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These were Gen Z’s favorite restaurant chains in 2024These were Gen Z’s favorite restaurant chains in 2024

Younger demographics favor nostalgic dessert brands

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In poring over Technomic’s 2025 America’s Favorite Chains data, one thing became abundantly clear: younger consumers love a nostalgic dessert restaurant brand.Photos courtesy of the restaurant companies

In poring over Technomic’s 2025 America’s Favorite Chains data, one thing became abundantly clear: younger consumers love a nostalgic dessert restaurant brand.

The report not only features America’s favorite restaurants overall, but breaks the data down by generation for Gen Z and millennials (those with the most spending power at the moment).

Gen Z, defined as those born from roughly 1997-2012, also favors authenticity in the companies it supports.

“A Gen Z can smell a fake brand from a mile away,” said Robert Byrne, director of consumer and industry insights at Technomic. “Don’t try too hard.”

Last year, the generation broadly favored beverage chains.

Gen Z’s favorite limited-service brand lines up with America’s favorite chain overall. On the full-service side, like many other Americans, Gen Z loves a steakhouse.

Click through the above gallery to meet Gen Z’s favorite limited-service and full-service restaurant chains. Each has an overall score presented as a percentage, representing a composite top-box rating, which indicates the share of recent guests who gave the brand the highest possible overall score.

Technomic’s America’s Favorite Chains is produced using data from Technomic Ignite Consumer. For more information and detailed data from Technomic, please visit technomic.com/ignite-consumer.

About the Authors

Leigh Anne Zinsmeister

Managing Editor

Leigh Anne Zinsmeister is a managing editor for Informa’s Foodservices Vertical, specifically Nation’s Restaurant News, Restaurant Hospitality, and Foodservice Director.  Leigh Anne works on all of the brands’ special reports, including Nation’s Restaurant News’ annual Top 500 report and Restaurant Hospitality’s Best Cocktails and Best Sandwiches contests. She also manages the group’s digital engagement team, and was the managing editor for Supermarket News until December 2024.

Leigh Anne lives in New York City, but also claims Phoenix, Dallas and Cleveland as hometowns. Leigh Anne holds a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, where she also studied European history. 

Email Leigh Anne at [email protected] 

Leigh Anne Zinsmeister’s experience: 

  • Group Managing Editor, Informa’s Foodservices Vertical (Aug. 2021-present)

  • Group Content Manager, Informa Restaurant and Food Group (Feb. 2020-Aug. 2021)

  • Digital Content Manager, Informa Restaurant and Food Group (April 2018-Feb. 2020)

  • Digital Content Producer, Informa Restaurant and Food Group (June 2016-April 2018)

  • Community Moderator, Mail Online (March 2014-June 2016)

  • Wire Editor, Gannett’s Phoenix Design studio (The Arizona Republic, The Reno Gazette-Journal, The Statesman Journal, The Great Falls Tribune, The Visalia Times-Delta, The Tulare Advance Register, The Salinas Californian, The St. George Spectrum, The Desert Sun, The Coloradoan) (Jan. 2012-March 2014)

Joanna Fantozzi

Senior Editor

Joanna Fantozzi is a Senior Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality. She has more than seven years of experience writing about the restaurant and hospitality industry. Her editorial coverage ranges from profiles of independent restaurants around the country to breaking news and insights into some of the biggest brands in food and beverage, including Starbucks, Domino’s, and Papa John’s.  

Joanna holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and creative writing from The College of New Jersey and a master’s degree in arts and culture journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Prior to joining Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group in 2018, she was a freelance food, culture, and lifestyle writer, and has previously held editorial positions at Insider (formerly known as Business Insider) and The Daily Meal. Joanna’s work can also be found in The New York Times, Forbes, Vice, The New York Daily News, and Parents Magazine. 

Her areas of expertise include restaurant industry news, restaurant operator solutions and innovations, and political/cultural issues.

Joanna Fantozzi has been a moderator and event facilitator at both Informa’s MUFSO and Restaurants Rise industry events. 

Joanna Fantozzi’s experience:

Senior Editor, Informa Restaurant & Food Group (August 2021-present)

Associate Editor, Informa Restaurant & Food Group (July 2019-August 2021)

Assistant Editor, Informa Restaurant & Food Group (Oct. 2018-July 2019)

Freelance Food & Lifestyle Reporter (Feb. 2018-Oct. 2018)

Food & Lifestyle Reporter, Insider (June 2017-Feb. 2018)

News Editor, The Daily Meal (Jan. 2014- June 2017)

Staff Reporter, Straus News (Jan. 2013-Dec. 2013)

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