Chick-fil-A Drive-Thrus Are the Slowest in the Nation, According to New Study

Chick-fil-A might have the best chicken strips and sandwiches in the fast food game, but according to a new study, their drive-thrus are the slowest in the country.

QSR Magazine, in collaboration with Intouch Insight, an IT research and customer service company, conducted research on ten major fast-food chains regarding how long customers spend waiting on food. Unfortunately, Chick-fil-A ranked No. 1 with an average of eight minutes and 29 seconds. This includes the time that customers spend ordering, waiting, and receiving their meals.

Luckily, the results were not a reflection of Chick-fil-A’s quality or customer service. The data also found that the long wait times have more to do with the company’s popularity than negative factors. Chick-fil-A averages about 4.74 cars in its drive-thrus, which is higher than the 2.76 cars that the other restaurants averaged in the study. However, despite the congested lines, they came in best for accuracy and scored a 95% overall satisfaction rate.

Chick-fil-A’s senior director of service and hospitality, Matt Abercrombie, is fine with the slow-moving queue because he is confident the patrons are getting the best treatment during their visit.

“We want to know our customers, we want to connect with them, we want to make sure that they’re not only getting great food, accurate order but that they feel cared for in the process, personally and connected with,” he explained to QSR.

Aside from Chick-fil-A, Intouch Insight also examined the wait times of Burger King, KFC, Wendy’s, Arby’s, Dunkin’, McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, and Taco Bell.

Surprisingly, Taco Bell was the restaurant with the quickest drive-thru time.

Are you surprised at these results?