SURVEY LISTS FAVORITES RESTAURANTS

At least six national restaurant chains with local connections have been selected as "favorite chains" in their respective categories in an America's Choice in Chains survey conducted for Restaurants & Institutions magazine.

Included are:

Chick-fil-A, chicken.

Wendy's, hamburgers.

Golden Corral, steakhouse.

Pizza Hut, pizza.

Cracker Barrel, family dining.

Baskin-Robbins, sweets.

Others on the list include: The Olive Garden, dinner house; Chi-Chi's, Mexican food; Old Country Buffet, cafeteria-buffet; Rax, sandwiches; and Red Lobster, seafood.

Chick-fil-A, which has restaurants primarily in shopping malls, scored highest among chicken chains for food quality, service, atmosphere and cleanliness, beating Kentucky Fried Chicken, which finished second, and Church's Chicken, third.

A Chick-fil-A is in West Park Mall here; Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers has a restaurant at 35 S. Kingshighway; Pizza Hut has facilities in Cape Girardeau and Scott City; Cracker Barrel recently opened in Cape Girardeau; and Baskin-Robbins is in Town Plaza Shopping Center.

A Golden Corral Family Steakhouse is at 1830 E. Highway 61 in Jackson.

The annual "Choice in Chains" survey is in its 13th year. It is conducted by National Family Opinion, a market research firm in Toledo, Ohio.

The firm sent questionnaires to more than 4,000 households across the U.S. They were distributed equally by U.S. Census regions and data. More than 60 percent of the questionnaires were completed and returned.