America’s favorite fast food chain is… | Project Economy

Overall customer satisfaction with fast-food restaurants dropped 3.8% to 77, the lowest score in five years, said Forrest Morgeson, director of research for the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

Chick-Fil-A is making a making more waves across the fast food world as it debuts in the top spot in an important consumer index.

Fast casual companies like Chick-fil-A are successful because they, “typically offer better ingredients, freshness, and more developed decor”, according to the report.

Not far behind is Chipotle, followed by Panera Bread, Papa John’s, and Pizza Hut. McDonald’s came in last place of the brands examined by ACSI for customer satisfaction, falling 6 percentage points from the previous year.

And here’s a shocker: The survey also found Americans eat out about four times a week.

“On the supply side, restaurants are finding it harder to hire and retain qualified and motivated workers, which can have an adverse impact on service quality”.

Click through the gallery above to see which chains were ranked the best and the worst for customer satisfaction.

The 2015 ACSI Restaurant Report is based on interviews with 5,023 customers, chosen at random and contacted by email between January 19 and February 9.

Regarding the giant coffee chains, the list suggests that Starbucks came after Dunkin’ Donuts. Representatives for McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Its score of 86 was the highest level of customer satisfaction ever recorded by a fast-food or “limited service” restaurant.

What makes this even more impressive is that no full-service restaurant chain scored higher than an 83. In recent years the chain has been at the center of the national debate over gay marriages. Last year’s survey, which also included telephone interviews, ran from January 13 to March 11. (Read the full report, which is based on a survey of more than 5,000 adults in the first quarter of this year.).