24/7 Wall St. Insights

• Despite inflation pricing out some lower-income customers, satisfaction in fast-food restaurants increased
• The top and bottom fast-food chains for customer satisfaction remain unchanged
• Find out if any of these chains are mentioned in our newsletter: 2 Dividend Legends To Hold Forever

In an era where fast-food restaurant prices have been soaring, in some cases so much so that they have become unaffordable to their target market, the fast-food wars are heating up, each trying to attract and hold on to customers. McDonald’s announced in May the launch of a $5 meal deal with the aim to lure back customers. This week, the chain said it will extend the deal beyond its initial four-week window in most of its U.S. markets because indeed the deal has increased traffic to its stores. But are these customers satisfied?

Well, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, customers are not that satisfied with McDonald’s. Surprisingly, though, customer satisfaction with fast food restaurants overall is up 1% to a score of 79 (out of 100). Satisfaction is even higher at smaller fast food outlets, at 83. Still, inflation seems to have crimped spending as households earning less than $75,000 a year are reducing their restaurant visits, the report notes, and even fast-food customers are higher income than they used to be.

So which fast-food chain customers are most and least satisfied with? To find that, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the ACSI’s Restaurant and Food Delivery Study 2024. We added ownership of the 23 major chains in the report using different sources. Restaurants are ordered by their ACSI score, from best to worst, with the annual change in score used to break some ties.

At the top, despite dropping from an ACSI score of 85 last year to a score of 83 this year, Chick-fil-A remains the fast-food chain with the highest satisfaction score — the 10th year in a row. Another chicken restaurant, KFC, ranks second with a score of 81, unchanged from 2023.

A third chicken restaurant, however, Popeyes, not only ranks second last but also has the worst decline in score — from 74 in 2023 to 72 this year. On the other hand, while McDonald’s remains in last place , scoring just 71, it is an improvement of 3% from last year’s score of 69. Both scores are significantly lower than the industry average score of 79. (Also see: McDonald’s $5 Value Meal in Trouble.)

Why are we covering this

Inflation has changed the behavior of many consumers who had previously relied on cheap fast food from the major chains. Prices at many chains rose significantly that many lower-income customers were priced out. With this in mind, it is interesting to see which chains managed to provide better customer satisfaction and which provided lower than average satisfaction.

1. Chick-fil-A

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 83 out of 100 (-2% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 85 out of 100 (the best of 22 restaurants)
• Chick-fil-A owner: Cathy family

2. KFC

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 81 out of 100 (0% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 81 out of 100 (2nd best of 22 restaurants)
• KFC owner: Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM)

3. Panera Bread

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 80 out of 100 (+5% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 76 out of 100 (11th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Panera Bread owner: JAB Holding Co. (Reimann family)

4. Arby’s

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 80 out of 100 (+4% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 77 out of 100 (8th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Arby’s owner: Inspire Brands (parent: private equity Roark Capital)

5. Starbucks

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 80 out of 100 (+3% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 78 out of 100 (4th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Starbucks owner: Public (NASDAQ: SBUX)

6. Culver’s

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 80 out of 100 (+NA from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: NM out of 100 (N/A)
• Culver’s owner: Culver family (minority: Roark Capital)

7 (tied). Domino’s

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 79 out of 100 (+1% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 78 out of 100 (4th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Domino’s owner: Public (NYSE: DPZ)

7 (tied). Pizza Hut

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 79 out of 100 (+1% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 78 out of 100 (4th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Pizza Hut owner: Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM)

9. Papa Johns

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 79 out of 100 (-1% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 80 out of 100 (3rd best of 22 restaurants)
• Papa Johns owner: Public (NASDAQ: PZZA)

10. Five Guys

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 78 out of 100 (0% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 78 out of 100 (4th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Five Guys owner: Murrell family

11. Chipotle

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 77 out of 100 (+3% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 75 out of 100 (13th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Chipotle owner: Public (NYSE: CMG)

12. Burger King

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 77 out of 100 (+1% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 76 out of 100 (11th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Burger King owner: RBI (NYSE: QSR)

13 (tied). Dunkin’

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 77 out of 100 (0% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 77 out of 100 (8th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Dunkin’ owner: Inspire Brands (parent: private equity Roark Capital)

13 (tied). Panda Express

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 77 out of 100 (0% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 77 out of 100 (8th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Panda Express owner: Panda Restaurant Group (Cherng family)

15. Sonic

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 76 out of 100 (+6% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 72 out of 100 (20th best of 22 restaurants)
• Sonic owner: Inspire Brands (parent: private equity Roark Capital)

16. Wendy’s

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 76 out of 100 (+3% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 74 out of 100 (16th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Wendy’s owner: The Wendy’s Company (NYSE: WEN)

17. Little Caesars

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 75 out of 100 (+1% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 74 out of 100 (16th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Little Caesars owner: Ilitch Holdings (Marian Ilitch)

18 (tied). Dairy Queen

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 74 out of 100 (-1% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 75 out of 100 (13th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Dairy Queen owner: Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B)

18 (tied). Subway

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 74 out of 100 (-1% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 75 out of 100 (13th best (tied) of 22 restaurants)
• Subway owner: Private equity Roark Capital

20. Taco Bell

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 73 out of 100 (+3% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 71 out of 100 (21th best of 22 restaurants)
• Taco Bell owner: Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM)

21. Jack in the Box

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 72 out of 100 (-1% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 73 out of 100 (19th best of 22 restaurants)
• Jack in the Box owner: Public (NASDAQ: JACK)

22. Popeyes

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 72 out of 100 (-3% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 74 out of 100 (16th best of 22 restaurants)
• Popeyes owner: RBI (NYSE: QSR)

23. McDonald’s

• Customer satisfaction index score, 2024: 71 out of 100 (+3% chg from 2023)
• Customer satisfaction index score, 2023: 69 out of 100 (22nd best (the worst) of 22 restaurants)
• McDonald’s owner: Public (NYSE: MCD)

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