Fast food survey results published: These are the top restaurants for speed, satisfaction, accuracy and quality

Intouch Insight, in conjunction with QSR Magazine, have released the 25th edition of their annual Drive-Thru Study. This year the number of leading QSR brands that were looked at to rate their performance on select benchmarks was increased to 13.

They were divided into three groups, classic, chicken and beverages. And the performance metrics analyzed included speed of service, accuracy, food quality and customer satisfaction.

The study also looked at three brands that have rolled out voice-AI ordering and compared it to those completed by flesh and blood employees.

These are the best fast food drive-thrus

Chick-fil-A topped the list once again this year receiving a 98% overall satisfaction score from the mystery shoppers that visited the various brands. Dutch Bros, which was added to the study this year, also got a 98% overall satisfaction rating.

Both also ranked high in other categories including accuracy, food quality and friendliness. However, the two lagged when it came to the total time that customers spent at the drive-thru.

The fastest service was delivered by Taco Bell where mystery shoppers spent on average 4 minutes 16 seconds from the time they entered the drive-thru to when they were exiting with their order. On the other hand, Raising Cane’s scored a perfect 100% for food quality.

Here’s a look at which brands got the highest scores in each category:

AI faster but still has issues to fix

As far as the use of artificial intelligence to help make the drive-thru experience more seamless and streamlined, the study found that accuracy became a victim to decreased wait times.

The mystery shoppers who visited Burger King, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s, found that while the speaker systems had better audio quality, customers had to repeat order requests over 50% more than the study’s average rate.

This suggests that “comprehension challenges remain” for voice-AI ordering, noted the study.

Also, surprisingly, despite the AI systems scoring lower on overall accuracy and friendliness than the study’s average, AI locations had a better overall satisfaction rating of 97% compared to 91%.

“The gains in speed and efficiency appear to outweigh service shortcomings, suggesting that customers are increasingly valuing convenience and speed as top priorities,” commented Intouch Insight. The researchers also noted that “there’s also an element of novelty at play.”

“For many guests, interacting with AI feels new and exciting, which can positively influence how [customers] perceive the overall experience, even when the service isn’t perfect,” they explained.

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