UK top pubs, restaurants and cafes ranked: Costa, Greggs and Wetherspoon top consumer opinion poll of high street brands with the best reputation

Public perception is rising for a clutch of major high street food and drink brands, a new report has revealed.

Costa, Greggs and JD Wetherspoon have gained the most momentum when it comes to consumer attitudes, data research company CGA said.

The report ranks operators by how fast they are building their brand awareness, positive reputation, and customer intention to buy from the business again.

“Our fascinating snapshot of out of home eating and drinking brands reveals the names that are increasing awareness and generating loyalty and word of mouth—as well as the ones that are slipping behind in public opinion,” explained Karl Chessell, business unit director for retail and food at CGA.

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In the coffee and food to go sector, Costa’s high visibility saw it come out on top. The chain is by far the biggest coffee shop operator in the UK, with 2,300 branches and 7,000 Costa Express self-service units.

The brand is so big that its owner Whitbread has faced pressure from investors to spin it off as a separate company.

Ranked: The top coffee & food-to-go brands

Rank

Restaurant

1

Costa

2

Patisserie Valerie

3

Itsu

4

Caffe Nero

5

Eat

6

Starbucks

7

Upper Crust

Meanwhile in the drinks-led sector, JD Wetherspoon’s appeal across different demographics proved to be a winning formula. Founder Tim Martin expressed confidence in the business this week when he announced that Wetherspoon was shutting down its social media accounts.

And in quick service restaurants, sometimes called fast food, Greggs has overcome competition from McDonald’s to continue its leading brand perception.

Greggs has transformed most of its branches to have more seating over the past few years, and now offers a wider range of healthy options, which now make up one in 10 sales at the high street baker. The changes have helped it to compete with the likes of Pret a Manger and EAT in the booming food-to-go market.

Other top performers included two concept from Mitchells & Butlers. Stonehouse Pizza & Carvery had the best reputation on the pub restaurant scene, while steakhouse Miller & Carter overtook Cote Brasserie as the top restaurant.

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Ranked: The top restaurant brands

Rank

Restaurant

1

Miller & Carter

2

Cote Brasserie

3

Five Guys

4

Turtle Bay

5

Bill’s

6

Nando’s

7

Byron

8

Pizza Express

9

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

10

Wagamama

11

Bella italia

12

Loch Fyne

13

Pizza Hut

14

Browns

15

Wahaca

16

T.G.I Friday’s

17

Las Iguanas

18

ASK

19

Carluccio’s

20

Prezzo

21

Frankie & Benny’s

22

Zizzi

23

Jamie’s Italian

24

Chiquito

25

Harry Ramsden’s

26

Coast to Coast

27

YO! Sushi

28

Giraffe

29

La Tasca

30

Ed’s Easy Dinner

31

Café Rouge

32

Strada

33

Little Chef