Now you have help to make that critical decision. The "Choice in Chains" poll uses feedback from 2,900 consumers to grade restaurants in seven different categories, such as food quality, value, and atmosphere. Results of the poll, conducted by Restaurants & Institutions magazine, were unveiled at a black-tie event on Feb. 27 at Las Vegas' new Bellagio Hotel.

The award for best casual-dining restaurant went to Romano's Macaroni Grill, rather than its larger rival, Olive Garden. Chicago-based Pizzeria Uno took over as the top pizza maker, and In-N-Out Burgers, a West Coast chain, held off larger companies to retain its hamburger title. Other winners: Cracker Barrel for family dining, Red Lobster for seafood, Baskin Robbins for ice cream, and Starbucks -- by a nose over Krispy Kreme -- for best coffee/doughnut shop. Restaurants & Institutions declared it the "Year of the Underdog."

And the losers? McDonald's, which is in the midst of a remake of every U.S. kitchen, finished last for food quality among all restaurants, tied with Chuck E. Cheese. White Castle, Little Caesars, Hooters, and Churchs also did poorly in the food-quality category. Krystal, a burger chain, and Orange Julius, a juice and lunch shop, tied for the worst overall score, faring particularly badly in the cleanliness and atmosphere departments.

Other results:

Overall score
Best, in all categories: Cracker Barrel, Outback, Romano's, Olive Garden, Stuart Anderson's, Luby's, Red Lobster, Rainforest Cafe, Tony Roma's, T.G.I. Friday's.

Worst, in all categories: Krystal, Orange Julius, A&W, Churchs, Rally's, Hardee's, Sbarro.

Food quality
Best sandwich shop: Schlotzky's Deli
Worst: A&W

Best family dining: Cracker Barrel
Worst: Denny's

Best steakhouse: Outback
Worst: Sizzler

Best ice cream/yogurt: Haagen-Dazs
Worst: Dairy Queen

Value
Best, in all categories: Old Country Buffet, Hometown Buffer, Luby's, Fazoli's, Taco Bell, Cracker Barrel
Worst, in all categories: Mrs. Fields, Orange Julius, Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe

Atmosphere
Best, in all categories: Rainforest Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe, Romano's, Outback

Cleanliness
Worst, in all categories: Rally's, Krystal, Sbarro, Orange Julius, Domino's

The rankings are based on a survey conducted for R&I by NFO Research in Greenwich, Conn. NFO says it sent questionnaires to 4,000 representative U.S. households and heard back from 2,876. Consumers gave chains a score from 1 to 5 in the following areas: food quality, menu variety, value, service, atmosphere, cleanliness, and convenience. The survey has a margin of error of 2%, NFO says.