A pooled average gives every tracked row equal weight. It does not give every restaurant equal influence. In the expansion snapshot, Taco John’s contributes 122 rows while Raising Cane’s contributes three; a combined nutrient average therefore reflects much more of the first selected menu.
Count the denominator before trusting the result
There are 380 source-defined records across ten chains in this expansion. Taco John’s is 122 ÷ 380, approximately 32.1% of those rows. Raising Cane’s is 3 ÷ 380, approximately 0.8%. These shares describe database coverage, not sales, popularity or the proportion of menu items sold nationally.
Two different averages answer different questions
A row-weighted calculation describes the average recorded order in this particular collection. A chain-weighted calculation first averages each chain and then gives those ten means equal weight. Neither automatically represents what a person orders, especially when menus contain multiple variations of similar items.
Use the data for a better task
The finder can compare exact meals without inventing a broad chain health score. When evaluating a dataset summary, look for its scope, count and weighting method. More records can mean more documented variants rather than better or worse food. The table makes the imbalance visible so a single average cannot hide it.
| Chain | Tracked expansion rows |
|---|---|
| Arby’s | 53 |
| Del Taco | 60 |
| SONIC | 47 |
| Culver’s | 23 |
| Taco John’s | 122 |
| QDOBA | 14 |
| El Pollo Loco | 27 |
| Noodles & Company | 22 |
| In-N-Out | 9 |
| Raising Cane’s | 3 |
Sources and example boundaries
- Arby’s official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition 2026-06. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
- Del Taco official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition 2026-02. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
- SONIC official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition not established. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
- Culver’s official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition 2025-07. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
- Taco John’s official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition not established. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
- QDOBA official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition 2026. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
- El Pollo Loco official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition 2026-09. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
- Noodles & Company official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition not established. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
- In-N-Out official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition 2026-01. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
- Raising Cane’s official U.S. nutrition information
Exact published order values and portion definitions; source edition 2026-08. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
Analysis is limited to the frozen 380-row October 4, 2026 expansion, not all current GetMacros records, every restaurant menu or actual customer purchases. Rows are source-defined orders and variants. Retrieval dates do not replace printed edition dates. No market-wide statistics, prices or dietary classifications are inferred.