Least Trusted Restaurant Has 213 Locations in New York

While plenty of people in New York use this restaurant chain regularly, a survey shows it is the least trusted restaurant in the United States.

New York State is one of the greatest places on Earth for food. While, yes, New York City is considered by many a sort of dining mecca, the rest of the state actually makes it a must-visit for foodies around the world. Buffalo, Rochester, Utica, Syracuse, Albany, and more all bring distinct, unique, and delicious dishes that are the envy of people everywhere.

Fast Food in New York State

When it comes to fast food, New York State has a lot in common with everyone else, of course. McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, Starbucks, and every other chain you can think of have multiple locations in every city and community. While they offer convenience, they have not offered a lot of great value as of late. Food prices are historically on the rise, which has led to much higher fast food prices. What once was a value is now a hard decision, financially.

Then, of course, there are the health aspects of the food you order at the drive-thru. "Healthy and "fast food" aren't terms that often go together. While a Big Mac and fries with a Coke are enjoyable to many, they aren't exactly what most would consider to be healthy. However, more fast-food restaurants offer much healthier options now, especially places like Chipotle which offer fresh ingredients, plenty of vegetables, and lean, high-protein choices. Granted, you can easily make anything from a place like Chipotle unhealthy, but it presents plenty of options.

It also isn't trusted.

Least Trusted Restaurant Has 213 Locations in New York

Clarify Capital surveyed "over 1,000 Americans about their opinions about different industries and specific brands." They looked at categories like retail, technology, finance, and restaurants. Chipotle Mexican Grill was the least trusted in the survey with only 18% of Americans trusting the brand. Tied with Chiptle is Sonic Drive-In.

It should be noted that a survey of over 1000 Americans tells a story, but there are over  333 million people in the United States. In other words, this is a snapshot that could be wrong. Surveys are influenced depending on where they had the most responses, people's average age, their economic situation, political leanings, and many other things not addressed in this survey. Still, it's an unfortunate bit of information for Chipotle.

READ MORE: 5 Things Your Grocery Store Isn't Telling You

Chipotle operates 213 stores in New York State, while Sonic has 20 locations according to ScrapeHero.com.  As to why Chipotle and Sonic aren't, allegedly, trusted by Americans, for Chipotle it likely has to do with reports about food safety issues, as reported by Eat This, Not That. As for Sonic, there are a lot of Reddit threads discussing quality and customer service issues.

Regarding Chipotle and on a personal note, it may also be their overall quality, consistency, and lack of value. For example, It used to be that if I ordered a burrito bowl from Chipotle I would get an overflowing bowl that could easily last 2 meals. The same went for their burritos themselves. However, in recent years, I've noticed portions have dwindled considerably. You now get maybe half of what you used to. This is fine as over-serving isn't good for business, but prices haven't reflected the change in our favor. It has and does cost a lot to eat at Chipotle. Getting much less while costing a lot more makes me question and not trust Chipotle, let alone any brand that does this.

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That being said, I personally like Chiptole a lot and have recently ordered from them. I just feel like it's a bit of a roll of the dice every time I do as I'm never sure about what I may or may not be getting. I avoid them more often because of this.

What are your thoughts about Chipotle?

Pat McMahon hosts afternoons on Buffalo's Real Rock, 92.9 WBUF weekdays from 3 pm to 7 pm.