Popular sandwich chain ends Chick-fil-A’s 11-year run atop fast-food rankings

The king of fast food has been dethroned after more than a decade on top.

That's according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, a report released this week based on thousands of customer surveys reflecting on recent experiences with major restaurant chains.

Beloved chicken chain Chick-fil-A has sat atop the index for 11 years, but 16,464 respondents knocked it from the top spot in favor of the sandwich shop Jersey Mike's, which was routinely praised for freshness, food variety and value.

Chick-fil-A remained the clear leader in the chicken category ahead of KFC, Raising Cane's, Wingstop and Popeyes.

Jersey Mikes, which added 238 new locations in 2025 and reached $4.2 billion in systemwide sales, has maintained quality while scaling rapidly, according to the report.

Other top quick-service restaurants include Jimmy John's and Panda Express (Tied-3rd), KFC, Papa John's and Domino's (Tied-4th), Raising Cane's, Starbuck's and Subway (Tied-5th) and Burger King, Dunkin' and Little Caesars (Tied-6th).

Jersey Mike's, with its campaign featuring actor spokesperson Danny DeVito, took over the top spot despite was an overall challenging year for an industry dealing with rising operating costs and changing consumer habits.

In general, growth is now largely driven by higher prices rather than increased customer traffic. Consumers are spending more selectively rather than simply spending less, the survey said.

"Restaurant industry-level scores are stable, but there's real movement underneath," said Forrest Morgeson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI.

"New brands are entering our rankings and immediately competing at the top, which tells you something about where consumer expectations are headed. Price still matters, but it's no longer enough on its own. Consistency across the full experience is what separates the leaders right now, and that's showing up clearly in the data. The challenge going forward is sustaining that as costs continue to rise and competition intensifies from outside the traditional restaurant space."

Other consumer rankings from the report:

Best sandwich: Jersey Mike's, Jimmy John's, Subway, Arby's

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Best pizza: Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Little Ceasers

Best burger: Burger King, Culver's, Sonic, Wendy's, Five Guys

Best full service: Texas Roadhouse, LongHorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Applebee's, Chili's, Cracker Barrel.

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