The brand earned an Overall Score of 71.9 percent, more than 9 percentage points higher than the No. 2 hamburger chain. Overall Scores are based on an average of scores on a variety of attributes — such as Food Quality, Service and Atmosphere — weighted by the importance that diners in that segment put on each attribute. Photo: In-N-Out Burger

The chain ranked No. 9 among 172 chains from four segments and received the highest score — 77.8 percent — for Likely to Return. The score is the percentage of respondents saying they "definitely" or "probably" would return to the restaurant. Photo: In-N-Out Burger

Founded in 1948 in Baldwin, Calif., In-N-Out now has 300 locations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Texas and is worth upwards of $1 billion. Photo: Getty Images

The family-owned, Irvine, Calif.-based chain’s menu consists of a small number of variations on the brand’s classic burger, along with hand-cut french fries, shakes and soft drinks.  Photo: Getty Images

Among the 111 Limited-Service chains, the brand received the highest scores on four out of 10 attributes: Likely to Recommend, Likely to Return, Reputation and Service. Attribute scores reflect the percentage of respondents who said a chain was "outstanding" or "above average" in that area.

In-N-Out's two highest attribute scores were 86.5 percent for Reputation and 84.6 percent for Food Quality, which were the highest and second highest in the Limited-Service segment, respectively. Its next highest scores were 81.3 percent for Likely to Recommend, 79.5 percent for Service and 77.8 percent for Likely to Return.

The chain's two lowest scores were 31.3 percent for Menu Variety, and 55.7 for Atmosphere, which was still the second-highest in the hamburger subsegment. The brand scored 71.4 percent for Cleanliness, 72.5 percent for Value and 74.9 percent for Craveability.

In-N-Out ranked highest with consumers among the 19 chains in the hamburger subsegment and was the group's top scorer in eight of 10 attributes: Food Quality, Value, Cleanliness, Service, Reputation, Craveability, Likely to Recommend and Likely to Return.

Umami Burger CEO Paul Clayton told Nation’s Restaurant News that In-N-Out stands out from its Limited-Service competition by focusing on the fundamentals.

In-N-Out Burger declined to comment on the survey results. The company is famously press shy and instead has opted for more word-of-mouth marketing techniques such as roadside billboards and bumper stickers. The chain has a cult following that includes Hollywood celebrities and high-end chefs.