This California Fast Food Chain Just Crushed the National Rankings.

California is home to some of the most iconic fast food brands in the world, and a major new national study just confirmed that at least one of them is doing something the competition simply cannot match. The American Customer Satisfaction Index released its annual restaurant study ranking 28 of the country's most recognized fast food chains on customer satisfaction, and Panda Express came out on top among California brands by a wide and comfortable margin. The Chinese American cuisine chain, founded and still headquartered in Rosemead in the San Gabriel Valley, scored an 81 out of 100, good enough for fourth place overall in the entire national ranking and a full point higher than its own score from the previous year. Only three national chains ranked higher, and not a single other California-based brand in the study came anywhere close to cracking the top ten.

Panda Express has grown from a single restaurant inside a Glendale mall in 1983 to more than 2,300 locations spread across the country today, and the brand remains family-owned and operated by its founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng more than four decades later. Other California-based chains in the study told a more mixed story, with Irvine-based Taco Bell and San Diego-based Jack in the Box both landing near the bottom of the rankings at 74, while Newport Beach-based Chipotle came in around the middle of the pack with a score of 77. The highest-ranked chain overall was New Jersey-based Jersey Mike's at 84, while the lowest was McDonald's at 72, giving Panda Express a score that sits comfortably above most of the competition. For a California success story that began with one family and one restaurant, these results are a satisfying reminder that the Golden State still knows how to build something people love.

Source:https://patch.com/california/across-ca/ca-based-fast-food-chain-far-highest-rated-national-survey