This is the fastest fast-food drive-thru in America: report

LOS ANGELES - What's the fastest fast food drive-thru in the U.S.? Hint - it isn't Chick-fil-A. 

The speediest drive-thru is Taco Bell, according to Intouch Insight's annual drive-thru study, which analyzes the top fast food chains across multiple categories including order accuracy, speed, food quality, suggestive selling, and level of satisfaction.

At Taco Bell, customers spent 278.84 seconds (close to five minutes) from start to finish. That was followed by Carl’s Jr. at 303.74 seconds and KFC at 303.95 seconds. Chick-fil-A had the longest time at 436.09 seconds, or nearly seven and a half minutes.

The study looked at the top ten fast food companies: Wendy’s, Arby’s, McDonald’s, Hardee’s, Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’, KFC, and Taco Bell. 

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When it comes to the accuracy of the order, however, Chick-fil-A took the top spot. The chain got 92% of orders correctly, according to the survey, followed by Burger King, which was accurate 90% of the time. The worst chain for order accuracy was a three-way tie among Arby’s, Dunkin', and Hardee’s, all with accuracy levels of 82%. 

Overall, the study found that average wait times decreased by 25 seconds over the year, but that’s likely due to fewer cars in line. The survey noted the average number of vehicles in line dropped from 2.76 cars in 2022 to 1.27 cars in 2023.