Our strong, stable relationship with Mexican food

Within this report, we reveal America's most loved Eating Out brands – with performance rankings from across all major categories – Asian, burger, Café or Bakery, chicken, delivery, family style, frozen dessert, Italian or Pizza, Mexican, sandwich, seafood, specialty, steak, and varied menu.

Mexican cuisine has brilliantly woven itself into the fabric of dining culture in America. This evolution from a niche to a mainstream staple narrates a tale of not only changing cultural dynamics, but also underscores the deep-rooted historical and socio-economic ties between the US and Mexico.

In a fluctuating Top 10, led by Chick-fil-A and Starbucks, only one other brand has held onto its position since 2022 – Taco Bell

The Tex-Mex brand broke into the Top 10 last year and has now secured its status there at No.8 after an impressive 2023 so far.

First, they won the battle for Taco Tuesday to be free of trademark restrictions in 49 states. Then they celebrated generously by opening a $5m DoorDash taco tab for Tuesday, September 12th, covering taco lovers’ orders from any Mexican outlet, not just Taco Bell’s!

A distinctive social media strategy wins through a bold take on subliminal instant messaging (e.g., “the best nights end with taco bell”), and for the last two Super Bowls, marketers have done a great job capitalizing on the hype for their Mexican Pizzas.

Let the celebrations begin!

September 15th to October 15th is National Hispanic Heritage Month, a great time to celebrate the rich cultural contributions – including the cuisine.

Plus, with the popularity of Margarita Mondays, Fajita Fridays, and, of course, Taco Tuesdays, Mexican food is well-placed to be America’s next favorite international cuisine after Italian. Taco Bell sits not far behind Olive Garden (#6).

One thing’s for sure… as Taco Bell likes to say, it’s time to Live Más and embrace our love of the Mexican eating-out experience!

Mouth-watering Mexican meals

Out of the eight Mexican cuisine brands in our Top 100 table, almost all of them have gained places year-on-year.

In ranking order, the list includes #45 Uncle Julio’s (+19), #56 Taco John’s (+19), #70 Rubio’s (+26), #90 El Pollo Loco (+18), #95 Del Taco (+8) and #96 Qdoba (+5).

The only exception is Chipotle, ranking #30 since last year’s #26 position but still the second most loved Mexican food brand.

Chipotle is looking for new admirers, announcing in January ambitious plans to double their footprint by expanding to 7,000 new locations.

BrandVue’s Most Loved Eating Out Brands in the US is informed by the opinions of more than 72,000 consumers about 158+ eating out brands.

We have used their responses to compile a comprehensive league table of the Top 100 eating out brands the US love the most. You can access the full league table, alongside expert analysis from our team by downloading the free report below.

Download the free report below.