A study conducted by American Customer Satisfaction Index found Chick-fil-A to have the distinction of being “the best fast food restaurant”.
The annual study is conducted every year, and – for the past 9 years, Chick-fil-A has come out on top.
In 2022, the chain scored an 83, and actually increased it’s rating this year with a final score of 87. The findings are the result of over 22,000 random surveys taken with customers.
The index rates customer satisfaction across 400-plus businesses in the United States. The research is done at the University of Michigan which is led by Claes Fornell, Professor of Business.
“The popular chain continues to set the standard with it’s exceptional combination of food, service, and technological quality” according to a press release provided by the Index.
A separate study conducted by Intouch Insights in 2022 also found Chick-Fil-A blowing the competition away in many different areas including; “overall satisfaction”, “food quality”, and “fastest based on number of cars”.
Rated From Best To Worst
- Chick-Fil-A
- Jimmy John’s
- KFC
- Papa John’s
- Domino’s
- 5 Guys
- Pizza Hut
- Starbucks
- Arby’s
- Dunkin’ Donuts
- Panda Express
- Burger King
- Panera Bread
- Chipotle
- Dairy Queen
- Subway
- Little Caesar’s
- Popeye’s
- Wendy’s
- Jack In The Box
- Sonic
- Taco Bell
- McDonald’s
Ratings Explained
Chick-Fil-A and every fast food joint was rated on the following benchmarks:
- Accuracy of food order
- Quality of mobile app
- Beverage quality (taste, temperature)
- Courtesy and helpfulness of staff
- Food quality
- Website Satisfaction
- Cleanliness
- Speed of checkout or delivery
- Variety of food and beverage on menu
McDonald’s has been at the bottom of the ladder across multiple studies for it’s performance. It seems one of the things McDonald’s is doing right is keeping up with the late-night crowd. It should probably focus on all other areas though.
One thing both chains have in common is that McDonald’s and Chick-Fil-A are both keeping up on the technology side of things, they recently added a new “tracking method” to digital and mobile orders that alerts staff to when customers are minutes away. Once detected, digital orders are then made to line up with customers or the delivery driver’s arrival.
