When it comes to average restaurant sales, no fast food brand does better than Chick-fil-A.
The chicken chain again dominated its industry peers, with average stand-alone restaurant sales of $9.3 million last year, according to company documents.
That’s more than twice as much as McDonalds’ US locations ($3.7 million) and nearly five times what Taco Bell ($1.9 million) made last year, according to Technomic, a foodservice industry group.
Much of Chick-fil-A’s success can be quite naturally attributed to its succulent namesake fried chicken filets and buttery buns.
But what do Americans love as much as a good chicken sandwich? Staying in their cars.
The company has said it serves more than 100 cars during peak hours, and drive-thru sales account for about 60% of the brand’s revenue, according to Forbes.
While McDonald’s and Taco Bell are downright heavyweights in the drive-thru lanes, Chick-fil-A’s operation continues to trounce the competition in terms of customer satisfaction.
A ranking last year by QSR magazine found Chick-fil-A earned top scores in spite of having one of the slowest drive-thru order fulfillment speeds among major brands. (Taco Bell managed to post the fastest time.)
As it turns out, there’s a rather simple explanation for the slow lanes: there are more cars in line. A lot more cars.
In fact, when QSR adjusted for the total number of cars in the queue, Chick-fil-A had the quickest time per car served.
Not only were they faster, but customers gave the chain top scores in order accuracy, food quality, and staff friendliness.
And that points to Chick-fil-A’s ultimate weapon that helps it stay ahead of the competition year after year: a highly trained, highly motivated staff.
The company is legendary for finding and cultivating a level of talent that most people wouldn’t expect to see in a typical service business.
In recent years, as competitors were leaning harder into AI and voice recognition to automate the drive-thru ordering process, Chick-fil-A was doubling down on its commitment to in-person interactions.
Now, instead of high-tech kiosks, Chick-fil-A customers are far more likely to see a friendly red-shirted employee armed with a tablet walking up to their window to get their order started.
“It’s a great way for us to get really high volumes of orders to the kitchen early and cars through the drive-thru extremely efficiently,” Chick-fil-A’s Artie Sposaro, who led the brand’s Drive-Thru Innovation Team during the pandemic, said in a 2021 company blog. “It’s also a way for us to give customers personalized service in a place they may not expect it.”
