The results are in according to an annual study conducted by Intouch Insights.
The research group visited over 1500 fast food locations to get the low-down on who’s speedy, who’s not, and every statistic you could ever want to know about every major chain’s service or lack thereof.
This years research sees Wendy’s falling from grace and Chick-fil-A killin’ the game.
Every year the study is conducted in what should be known as the fast food industry’s version of the Grammy’s or the Academy Awards, complete with little cheeseburger or fry trophies.
Since Wendy’s claims to be the originator of the first modern-day pick-up window, you would think the chain would have the process dialed in.
Not so, according to the results of the extensive study that visited over 1500 locations focusing on: Arby’s, Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’, Hardee’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s.
Drumroll, please. The results await below:
The Chain With The Speediest Line
The winner goes to…KFC as the chain that has customers in-and-out of the drive-thru line the fastest. Chick-fil-A ranks at a close second and was top performer in this category last year.
Taco Bell takes a close third.
Fastest Chain Based On Volume Of Cars
Of course it would be Chick-fil-A. The chicken chain can move ’em and shake ’em. Right out of the drive-thru line that is. And it’s because they have concocted quite the system to make it so.
Some Chick-fil-A locations have a system in place that looks more similar to an emergency evacuation plan. At least we would hope such a plan would have it as together as some of these Chick-fil-A franchises.
Overhangs, multiple lanes, teams of workers directing customers outside with walk-talkies.
Every step of the process is painfully coordinated to get hundreds of people their chicken sandwiches in as little time as possible.
Notable mention: McDonald’s is the second fastest mover and shaker based on volume.
Shortest Average Order Wait Time
Hardee’s takes the cake in the ‘order wait time’ arena at just under 51 seconds. If you pull in their line, on average – you will be able to order quicker than other fast food chains (you just might not get your food as fast).
This category is a little odd because you could blast through taking everyone’s order super ‘fast’ only to have every car pull around to the dreaded ‘side’ to wait, relegated off-line in an eternal queue of waiting hell. And there’s no telling how long that wait time is.
Chick-fil-A actually came in last with the longest ‘order wait time’, at over 3 minutes…followed closely by Wendy’s with an average wait time of 4 minutes and 35 seconds.
In fact, Wendy’s has been on a down-slide, taking 20% longer in ‘order wait time’ than the chain did in 2019. The down-hill performance shows a marked deterioration in this category, each year since.
Order Accuracy
About 89% of the time – Arby’s and McDonald’s got customers orders right, while Wendy’s is not sitting pretty at last place with a 79% accuracy rating.
Burger King came in third and has remained fair-to-middlin’ in nearly every category, managing to stay out of both the top and worst spots pretty much across the board.
Overall Satisfaction
For the overall best drive-thru experience, there was a tie this year…with Chick-fil-A and Carl’s Jr. at the top of their class.
For the past 3 years Chick-fil-A has managed to covet the top spot for satisfied customers in all aspects.
The claim for the bottom chain with the least, overall satisfaction – would again be a surprise with Wendy’s followed closely, by McDonald’s.
Food Quality Ranking
Again, we must defer to Chick-fil-A. But, we have another contender that shares the top spot. Taco Bell has aced the test in the quality of food department.
Wendy’s tied for third along with Arby’s and Dunkin.
Though this category is based on whether the food tasted as expected which, duh – you go to McDonald’s expecting a Big Mac, it’s going to taste like a Big Mac even if it’s made shoddily.
94% of respondents duly confirmed that their fast food tasted as expected.
So there it is, the winners and losers of the fast food game. There are even more categories and numbers involved in the study, like top friendliest and the worst, not-so-friendly fast food chains and how that affects sales and whatnot.
For the whole study, you can go here and download the entirety of it to read all the charts and stats you could ever desire.
