Chick-fil-A fans might be in for some disappointment as the beloved restaurant chain has fallen out of the top spot on USA Today’s favorite fast-food restaurant chains. This year, Chick-fil-A was dethroned by not just one — but two — competitors. Mexican chain Del Taco took the top spot, with USA Today readers choosing chicken-themed hot spot KFC as the second most popular fast-food chain.
Del Taco has just 600 locations across 16 states, while KFC has a staggering 25,000 locations globally. Meanwhile, Chick-fil-A falls somewhere between the two, with 3,000 restaurants, WRKC-TV reported. “It takes a tremendous amount of hard work and preparation to deliver that sort of speed, quality, and scale,” reads a description by USA Today, noting each of the restaurants on its top-10 list was “voted by readers as the best in the nation.”
Chick-fil-A’s bump to the third spot was shocking, considering the restaurant spent nine years dominating the best fast-food restaurant list. However, fans shouldn’t be too worried; Chick-fil-A is faring quite well financially. In April, it was revealed that the chain made $21 billion in sales in 2023, an increase of 14.7 percent from the previous year.