Full-service restaurant chains are winning back customers with new menu items and operational improvements, report finds

Outback Steakhouse ranked #1 in Customer Experience, The Cheesecake Factory as #1 in Menu and Chili's as #1 in Value in Chatmeter's 2025 Full-Service Restaurant Reputation Ranking Report

SAN DIEGO, July 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Menu innovation and operational improvements are helping full-service restaurant chains overcome value perception challenges, Chatmeter's 2025 Full-Service Reputation Ranking Report found.

"Multi-location full-service restaurants have struggled to compete with fast food restaurants on value, but we're starting to see them adapt to customer feedback and drive positive business momentum," said John Mazur, CEO of Chatmeter. "Customers are no longer just seeking a good deal–they are rewarding brands that are delivering menu creativity and operational excellence. By leveraging AI to analyze reviews at scale, restaurants can turn insights like these into actions that keep customers coming back."

Chatmeter used its Pulse Ai: Signals to analyze more than one million reviews across 10 of the largest casual dining chains from June 16, 2023 through June 15, 2025, and found that:

• Menu innovation is driving positive sentiment: Brands that launched significant menu updates, like TGI Fridays, Olive Garden and The Cheesecake Factory, saw notable engagement and positive feedback. Reviews increasingly mentioned healthier options, reflecting an uptick in demand, but some brands faced criticism for lacking such options.
• Value remains a battleground, but less of a top priority for consumers: Mentions of value dropped by 18% over the past year, indicating that consumers are prioritizing other aspects of the dining experience. Deals like Chili's "3 for Me" and Olive Garden's Never-Ending Pasta Bowl sustained positive value perceptions, but discussion of portion sizes directly impacted customers' perceptions of value across all restaurants.
• Operational improvements and technology upgrades improved customer experience at some restaurants: Investments in digital ordering, loyalty programs and tabletop technology drove higher satisfaction for brands like Outback Steakhouse, Chili's and Applebee's. However, sentiment around service declined at many chains, with wait time and order accuracy as common pain points.
• Customer review volume dropped across the sector: Full-service dining restaurants experienced a nearly 6% drop in online reviews over the past year, potentially due to location closures, decreased traffic or a lack of customer engagement. Only Red Robin (+18%) and Cracker Barrel (+10%) saw significant increases in reviews.

Based on review volume and sentiment, Chatmeter ranked 10 of the largest casual dining chains on Customer Experience, Menu and Value.

Customer Experience Reputation Rankings

1. Outback Steakhouse
2. Red Robin
3. TGI Fridays
4. Applebee's
5. Olive Garden
6. Texas Roadhouse
7. Chili's
8. Cracker Barrel
9. The Cheesecake Factory
10. Buffalo Wild Wings

Menu Reputation Rankings

1. The Cheesecake Factory
2. Olive Garden
3. Red Robin
4. Chili's
5. Outback Steakhouse
6. TGI Fridays
7. Texas Roadhouse
8. Applebee's
9. Cracker Barrel
10. Buffalo Wild Wings

Value Reputation Rankings

1. Chili's
2. Applebee's
3. Texas Roadhouse
4. Olive Garden
5. Cracker Barrel
6. Red Robin
7. Outback Steakhouse
8. TGI Fridays
9. The Cheesecake Factory
10. Buffalo Wild Wings

The full report, including breakdowns of the feedback for each brand, is available here.

About Chatmeter
Chatmeter is a groundbreaking intelligence platform purpose-built to help multi-location businesses turn customer feedback into actionable insights and search rankings into real revenue. Using generative AI and other proprietary AI models, the Chatmeter platform analyzes millions of customer interactions across reviews, surveys, images and social media to help the world's largest businesses understand what customers really care about, what their real business risks are, how to compete and win in local markets and more.

SOURCE Chatmeter