I know it gets a bad rap for being unhealthy (and, sure, it is), but fast food is amazing.
I mean, you can get a whole meal a couple minutes after ordering it! What an amazing world we live in.
And while some people have a complicated relationship with fast food…
The vast majority of us don’t.
Case in point: On any given day, roughly one in three American adults eats fast food.
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So we love fast food – but which fast food do we love MOST?
Fortunately, the good folks over at YouGov have been polling on this question for some time, and they recently released their Q4 2024 results.
The rankings were…pretty eye-opening.
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I assumed that everyone’s #1 fast food restaurant would be a burger place (probably McDonald’s, right?), or a chicken place (KFC or Chick-Fil-A), or a pizza place (Domino’s).
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
It’s not even not those restaurants, it’s not even one of those categories.
(And surprisingly enough, McDonald’s didn’t even rank in the top ten!)
So let’s hop right in to discover America’s favorite fast food…and #10 was a big surprise:
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 100%
Percent of Americans who like it: 66%
My take: This is a hill I’ll die on: Domino’s is the best of the large chain pizza places (better than Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, or Little Caesars).
They’ve done a fantastic job of improving their crust over the years. (Especially their latest iteration – stuffed crust!) The toppings are tasty. The price point is great. The wings are good. What’s not to love?
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 94%
Percent of Americans who like it: 66%
My take: Cinnamon rolls for the win! Honestly, I was shocked that so many people like Cinnabon so much – their rolls are great, but really, how often does anyone actually go there?
(All that said – if you haven’t been there in a while – go and get the Caramel PecanBon. You’ll love it.)
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 96%
Percent of Americans who like it: 67%
My take: Dunkin’s great (not quite as good as Krispy Kreme, sorry), and it has tons of great donut flavors, coffee, and more.
(Actually though – my favorite thing about Dunkin’ is their breakfast sandwiches. Their sausage, egg, and cheese croissant is particularly good!)
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 96%
Percent of Americans who like it: 68%
My take: Krispy Kreme donuts are the best – I’m sorry, it’s true! And in my view, some Krispy Kreme donuts are clearly better than others.
One of the things I appreciate about Krispy Kreme is that, while they don’t have all that many flavors, they’re all executed exceptionally well.
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 99%
Percent of Americans who like it: 69%
My take: It’s important to remember that this data was collected late last year and not this year, because otherwise I’d assume this surge of love was tied to KFC’s amazing new dunk-it bucket! (Full details here. TL;DR: If you like fried chicken or sauce, you’ll love it.)
But because of the timing, chances are good it was just people loving the traditional KFC fried chicken bucket…or the mashed potatoes…or the biscuits…or all of the above.
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 97%
Percent of Americans who like it: 69%
My take: Chick-fil-A is America’s favorite fried chicken, so I am not even a little bit surprised that it’s also one of America’s favorite fast food joints overall.
There’s just something about their fried chicken…the light breading…the pickle brine…not to mention the waffle fries and Polynesian sauce.
I actually tried one of their new bbq sandwiches two days ago – glad I tried it, it was pretty tasty, but not as good as the original or the spicy chicken sandwich, so I’ll go back to these traditional favorites.
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 97%
Percent of Americans who like it: 70%
My take: Baskin-Robbins is kind of like the McDonald’s of ice creams – everyone knows it, not everyone loves it, but most everyone likes it, if that makes sense. I’m not shocked that it’s done so well, because let’s face it – the ice cream is pretty good, their flavors check all the major boxes, and they’ve done a great job of incorporating non-dairy options too.
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 99%
Percent of Americans who like it: 70%
My take: I was shocked that Pizza Hut won this over Domino’s. Like, don’t get me wrong, Pizza Hut is perfectly fine…but Domino’s is WAY better. And it’s not like it’s an issue with numbers – they both have universal name recognition, plus Domino’s has more than twice as many stores in the US as Pizza Hut!
I do wonder how much of it is nostalgia for the old “you get a free personal pan pizza if you got good grades on your report card” gimmick. I have so many fond memories of how proud I was to get those grades…and then excited for the free pizza I’d earned!
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 99%
Percent of Americans who like it: 71%
My take: Yep, Wendy’s is America’s favorite burger, and the #2 fast food overall. I will admit – the Baconator is tasty. (Dave’s Triple, by contrast, is just too much!) You do have to wonder how much of the Wendy’s love is because of the Frosty, though, especially because our #1 fast food in America is…
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 95%
Percent of Americans who like it: 74%
My take: Yep, America’s favorite fast food is Dairy Queen. And you know it has to be all about the Blizzards, right? I mean, sure, their sandwiches and chicken fingers are fine, but they certainly aren’t anything to write home about. Generally you’re not going to DQ for the meal; you’re going for the ice cream.
So, what’s YOUR favorite Blizzard flavor?
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So there you have it – America’s top ten fast food joints, according to YouGov‘s data.
Featuring a surprising amount of ice cream and dessert, for sure!
So here’s to Dairy Queen, and congratulations on the win.
But of course, that begs the question…
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What do YOU think?
Is Dairy Queen the best?
Or are you more of a McDonald’s or Chick-Fil-A lover?
Let us know in the comments!
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