WASHINGTON — The burger chain that got its start in Arlington in 1986 just ranked as the favorite fast-food chain in the U.K.
Market researcher Market Force Information surveyed about 4,600 U.K. consumers in a brand loyalty study, and says Five Guys, which opened its first U.K. restaurant in 2013, beat out last year’s No. 1, Nando’s Peri Peri.
The Market Force survey asked consumers to rate fast-food restaurants on a range of attributes. Nando’s scored the highest percentage of top marks for five out of eight attributes, but Five Guys’ ratings on food quality, cleanliness and staff friendliness were high enough to give it the overall top ranking.
Five Guys grew in Washington slowly at first, with five locations by 2001. It began franchising in 2003 and grew to more than 300 locations in 18 months. It has more than 1,400 locations worldwide now, including close to 90 in the Washington-Baltimore region.
Five Guys fact: There are more than 250,000 possible ways to order a burger at Five Guys.
H/T Washingtonian
