Burger King appears to be overshadowed by viral McDonald’s taste test
After McDonald’s CEO Christopher Kempczinski’s Big Arch taste test went viral, other fast food bosses decided to get in on the fun.
The king of fast food has officially been dethroned.
For the first time in more than a decade, Chick-fil-A is no longer the top-rated quick-service restaurant, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). ACSI rates restaurants based on thousands of customer surveys that reflect recent experience at major chains.
After 11 years of research, the results from 16,464 respondents dislodged the chicken chain from the popular spot in favor of sandwich shop Jersey Mike’s, which was rated highly for freshness, food variety and value. With an ACSI score of 84 out of 100, Jersey Mike’s beat Chick-fil-A by one point after adding 238 net new stores and achieving $4.2 billion in sales in 2025.
“The U.S. restaurant industry faced challenges in 2025 as gross sales struggled to keep up with inflation,” said the report, released on Tuesday, June 16. “In a market defined by trade-offs, customers are placing more emphasis on consistency, reliability, and perceived value, rather than just price. Brands that deliver a consistently enjoyable experience are emerging.”
Curious where your favorites will rank in 2026? Find out more below.
See Top 15 Quick Service Restaurant Chains
| quick service restaurant | 2026 ACSI |
| jersey mike | 84 |
| Chick-fil-A | 83 |
| jimmy johns | 81 |
| panda express | 81 |
| kentucky fried chicken | 80 |
| papa john’s | 80 |
| pizza hut | 80 |
| domino pizza | 80 |
| grow a cane | 79 |
| starbucks | 79 |
| subway | 79 |
| burger king | 78 |
| Culver’s | 78 |
| dunkin | 78 |
| little caesars | 78 |
Chick-fil-A is still at the top of the chicken game, but you won’t find McDonald’s with burgers.
Breaking down quick-service and fast-food restaurants a bit more by category, Chick-fil-A is back on top, at least when it comes to chicken.
Jersey Mike’s maintained its lead in the sandwich category, while Papa John’s and Pizza Hut tied for pizza, Starbucks took first place in coffee packs, and Burger King and Culver’s won in burgers. Perhaps surprising to some, fast food giant McDonald’s ranks seventh on the burger list with a score of 72, and doesn’t even crack the top five.
With just three stores making the coffee list, Dunkin’ is tied with Panera Bread for coffee/bakery/café chains with 78 points, and second and third places could also be in the loop.
top 5 chicken spots
- Chick-fil-A
- kentucky fried chicken
- grow a cane
- wingstop
- Popeye
Top 4 spots for sandwiches
- jersey mike
- jimmy johns
- subway
- arby’s
Top 4 pizzerias
- papa john’s
- pizza hut
- domino pizza
- little caesars
Top 5 hamburger restaurants
- burger king
- Culver’s
- sonic
- wendy’s
- Five Guys
Steakhouse takes top spot among full-service restaurants
Texas Roadhouse and Longhorn Steakhouse tied for the top seated seats with an ACSI score of 82. However, both scores decreased by 1% to 2% points.
Olive Garden followed with a score of 81, followed by eateries like Applebee’s, Chili’s and Cracker Barrel, whose scores fell into the low 70s.
“This year’s brand performance shows top-class compression while continuing to demonstrate America’s love for steak despite soaring beef prices,” the report said.
Food order accuracy, food and beverage quality, and waitstaff politeness and friendliness remained the top factors in satisfaction, all improving year over year. Meanwhile, the quality of mobile app and website satisfaction remained at the bottom, but improved as well.
Mobile app reliability (minimal downtime, crashes, and lag) has been significantly improved. In 2026, mobile app customer satisfaction increased by 12% from 78 to 87, and website and mobile app quality satisfaction both increased by 4%.
“These improvements are consistent with an industry-wide move to reduce friction in to-go and digital ordering, where customers often ‘feel’ service failures most acutely when delivery charges can be high,” the report said.
See the top 15 full-service restaurant chains
| full service restaurant | 2026 ACSI |
| longhorn steakhouse | 82 |
| texas roadhouse | 82 |
| olive garden | 81 |
| apple bees | 79 |
| Chile’s | 79 |
| cracker barrel | 79 |
| golden enclosure | 79 |
| Outback Steakhouse | 79 |
| cheesecake factory | 79 |
| buffalo wild wings | 78 |
| red lobster | 78 |
| red robin | 78 |
| Denny’s | 77 |
| ihop | 76 |
| First viewing | 72 |
