Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek. 

 

As America enjoys its good times(the rich)-bad times(the not rich at all) historical period, food plays a central role.

Fancy restaurants churn out things that look pretty, don't taste of much but cost a fortune, while the more modest, brightly-colored places just keep chugging along.

And how they are chugging.

I am staring at the American Customer Satisfaction Index for restaurants, announced today, and it makes for quite some digestion.

All fast-food restaurants seem to have improved.

So much so that customer satisfaction for the likes of McDonald's and Burger King (well, still not so much McDonald's) are within a mere percentage point of so-called full-service restaurants -- aka restaurants that cost the same as at least 3 or 4 meals at a fast-food restaurant.

Look, McDonald's has improved. Its score went up to a 69 -- three points higher than last year.

This improvement seems to be thanks to its all-day breakfast. It's still, though, five points below the next on the ladder of quickie love, Jack In The Box.

Burger King and Wendy's have gone up by 6 and four points respectively.

What, though, do you imagine soars far above? Which fast-food restaurant is the gold-colored standard, the creme-de-la-mayonnaise?

It's Chick-fil-A.

Indeed, its score went up another point to 87.

It clearly knows how to mesmerize. Or, more accurately, it (drum)sticks to what it knows and does it again and again and again.

But it's only one of a vast swathe of famous fast names that customers are appreciating more and more.

Papa John's is in second place. Little Caesars is trying to stab it from behind in third.

Even though Chipotle seems to have had more hygiene problems than your first college lover, it still managed a score of 78. This put it in 9th place, tied with KFC and Domino's.

As for full-service restaurants, they didn't all fare wonderfully.

However, Olive Garden is up 3 points. Yes, the Olive Garden where you send those relatives from New Zealand to whom you've never taken.

If this all proves anything, it's that even those at the supposed bottom end of the market know they have to deliver something more than they did before.

Competition can do that to you.

If only airlines, with their awful seating and fractious, almost fictitious customer service, enjoyed that challenge.