Jersey Mike’s dethrones Chick-fil-A as top quick-service restaurant in ACSI 2026

The New Jersey sandwich chain edged Chick-fil-A by a single point, ending an 11-year reign just as it races toward a $12 billion IPO.

When it comes to fast food, Chick-fil-A has a reputation for outstanding customer service. The chicken franchise is known for letting patrons know it’s a “pleasure” to serve them, and it’s paid off in terms of customer satisfaction: Chick-fil-A has topped the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) in the quick-service restaurant category for 11 years straight—until this year, when a new contender knocked the chain off its throne. In its debut on the ACSI, sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s Subs ranked number one among quick-service restaurants. It earned a score of 84 out of 100, beating out Chick-fil-A’s score of 83. Jersey Mikes’ has been around since 1956, long before the ACSI’s founding in 1994. So why did it take another 32 years before the sandwich chain made it onto the list? Brands qualify for inclusion on the ACSI by market share, and with Jersey Mike’s’ rapid growth over the past year, it finally made the cut: After initiating an $8 billion sale to private equity firm Blackstone, Jersey Mike’s named Charlie Morrison its new CEO in April of 2025 (making him just the second CEO in the company’s history), with the chain adding 238 new locations and reaching $4.2 billion in systemwide sales throughout 2025. The ACSI rankings are based on surveys of random Americans, who are asked via email about their recent experiences with the largest companies across various industries. The 2026 ACSI Restaurant and Food Delivery Study, which includes the quick-service restaurant ranking, is based on 16,464 of those surveys. Winning the food fight Though Jersey Mike’s topped Chick-fil-A overall, the latter still leads in satisfaction among quick-service chicken restaurants. Other customer favorites include Papa Johns for pizza with a score of 80, Starbucks for coffee and bakeries at a score of 79, and Burger King and Culver’s tied for first place in the burger category with 78 points each. The ACSI Restaurant and Food Delivery Study also evaluates full-service restaurants and food delivery services. Among full-service restaurants, there’s a three-way tie for the number-one spot between LongHorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, and “all others,” a catch-all grouping for any restaurants that don’t have enough market share to get an individual ACSI score. All three earned a score of 82. In the food delivery industry, only three brands earned spots on the ACSI: Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash, in that order from first to third place. But all three brands fall within a two-point range, with Uber Eats’ score of 76 barely beating out Grubhub’s 75 and DoorDash’s 74. Forrest Morgeson, an associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University and the director of research emeritus at the ACSI, said in a press release that though there’s little change in the restaurant industry’s overall scores year over year, “there’s real movement underneath.” “New brands are entering our rankings and immediately competing at the top, which tells you something about where consumer expectations are headed,” Morgeson said. “Price still matters, but it’s no longer enough on its own. Consistency across the full experience is what separates the leaders right now, and that’s showing up clearly in the data. The challenge going forward is sustaining that as costs continue to rise and competition intensifies from outside the traditional restaurant space.” Check out the full 2026 ACSI Restaurant and Food Delivery Study here.

'Change at the top'

Chick-fil-A's reign is over. See who is now the top fast food chain After a decade-long run, fast food chain Chick-fil-A has officially been dethroned, per the American Customer Satisfaction Index. www.usatoday.com Jersey Mike's was commended for its freshness, food variety and value. Value?!? So I haven't eaten at Jersey Mike's in 10+ years but back then it seemed really, really, really expensive compared to Subway's $5 footlong specials. (Pre-Jared scandal) I can't believe Jersey Mike's subs have gotten better bang for the buck since Blackstone brought them out in 2024. Do you think Jersey Mike's subs are value?

Jersey Mike's has knocked Chick-fil-A from the top spot in America's most closely watched fast-food satisfaction ranking, ending the Atlanta-based chicken chain's decade-long reign.

Jersey Mike's overtakes Chick-fil-A to claim the top spot in the 2026 American Customer Satisfaction Index, the first new quick-service restaurant leader in a decade.