Chick-fil-A’s systemwide sales eclipsed $22 billion in 2024 as the brand remained only one of three restaurant chains in America above the $20 billion mark, alongside McDonald’s ($53.469 billion) and Starbucks ($30.4 billion). This is no mean feat considering McDonald’s is more than four times larger than Chick-fil-A (13,559 stores year-end compared to 3,109) and Starbucks fivefold (16,935 for the java giant).
Chick-fil-A, as it has over recent years, separated on average-unit volumes of $7.5 million blended and $9.277 million for freestanding drive-thrus—the highest among the top 50 QSR brands in the U.S. by systemwide sales. McDonald’s and Starbucks reported $4.002 million and $1.8 million, respectively.
However, 2024 did grab some headlines for Chick-fil-A given its relatively lower year-over-year sales percentage growth and a slight decline on the drive-thru AUV figure, which was $9.275 million in 2023. The brand’s systemwide sales of $22,746,105,000 signaled a more muted rise than past years:
- 2023: $21,585,752,000
- 2022: $18,814,024,000
- 2021: $16.674 billion
- 2020: $13.7 billion
- 2019: $12.2 billion
Naturally, volumes are a comparative measure. In this case, Chick-fil-worked against its own bar as well as an industry facing softer traffic in light of continued price hikes and consumer confidence levels depressed to figures not seen since 2020. Chick-fil-A in 2020 had drive-thru AUVs of $7.096 million. That rose to $8.142 million in 2021 and $8.51 million in 2022. So Chick-fil-A operators in 2023 handled north of $2 million more per unit, on average, across a three-year stretch following COVID’s chaos. It’s why you saw innovations from double lanes to “Express” models (a lane dedicated to order-ahead) to the two-story, four-lane build in McDonough, Georgia, that opened in 2024, pop up. There’s been talk of stores remodeling across America as Chick-fil-A races to open access to the elevated volumes it’s taken on.
In a sense, 2024 was a combination of a more cautious consumer and Chick-fil-A stores adjusting to $9 million-plus volumes with locations and drive-thru configurations closer to $7 million at the start of COVID. Some plots and builds could only route so much traffic.
All said, though, one thing didn’t adjust much—the consumer sentiment when diners did show up. Chick-fil-A topped the American Customer Satisfaction Index, released Tuesday, for the 11th straight year.
Chick-fil-A’s 2025 ACSI score of 83 aligned with its 2024 result, as seen below.
Overall, the category held stable at 79. KFC slid 5 percent to 77 and Panda Express popped 4 percent higher to 80, moving into a tie for second with Starbucks (flat, year-over-year). Popeyes also climbed 4 percent to 75 as it continues to work on operational fixes to go along with its culinary equity. The brand introduced a “Easy to Love” strategy around simplified operations in 2023 and plans to have all U.S. locations on cloud-based POS systems, digital drop charts, sticky label printers, order-ready boards, kiosks, and upgraded BOH equipment, like auto batter makers and improved hot holding units, by year-end 2026. As Restaurant Brands International chairman Patrick Doyle noted recently, “the biggest opportunity for Popeyes domestically is execution in restaurants.”
Little Caesars hiked 3 percent to 77 on improved food ratings and service quality. Five Guys and Sonic Drive-In dipped 4 percent to 75 and 73, respectively.
The larger category showed similar experience metrics to 2024, all cost concerns tossed in, although only one category grew. Every aspect received a score of 81 or higher. Accuracy of food order and quality of mobile app led at 85, down 1 percent, year-over-year. Mobile app reliability was 1 percent lower at 84, which matched beverage quality, staff courtesy and helpfulness, food quality, and website satisfaction. The latter was the lone metric to increase in 2025, going from 83 to 84.
ACSI reported its first geographic results as well. Chick-fil-A and Starbucks boasted broad appeal, while brands like Culver’s emerged in base regions.
Food delivery was measured again, too. It improved 1 percent (74) and still lags full and quick service. Customer satisfaction with the group of smaller food delivery services fell 3 percent to 77. That beat larger aggregators like Uber Eats (1 percent rise to 75), DoorDash (steady at 73), and Grubhub (3 percent better to 73).
Satisfaction varied based on why a customer chose to tap third party. Users looking for convenience were more satisfied than those ordering for need. And guests deploying aggregators for family time or group events generally perceived higher value. Gamers reported the lowest level of satisfaction and greater frustration with the order process.
Additionally, while pricing was still the lowest-scoring part of the experience, metrics improved somewhat. Fairness of food prices and fairness of taxes and service fees each upped 3 percent to 71. Mobile app and website satisfaction lifted 1 percent apiece to 83 and 82, respectively.
Customers found the ease of ordering (80) acceptable yet hit providers on food temperature (74) and order accuracy and accuracy of quoted delivery times (75).
On the sit-down side
Full-service restaurants, unlike quick-serves, did slide a bit in light of pressing inflation. The category fell 2 percent to 82. Still, 82 was 3 points higher than quick service and third overall across all segments tracked by ACSI.
Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn shared the top spot in 2024. This year, the former grabbed No. 1 at 84 (down 1 percent). Darden’s LongHorn fell 2 percent to clock 83, ahead of sister brand Olive Garden (81, also down 2 percent).
Applebee’s gained 1 percent to get to 80 and Red Robin, in the midst of a major turnaround that touched 85 percent of the menu, hiked 3 percent to 78.
Category scores lowered across the board, likely a result of expectations trying to keep up with pricing. Full-service also showed friction on the digital experience side (unlike QSR), with website satisfaction tumbling 6 percent to 82, mobile app quality dipping 6 percent to 80, and mobile app reliability sinking 8 percent to 78.
A sign, perhaps, full-service customers are flocking to experience as their “worth” of value when making the decision to leave quick service for the occasion.
You can see that dynamic below. Customers who dined in were, by far, the most satisfied. Compared to a year ago, dine-in fell slightly, but remained strong (83). Meanwhile, customers were frustrated with carryout and delivery from full-serves. Satisfaction tumbled 5 percent to 79 for carryout service and 9 percent to 74 for delivery.
On the Texas Roadhouse win, the result fit the performance. The brand in Q1 posted same-store sales gains of 3.5 percent (1.1 percent traffic and 2.4 percent average check). The result lapped growth of 8.4 percent a year ago, giving Texas Roadhouse a 11.9 percent two-year stack. Average weekly sales at company restaurants were $163,071, of which $22,146 came from to-go sales, compared to $159,378 and $20,815, respectively, a year ago. CEO Jerry Morgan said weekly figures hit all-time highs in March across all three brands—fast casual Jaggers and sports concept Bubba’s 33, which recently reached 50 stores, factored in. Texas Roadhouse reported more than $1.4 billion in revenue in Q1.
So even amid a rocky quarter where comps crawled to 0.5 percent in February (as was the case for many due to weather), Texas Roadhouse continued to press forward with a long-term approach focused on in-store execution and elevated staffing. Texas Roadhouse doesn’t offer delivery, just to-go.
ACSI also highlighted the discrepancy in Chili’s scores with recent sales. The brand’s average-unit volumes increased 16 percent in 2024. After a record-setting second quarter, the legacy brand kept its foot on the pedal in Q3, posting a whopping 31.6 percent same-store sales increase and a 21 percent traffic boost—all without launching any major new menu items or price drops.
Chili’s ACSI score, however, decreased 3 percent to 78. ACSI said periods of change, “even good change” can affect existing customers negatively. “Busier restaurants can mean slower service and longer wait times for tables. Yet, underlying data suggests a different problem. Chili’s lower satisfaction was largely driven by its carryout performance during the period when the chain started targeting McDonald’s with products and messaging in spring 2024. At that time, changing customer demographics may have brought different customer expectations,” it said.
Methodology: The ACSI Restaurant and Food Delivery Study 2025 was based on 16,381 completed surveys. Customers were chosen at random and contacted via email between April 2024 and March 2025. Customers are asked to evaluate their recent experiences with the largest companies in terms of market share, plus an aggregate category consisting of “all other”—and thus smaller— companies.
ACSI survey data are used as inputs to the Index’s cause-and-effect econometric model, which estimates customer satisfaction as the result of the survey-measured inputs of customer expectations, perceptions of quality, and perceptions of value. The ACSI model, in turn, links customer satisfaction with the survey-measured outcomes of customer complaints and customer loyalty. ACSI clients receive confidential industry-competitive and best-in-class data on all modeled variables and customer experience benchmarks.
