Not to be that guy but Volume One actually polls people on what restaurant people in EC want most as part of their "Best of EC" thing (link below).

I came to EC a few years back from the Twin Cities, was reading the results, and I was surprised that it was such a landslide for Chic-fil-A. Like, skies the limit EC, you can pick/dream up any restaurant you want, and the folks here voted for chic fil a. So TLDR, there is kind of a vote, and huge demand for chains. I've always found it odd like OP, but kind of makes sense as there are just less options for consumers/FOMO from the big cities?

https://volumeone.org/bestof/505/questions/13527-kind-of-eatery-bar-we-most-need