Fast food drive-thrus can make or break your breakfast, lunch or dinner experiences. When we go to a drive-thru, it’s usually because we’re in a rush and need to eat quickly. Well, according to recent data from Intouch Insight in partnership with QSR, it was found that Chik-fil-A has the absolute slowest drive-thru. This was determined because it was the busiest drive-thru. Although Chik-fil-A was ranked the best for customer service. Only 10 fast food chains were considered in this survey: McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, Chik-fil-A, Carls Jr., Wendy’s, Dunkin, Arby’s, Hardees and KFC.
As far as quickest average wait time, Hardees was the clear winner with an average of 50.48 seconds of waiting per order. Followed by Carls Jr. then KFC. The drive-thru with the longest wait time is Chik-fil-A followed by Wendy’s and then McDonald’s.
Then they got into accuracy of orders. Arby’s is the most accurate fast food chain tied with McDonald’s and Burger King came in 2nd. The most messed up item? Drinks.
“This idea that we know in the drive-thru the guest wants speed and accuracy, but they don’t want to feel rushed,” Matt Abercrombie, Chick-fil-A’s senior director of service and hospitality told QSR Magazine.
According to a rep from QSR, post pandemic, fast food chains were forced to get creative in ways customers were able to order food by adding a “check-point system where customers interact with employees at multiple points before pickup. It keeps users engaged and also enables Chick-fil-A to adjust based on individual orders, not just the queue.”
Below, we will show you the rankings for fastest drive-thrus by chain and their accuracy rankings. Will this change the way you decide where you want to eat? Probably not, but it’s a good way to at least pick and choose based on how much time you have to kill.
SAN FRANCISCO – FEBRUARY 09: A McDonald’s drive thru worker hands an order to a customerFebruary 9, 2009 in San Francisco, California. Fast food chain restaurant McDonald’s reported a 7.1 percent increase in same store sales for January as people look towards cheaper food alternatives in the weakening economy. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
