---
title: "Franchise Brands Dominate USA Today's Best Fast-Casual Ranking"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/e628a4fd-50d0-4f8d-a673-2ad5fd40933f
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/franchise-brands-dominate-usa-todays-best-fast-casual-ranking-2709789
category: "Fast casual"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Fast casual"
published: 2019-04-25T20:15:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:33:03.595Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/8ed46e8ea4fd89cf3750456b3f7583b3379.jpg
---

# Franchise Brands Dominate USA Today's Best Fast-Casual Ranking

**TL;DR:** USA Today readers named QDOBA Mexican Eats the Best Fast-Casual Restaurant in the annual "10Best" poll, with other franchise brands dominating the top-ten winners. Franchise brands such as Dickey's Barbecue Pit, MOD Pizza, and Panera Bread were also ranked highly.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2019-04-25. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/franchise-brands-dominate-usa-todays-best-fast-casual-ranking-2709789).*

## Story

In its annual “10Best” poll, readers of USA Today have named franchise brand QDOBA Mexican Eats its choice for Best Fast-Casual Restaurant. “Just about everything on the menu at QDOBA, from the guacamole to the flame-grilled vegetables, is made fresh each day,” writes USA Today to illustrate the No. 1 ranking.

Franchise brands dominated the top-ten winners, with Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and MOD Pizza falling into No. 2 and No. 3, and Panera Bread, Moe’s Southwest Grill, McAlister’s Deli, Five Guys and Au Bon Pain rounding out the list:

1. QDOBA Mexican Eats

2. Dickey's Barbecue Pit

3. MOD Pizza

4. Chipotle Mexican Grill

5. Portillo's

6. Panera Bread

7. Moe's Southwest Grill

8. McAlister's Deli

9. Five Guys

10. Au Bon Pain

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Dickey's Barbecue Pit (company)
- USA TODAY (company)
- Panera Bread (company)
- Chipotle Mexican Grill (company)
- McAlister's Deli (company)
- Five Guys (company)
- Moe's Southwest Grill (company)
- Qdoba Mexican Eats (company)
- MOD Pizza (company)
- franchise brands (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/franchise-brands-dominate-usa-todays-best-fast-casual-ranking-2709789). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/e628a4fd-50d0-4f8d-a673-2ad5fd40933f).