The results of a new fast food study just hit that found Chick-fil-A, and In-N-Out Burger to be leading the pack as the top two brands as rated by consumers. The study ranked customer satisfaction across a total of 86…
The results of a new fast food study just hit that found Chick-fil-A, and In-N-Out Burger to be leading the pack as the top two brands as rated by consumers. The study ranked customer satisfaction across a total of 86 brands.
The annual study was conducted by the research company, Market Force and is the be-all-end-all for measuring fast food chains and brands’ performance each year.
Almost 4,000 North Americans were surveyed on a multitude of metrics based on their habits, likes, and dislikes, concerning just about everything – fast food-related. It even captured a surprising de-throne of Chick-fil-A by In-N-Out Burger for top-rated brand with the most customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Each brand was rated on metrics like; quality, service, cleanliness, speed, loyalty, value, and more…to come up with the following results that rank the 86 brands from favorite to worst.

Top 26 Brand Rankings
- In-N-Out
- Chick-fil-A
- Tropical Smoothie
- Five Guys
- Culvers
- Jason’s Deli
- Firehouse Subs
- Raising Caines
- Freddie’s Frozen Custard
- Dutch Bros
- Portillos
- La Madeleine
- Peet’s Coffee
- Rubios Coast
- Jersey Mike’s Subs
- Moe’s Southwest
- Smoothie King
- McAlister Deli
- Jimmy John’s
- Whataburger
- Baja Fresh
- Einstein Bros
- Krispy Kreme
- Marco’s Pizza
- Papa Murphy’s
- Smashburger
Bottom 26 Brand Ranking (in the bottom percentile)
- Juice It Up
- KFC
- Jack In The Box
- Taco John’s
- Tim Hortons
- Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr.
- Slim Chicken’s
- McDonald’s
- Boston Market
- Burger King
- QDoba
- Captain D’s
- The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
- Nathan’s Family
- White Castle
- Popeye’s
- El Pollo Loco
- Clean Juice
- Bon Chon
- Which Wich
- Pei Wei
- Taco Bell
- Sbarro
- Wendy’s
- Dairy Queen
- Pizza Hut
Some interesting chains that scored low on customers opinion results (and approval ratings) in no particular order were:

- Arby’s
- Dairy Queen
- Dunkin’ Donuts
- Krispy Kreme
- Panera Bread
- Sonic
- Subway
- Smashburger
- Auntie Anne’s Pretzels
Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and KFC keep coming out as low man on the totem pole in the fast food game. They’ve been voted multiple times by the nation to be among the chains with the least customer satisfaction.
Chick-fil-A has been coming out on top with every study and poll that hits our way, and this would be the first time that In-N-Out has nudged ahead as the favorite…but not by much.
Last week we also explored the results of a different study which found Whataburger to be the healthiest burger. Many on social media, however, didn’t agree with the results, and claimed it was because Whataburger has the most “disgusting” burger.