Chick-Fil-A Has Officially Been Dethroned As America's Top-Rated Fast Food Chain

The best and worst fast casual chains in the United States is largely a matter of opinion, but the American Customer Satisfaction Index has solidified which establishments are sitting pretty at the top with the release of its 2026 study. After 11 years straight as the number-one-rated fast food chain, Chick-fil-A has finally been knocked down by Jersey Mike's. According to the ACSI study, which conducted over 16,000 random surveys from 2025 to 2026 to draw its conclusion, Jersey Mike's scored an 84 on a 1-100 scale and was recognized specifically for freshness, food variety, and overall value.

This doesn't mean that Chick-fil-A has completely fallen from the top, though. Years of Chick-fil-A responsibly donating leftover chicken and providing incredibly friendly customer service are still paying off as the chain is still number one in the chicken restaurant category. While Jersey Mike's overtaking Chick-fil-A is impressive, sales in American chain restaurants only grew by about 3% in 2025. Not only is this growth percentage small, it's also the lowest it's been since the Great Recession in 2008. The recent success of Jersey Mike's likely has something to do with the company being sold in 2024.

If you think scoring above Chick-fil-A to become America's top-rated fast food chain is impressive, sit tight because you're likely going to see other big changes coming from Jersey Mike's in 2026. Some (if not most) of these changes can be attributed to the sandwich chain being purchased by Blackstone, the world's largest private equity firm, for $8 billion in November 2024. Charlie Morrison became CEO of Jersey Mike's after the sale, and he's made it clear that growth. In an interview with Entrepreneur, Morrison said, "I think we have a ton of opportunity to continue to grow Jersey Mike's. We're at about 3,200 stores now. We could probably double that in the U.S. as we go forward. And we have a huge opportunity to grow the brand overseas."

So far, Jersey Mike's is racing toward that goal with 238 new locations having opened in 2025 and company-wide sales topping $4 billion. Morrison did note that growth isn't the only goal. Maintaining a brand and quality that people love is also important. In current times, when consumers are far more likely to spend money based on how they feel about an establishment, the small things like hand-slicing ingredients and not treating everyone like a dollar sign is as important as ever. Clearly Jersey Mike's understands this and has been able to hold onto those standards while growing at an incredible pace.