America’s Best Drive Thru Crowned

DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ — The numbers are in and America’s best drive thru is officially Chick-fil-A. In QSR magazine’s annual survey of restaurant-chain drive thrus, Chick-fil-A ranked No. 1 in two of the four categories tested, earning it the title of America’s Best Drive Thru for 2009 from the leading business-to-business foodservice publication.

“Our entire Chick-fil-A family is excited about our repeat recognition from QSR magazine to again be named America’s Best Drive-Thru,” says Tim Tassopoulos, senior vice president of operations for the company. “This recognition is an affirmation of our 1,000-plus Chick-fil-A owner-operators and their terrific restaurant team members.”

Conducted by Insula Research, the Drive-Thru Performance Study tested fast-food companies in the categories of speed of service, order accuracy, speaker clarity, and menuboard appearance. Chick-fil-A, with a composite score of 17.8, ranked more than 2 points higher than the next finisher, Taco Bell, which scored 15.6. This is Chick-fil-A’s sixth title, making it the record-setting brand in the survey’s 12-year history.

“Chick-fil-A’s dedication to order accuracy pulled it ahead of the rest of the brands this year,” says QSR‘s editor, Blair Chancey. “As the survey’s record-setter, Chick-fil-A is the gold standard in drive-thru operations. There’s a lot other brands could learn by following Chick-fil-A’s lead.”

Rounding out the top-five finishers were Del Taco (14.6), Krystal (13.6), and Wendy’s (13.6) respectively.

In addition to having the best drive-thru performance, Chick-fil-A also offered consumers the friendliest service, meaning it had the highest percentage of crew members who said “please” and “thank you,” smiled, made eye contact, and had a pleasant demeanor. Following Chick-fil-A respectively were Jack in the Box, Arby’s, Carl’s Jr., and Rally’s.

Other brands that ranked No. 1 in specific categories included Wendy’s for speed (averaging 134 seconds) and Whataburger for best menuboard. Chick-fil-A ranked No. 1 in order accuracy, with 96.4 percent of orders filled accurately, and speaker clarity.

In a company first, QSR magazine announced this year’s winner exclusively to its followers on Twitter, offering them a sneak preview of this year’s study results.

“Social media is enhancing the way we can deliver industry news to readers,” Chancey says. “Announcing Chick-fil-A’s win on Twitter not only rewarded our followers with exclusive coverage but signifies a new age of reader engagement for our publication.”

The Drive-Thru Performance Study is an annual ranking of the top 20 quick-serve drive thrus in America and is featured in the October issue of the foodservice B2B magazine QSR. For extended drive-thru coverage including consumer data, best practices, and fast-casual drive-thru trends, visit QSRmagazine.com.

SOURCE QSR magazine