Consumer Reports recently conducted their first survey of major fast food chains. The survey included over 98,000 visits to 53 chains. They ran down everything from quality to speed to value and beyond. I figured I’d be a nice gal and sum it all up for you, since everybody prefers lists over actually reading something, right?

Worst Overall Chains (“uninspired food, so-so service, no bang for your buck”)

Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s, Taco Bell

 

Second-Worst Overall Chains

Arby’s, Quizno’s, Domino’s, Pizza Hut

Worst Food Quality

Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Sbarro

Best Value (Or “Bang for Your Buck”)

In-N-Out Burger, Papa Murphy’s, CiCi’s Pizza

Worst Value

Sbarro, Round Table Pizza, KFC

Slowest Service

KFC, Popeyes, Pizza Hut

Best Burger Joints

In-N-Out, Burgerville, Five Guys, Culver’s, Backyard Burgers

Best Mexican Chains

Chipotle, Rubio’s Fresh, Qdoba, Baja Fresh

Best Chicken Chain

Chick-Fil-A

Best Subs (Or Hoagies Or Whatever Your Region Calls Them)

Jason’s Deli, Firehouse Subs, Jersey Mike’s Sub, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, Schlotzsky’s

Best Pizza Joint

Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza

Best/Worst Fries

This one gets broken down cleanly by Consumer Reports, but if you’re too lazy to click, know that Wendy’s new-ish Natural Cut Fries with Sea Salt barely beat out old favorite McDonald’s, and Burger King’s fries suck.

Best/Worst Main Dishes (In Other Words, the Foods That Best Define the Chain)

This one has charts on Consumer Reports’ website! I encourage you to look at them. Here’s a brief breakdown, though:

Lowest Overall Scorers: CiCi’s Pizza, Del Taco, Little Caesars, Sbarro, Taco Bell

Lowest Scored Chicken: KFC

Lowest Scored Burgers: McDonald’s

Interesting statistics! Notice how the biggest chains seem to score the lowest? Perhaps this will be a wake-up call to places like McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell. Instead of constantly churning out new products that are either rehashes of the same menu offerings or crazy wacky limited edition products that generate a buzz, maybe they should work on the quality of their food and service. Just sayin’.