year, however, Five Guys won the best Fast-Food Burger vote from 10,554 surveys. In-N-Out fell to number four on this list.

As for fries, McDonald's won that category, which makes us wonder what exactly Wendy's and In-N-Out won for. If it wasn't for the fries or the burger, was it for the experience? (Or the Animal-Style Fries?)

In any case, Caribou Coffee was voted the best quick-refreshment chain, followed by Rita's Italian Ice and Peet's Coffee/Tea. Starbucks didn't make the top five, but was voted the most popular with the best coffee, which doesn't really make any sense until you realize that Peet's has a killer tea selection and Caribou's specialty coffee menu rivals Starbucks. It also just shows that having more franchises means getting more customers. Check out Zagat for the full list.