While generations may disagree on a lot, commonality is found in Olive Garden, a study found.
In its annual U.S. restaurant brand rankings, YouGov found that Olive Garden is the most popular casual dining restaurant among millennials (ages 30-44), Gen X (45-64) and baby boomers (65+), while Gen Z (18-29) gravitated toward Chili’s. Olive Garden was, however, the second most popular casual dining restaurant for Gen Z, the data analytics and market research service found.
Looking a bit deeper, Olive Garden was ranked the highest for casual dining service, value and dining experience, the YouGov poll found.
As part of its annual rankings, YouGov polled more than 750 Gen Zers, 2,300 millennials, 5,900 Gen Xers and 7,500 baby boomers between March 1, 2025, and Feb. 28, 2026, according to the published study.
What are the top 10 most popular casual dining restaurants?
Here’s a closer look at the top 10 most popular casual dining restaurants based on all surveyed age groups:
- Olive Garden
- Texas Roadhouse
- Applebee’s
- Chili’s
- IHOP
- The Cheesecake Factory
- Outback Steakhouse
- Cracker Barrel
- Buffalo Wild Wings
- Red Lobster
What casual dining restaurants does each generation enjoy the most?
Here’s a closer look at the top 5 casual dining restaurants for each generation:
Gen Z (ages 18-29)
- Chili’s
- Olive Garden
- Wingstop
- Texas Roadhouse
- The Cheesecake Factory
Millennials (ages 30-44)
- Olive Garden
- Texas Roadhouse
- Chili’s
- The Cheesecake Factory
- Applebee’s
Gen X (ages 45-64)
- Olive Garden
- Texas Roadhouse
- Applebee’s
- Outback Steakhouse
- Cracker Barrel
Baby boomers (ages 65+)
- Olive Garden
- Texas Roadhouse
- Applebee’s
- Cracker Barrel
- Outback Steakhouse
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
Greta Cross