America’s Favorite Fast Food
Chick-fil-A is America’s favorite fast food restaurant for the seventh year in a row. In 2021, the top 5 most popular fast food chains were Chick-fil-A, Domino’s Pizza, KFC, Starbucks, and Five Guys. Full-service restaurants tend to have higher customer satisfaction than fast food chains. Chick-fil-A received the highest score of 83 out of 100 for customer satisfaction. Although McDonald’s is the largest fast food chain in terms of sales, it scored lowest for customer satisfaction. Burger places remain very popular, with 14 out of the top 50 chains being burger restaurants.
Industry Trends
However, newer chains like Chick-fil-A are pushing older chains to improve food quality and update their menus. Firehouse Subs ranked highest among all sandwich chains in one survey. Shake Shack started as a hot dog stand and grew into an international burger chain, showing high demand for premium fast food.
Competitive Advantages
Americans enjoy the variety and convenience of fast food but chains need to focus on food quality, service, cleanliness, and accuracy to stay competitive.