A popular coffee chain beat out other fast food establishments for the highest ranking drive-thru experience.
In Insight Touch's 26th annual Drive-Thru Study published on Oct. 1, Starbucks ranked the highest for overall customer satisfaction with 99% of surveyed customers said they were satisfied with Starbucks' overall drive-thru experience, including speed and friendliness of staff.
Amid these high customer rankings, Starbucks shuttered about 250 locations across North America last week, citing underperformance.
Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams wrote in a public letter that the coffee chain closes locations each year, and the recent closures represent about 1% of Starbucks' more than 18,000 North America coffeeshops.
Insight Touch's
2026 Drive-Thru study was conducted via 165 "mystery stops" per brand in the U.S. between June and July of this year. Study participants visited each brand at various times of the day and week to get a balanced view of service.
Top 5 fast food drive-thru experiences
According to Insight Touch's study, here's a look at the top five fast food chains that ranked high for overall customer satisfaction:
- Starbucks
- Chick-Fil-A
- Dutch Bros
- Arby's, Taco Bell, Raising Cane's (tied at 95% of customers)
- Tim Horton's
What drive-thru is the fastest?
Insight Touch's Drive-Thru Study also analyzed the speed of various restaurants, from the time entering the drive-thru queue to receiving an order. Here's a look at the top quickest establishments:
- Tim Horton's (4 minutes 20 seconds)
- KFC (4 minutes 25 seconds)
- Dunkin' (4 minutes 49 seconds)
- Taco Bell (4 minutes 52 seconds)
- Arby's (4 minutes 53 seconds)
At the other end of the spectrum, Chick-Fil-A had the longest average wait time at 7 minutes and 6 seconds, according to the study.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This chain has the best drive-thru experience, new study finds
