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The Restaurants With the Most Loyal Customers
Being enthusiastic about a restaurant is not the same as being loyal to it. I had an absolute blast the last time I ate at Applebee’s, and I fondly recount the pulled pork nachos to anyone who will listen. But am I loyal to Applebee’s? No. I haven’t set foot in an Applebee’s in 12 years. Consumer loyalty is a hard thing to measure, but market research firm Datassential decided to put the question to consumers themselves, asking the definitive question: Which restaurants do you go out of your way to patronize, even when they’re not the most convenient option ? Using that data, Nation’s Restaurant News has compiled the top 24 chains with the most loyal customers.
What’s notable about this list isn’t just the two dozen restaurants that comprise the rankings, but the chains that have fallen off the list since last year. NRN notes that Five Guys, Starbucks, and even Chipotle failed to make the list in 2022. This makes a kind of sense, since the most habitual customers of those chains are most likely to be in a dense urban area where convenience and frequency of use are evenly distributed matched. It’s the stuff you have to make a track for that demonstrates greater overall loyalty.
Here are the top five most beloved chains, by Datassential’s metrics, and the percentage of consumers that reported being loyal to each:
5. In-N-Out Burger (58%)
4. Culver’s (58%)
3. Jet’s Pizza (59%)
2. Chick-fil-A (60%)
1. Papa Murphy’s Pizza (61%)
Several other heavy-hitters rounded out the top 10, including Jersey Mike’s (America’s fastest-growing restaurant chain), Red Lobsters (home of the Endless Shrimp), and Whataburger (purveyor of the best ketchup).
While you might have expected something with the more obvious name recognition to take the number-one spot, the dominance of Papa Murphy’s Pizza isn’t actually all that surprising. Pizza is, after all, a crowded landscape, and the big four chains—Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, and Papa Johns—offer only a slightly different product. A brand that sets itself apart can really endear itself to its customer base, and Papa Murphy’s take-and-bake pizzas are a differentiator in the market. (Consumer loyalty toward Jet’s Pizza only underlines this point, since it’s the one chain known for the unique Detroit-style pizza.)
If the top five loyalty-inducing chains demonstrate everything, it’s that having a signature menu item is integral to staying top of mind for consumers, even when they’re not in the immediate vicinity. Culver’s is the home of custard and ButterBurgers. In-N-Out is all about Animal-Style. Chick-fil-A? It goes without saying. The point is, none of these restaurants are trying to be everything to everyone. Loyalty is something that’s built up over time, and offering a curated menu that never loses sight of its core customers is the way to get there.
Damn, I really should go back to Applebee’s.
Hellmann’s Suggests Putting Mayonnaise in Eggnog
It’s a question I ask myself every Christmas season: What exactly is a “nog”? Most dictionaries define it as a shortened version of “eggnog.” But how much egg do you really need to make it a full-blown “nog”? According to Hellmann’s, you need however much egg is in its mayonnaise.
Yes, egg is the only third ingredient in Hellmann’s mayonnaise, behind oil and water. However, America’s best-selling mayo still believes that’s plenty of egg to give you a perfectly acceptable nog — and it’s created its own mayo-nog to prove it.
Working in collaboration with mixologist Cody Goldstein (of hospitality company Muddling Memories), Hellmann’s created the Frozen Mayo-nog & Snickerdoodle Mayo Cookie, billed as “an unexpected new cocktail and dessert pairing” and said to be “inspired by the classic holiday tradition of milk and cookies.”
As the name implies, the Frozen Mayo-nog completely swaps out the egg for mayo, mixing dark rum, apple brandy, whole milk, heavy cream, simple syrup, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon with a quarter-cup of Hellmann’s mayonnaise per three -serving batches. Toss it all into a blender and blend until smooth to reach boozy mayo heaven.
Joalia Hospitality
If you want to try the Frozen Mayo-nog exactly as Goldstein intended, you’ll have to head to Amy Fontaine’s in New York City from now until December 15, as it’s the only place serving it. A single glass (which can also be made in a non-alcoholic version) will set you back $16, or you can grab it paired with Snickerdoodle Mayo Cookies (including a mayo glaze) for $24.
Not willing to travel all the way to Midtown Manhattan for a glass of Hellmann’s nog? Don’t fret. The recipe is also available on the Mudding Memories Instagram page.
Hellmann’s says the project is intended to “highlight the versatility of Hellmann’s Mayonnaise and encourage everyone to get creative in the kitchen this holiday season” — even with cocktails. But if you do get wild with your mayonnaise creations, maybe just color your taste testers first.
Hellmann’s isn’t the first brand to get creative with nogs for the holidays. Earlier this year, Kellogg’s partnered on a waffle-inspired Eggo Nog. And last year, Hidden Valley raised plenty of eyebrows with the release of their RanchNog kit. But maybe this is just a three-way nog battle waiting to happen at your house on Christmas Eve.
Starbucks barista calls out customer’s syrup-heavy drink order
A Starbucks barista puts a customer on TikTok blast for requesting a beverage mainly consisting of syrups, and viewers are equally baffled.
A TikToker who goes by the username Angry Barista (@angry_barista) claims to be a barista and 10-year shift supervisor at Starbucks. The Angry Barista frequently shares videos featuring a variety of bizarre orders from customers. However, one of their more recent TikTok posts is giving viewers a secondhand sugar high.
The clip opens with the on-screen text, “Tell me you don’t like coffee by not telling me you don’t like coffee,” before cutting to a shot of a grande-sized Starbucks cup filled almost halfway with syrup.
Breaking down the beverage’s recipe measurement by measurement, the barista first fills a grande-sized cup with six pumps of vanilla syrup, seven pumps of caramel, eight pumps of toffee nut, seven pumps of white mocha and a drizzle of apple and cinnamon dolce.
The barista explains that the space between the second and third lines equals the standard amount of cold brew poured, but since the customer requested a light amount of ice, they’d add more.
However, the barista said, “that wouldn’t even make a difference with the amount of syrup in this cup.” Finally, the light ice and salted cold foam complete the drink.
“That would give me a headache from one sip.”
The clip alone practically gave viewers a toothache.
“That would give me a headache from one sip,” one user commented.
“This reminds me of [when] a woman came in and ordered a grande green tea with 30 pumps of liquid sugar and complained she couldn’t taste the tea,” recalled one barista.
“This made my teeth hurt,” one viewer joked.
Based on this drink order, some people prefer a sugar rush to a caffeine boost.
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