How the CR Score works

The number

Every rating on ChainReaction is a star rating from 1 to 5, in half stars. An item's CR Score is the share of its ratings at 3.5 stars or higher, shown as a percentage. A Big Mac at 61 means that, after the smoothing described below, about 61% of its ratings were 3.5 stars or more.

The share is smoothed toward the sitewide average, so an item with a handful of ratings can't sit at 100% or 0% on the strength of three opinions. The more ratings an item has, the closer its score is to its raw share. The exact count of positive ratings is shown on every item page that has a score.

An item needs at least 5 ratings before it shows a score, a tier or a rank. Below that, only the rating count is shown.

The tiers

• Fire — 75% and up
• Solid — 50% to 74%
• Skip — under 50%

Where the ratings come from

Three places. Paid survey panelsof U.S. consumers, run continuously: panelists are paid for completing a survey, never for their opinions, and rate only items they report having eaten. Their written comments appear as reviews labelled “Survey panel.” Logged-in users, who can also write reviews and add photos. And anonymous visitors on comparison pages, limited to one rating per device per item.

All three count toward the score the same way.

Citing a score

Scores change as ratings arrive, so quote the item, its CR Score, its rating count and the month: “Big Mac — CR Score 61 (Solid), 214 ratings, ChainReaction, October 2026.” The page is always the current figure.

Questions: hello@chainreactionhq.com