America's favorite quick-service chains

Even in quick service, it’s the “service” part of the equation that puts chains at the top. Consumers didn’t give these top five quick-service chains particularly high marks for value, but they all rated especially high in service, hospitality and convenience. Even as ordering kiosks and delivery-only locations become more common, consumers expect a certain level of hospitality, no matter the dining segment.

Overall: 63.7%

Service & Hospitality: 74.2%

Ambiance & Appearance: 62.6%

Food & Beverage: 62.1%

Takeout & Convenience: 68.1%

Value: 59.1%

The chicken chain scored several percentage points above even other beloved chains when it comes to service and hospitality. Chick-fil-A is known for its nontraditional partnership model in which local operators are brought on to manage each corporate restaurant, a system that may contribute to the company’s service success.

But Chick-fil-A has received criticism in the past after its foundation donated money to two groups that have been chided for having anti-LGBTQ agendas. Protestors have shown up at multiple locations, the San Antonio City Council blocked an airport location there and a landlord in the United Kingdom declined to renew the lease on the chain’s test location in Reading amid complaints from gay rights activists. Last November, however, Chick-fil-A’s foundation announced it would no longer donate to the objectionable groups. 

Source: Technomic Ignite consumer data

Learn more about America's Favorite Chains.

Overall: 59.1%

Service & Hospitality: 71.6%

Ambiance & Appearance: 49.2%

Food & Beverage: 57.2%

Takeout & Convenience: 72.6%

Value: 54.4%

Source: Technomic Ignite consumer data

Learn more about America's Favorite Chains.

Overall: 57.8%

Service & Hospitality: 63.2%

Ambiance & Appearance: 51.7%

Food & Beverage: 62.6%

Takeout & Convenience: 61.4%

Value: 47.2%

The chain gets especially high praise from consumers for its food and beverage quality. It’s currently gearing up for expansion, adding a new CMO and a chief information and digital officer.

Source: Technomic Ignite consumer data

Learn more about America's Favorite Chains.

Overall: 57.5%

Service & Hospitality: 72.5%

Ambiance & Appearance: 53.9%

Food & Beverage: 58.2%

Takeout & Convenience: 64.6%

Value: 44.7%

The burger chain is already in aggressive growth mode, but it’s currently working on boosting its drive-thru technology and improving mobile ordering capabilities.

Source: Technomic Ignite consumer data

Learn more about America's Favorite Chains.

Overall: 57.4%

Service & Hospitality: 73%

Ambiance & Appearance: 54.2%

Food & Beverage: 55.7%

Takeout & Convenience: 61.7%

Value: 52.6%

Source: Technomic Ignite consumer data

Learn more about America's Favorite Chains.

The Technomic Ignite: Consumer program is an ongoing study that tracks the performance of leading chains by measuring the consumer experience. This report includes the top chains in the U.S. by sales, plus 53 additional chains to round out categories or capture regional data. The data represents responses from more than 100,000 consumers, collected from Q4 2018 to Q3 2019. Scores represent the percentage of respondents who strongly agree with the statements, on a scale of 1 to 5.