Study Names Drive-Thru Chains With the Shortest Waits and Best Customer Satisfaction

Declan Gallagher
·3 min read
2

It’s time for QSR Magazine’s annual Drive-Thru Study, which ranks the best car-centric fast food experiences for American consumers.

The report acquires its results through “real-time, unannounced visits by mystery shoppers” to best gauge a given chain’s food quality, speed of service, upselling techniques, and customer satisfaction. Shoppers descended upon 1,491 locations for 10 separate fast-food chains throughout June and July of this year, spreading their visits out across breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The restaurants surveyed were Arby’s, Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’, Hardee’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s.

FASTEST OVERALL EXPERIENCE

  • Taco Bell (278.84 seconds)

  • Carl's Jr. (303.74 seconds)

  • KFC (303.95 seconds)

  • Arby's (319.64 seconds)

  • Dunkin' (321.10 seconds)

  • Hardee's (336.15 seconds)

  • Wendy's (343.07 seconds)

  • Burger King (351.38 seconds)

  • McDonald's (413.06 seconds)

  • Chick-fil-A (436.09 seconds)

For the third year in a row, Taco Bell was crowned the fastest overall drive-thru experience. On average, customers waited just under five minutes (278.84 seconds) from arrival until receiving their order. It beat Carl’s Jr., the second-fastest chain, by nearly 30 seconds. KFC, Dunkin’, and Arby’s rounded out the top five.

BUSIEST DRIVE-THRUS

  • Chick-fil-A (3.41)

  • McDonald’s (2.01)

  • Wendy’s (1.5)

  • Taco Bell (0.96)

  • Dunkin' (321.10)

  • Burger King (0.92)

Chick-fil-A was found to have the busiest drive-thrus, with an average of 3.41 cars waiting at once. It’s really the only negative thing said of the chain in the entire report.

Overall, the report found that drive-thru wait times had significantly decreased across the board since 2022. McDonald’s and Taco Bell, in particular, shortened their wait times by more than 60 seconds.

“While speed remains important, it may not be the ultimate king anymore,” Phil Crawford, the chief technology officer at Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s parent company, CKE Restaurants, told QSR. “With the introduction of new ordering technologies and menu items, speed might be compromised in favor of other aspects such as order accuracy or menu complexity. Still, reducing wait times continues to be a major focus for quick-service restaurants.”

ACCURACY

  • Chick-fil-A (92 percent)

  • Burger King (90 percent)

  • McDonald's (88 percent)

  • Wendy’s (87 percent)

  • KFC (87 percent)

It seems Chick-fil-A was the busiest because it’s the most reliable. It was found to be the most accurate of all drive-thrus measured, scoring a respectable 92 percent accuracy rate.

As for the chains with the worst accuracy, it was a three-way tie between Arby’s, Dunkin, and Hardee’s, all of which had accuracy levels of 82 percent. One-third of the incorrect orders were due to drinks having ice when customers requested none.

QUALITY

  • Chick-fil-A (98 percent)

  • KFC (98 percent)

  • McDonald's (97 percent)

  • Hardee's (96 percent)

  • Dunkin (96 percent)

Unsurprisingly, Chick-fil-A took top honors again when it came to “tasting as expected.” KFC came in just a hair behind Chick-fil-A, and notably most of the other chains came in above 96 percent in this category as well. Burger King and Carl’s Jr. had the lowest quality scores, at 95 percent.