Chick-fil-A Has the Nation's Slowest Drive Thru, According to a New Ranking

Spending too much time in line is one of the many small frustrations of life. It's not the end of the world, but for some people, it might feel like it is. If a long line is the kind of thing that sends you into a mad tizzy, a new report from QSR Magazine may be of interest. 

QSR puts together an annual report on the state of the American fast-food drive-thru. Overall, the report says, drive-thrus got 20 seconds slower in 2019, and the accuracy of those orders declined after two straight years of improvements. The study pulled together data from more than 1,500 visits to 10 chains, and no single location visited more than once. The study noted that part of the issue of the increased wait time from speaker to pick-up is increasingly complicated menus and a growing number of mobile orders. 

At the very bottom of the fastest drive-thru list was Chick-fil-A, with an average order taking almost five-and-a-half minutes to hit your hands. The next worst was McDonald's, clocking in at four minutes and 44 seconds.

The fastest window was Dunkin', which fulfilled orders in just three minutes and 36 seconds. While there's more than just coffee and donuts at Dunkin', it makes sense that they ranked so well, considering much of the menu is ready to fly out the window at a moment's notice.

The other significant category they looked into was order accuracy. Chick-fil-A came out on top there. Those slow deliveries at least come with a little accuracy, aided no doubt by a fairly straightforward menu. They accurately fulfilled 94% of orders. At the other end was KFC, which got a comparably miserable 66.1%. The next worse mark was Hardee's, which got 80.7% of orders correct.

Take a look at the top 10 fastest drive-thrus below and see more on accuracy and other findings at QSR Magazine.

Fastest Drive Thru Service:

1. Dunkin'  - 216.75 seconds
2. Wendy's - 230.38 seconds
3. Burger King - 235.48 seconds
4. Taco Bell - 240.38 seconds
5. Carl's Jr. - 240.51 seconds
6. KFC - 243.73 seconds
7. Arby's - 263.46 seconds
5. Hardee's - 266.34 seconds
9. McDonald's - 284.05 seconds
10. Chick-fil-A - 322.98 seconds

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