The Most Popular Fast Casual Restaurant In Idaho Is…

This weekend I had friends in town that live in a big city. Before coming to Boise they had no idea what to expect and naturally had a bunch of questions. One of those questions was about the kind of restaurants that we have here. I couldn't help but laugh because people who have never been here tend to think that we're a one horse town and when they arrive they're shocked at how cool and modern certain parts of Idaho are. Needless to say my friends enjoyed the great farm to table restaurants as well as the familiar chain restaurants that our state has to offer.

I on the other hand was shocked to find out which fast casual restaurant is the most popular in Idaho.  Simple.Thrifty.Living analyzed Google Trends from the last 12 months to determine the most popular fast casual restaurant in every state. If you're asking yourself "what is a fast casual restaurant"? Here is the official definition per this study:

"All of the fast casual restaurants included in the study meet the following criteria:

• Have at least 100 locations
• Have locations in at least 5 states
• Do not have a drive-through
• Offer counter ordering
• Offer indoor dining

Additionally, we determined the number of fast casual locations per 100,000 people for these popular categories of restaurants: sandwich, pizza, burger, Mexican, Asian, and healthy. "

Any guess as to which restaurant In Idaho came out on top?. According to the research Blaze Pizza is the most popular fast casual joint. Do you agree? If you've never tried it check out their menu here and go support your neighborhood Blaze. Another interesting piece of data revealed in the research is that " America’s favorite fast casual restaurants are Panera Bread and Five Guys, winning 13 of the 50 states".