Chick-fil-A Awarded Nation's Best Drive-Thru for Second Consecutive Year

Rankings and Full Report Online At www.qsrmagazine.com

For the second consecutive year, Chick-fil-A claimed first place in the 2003 g3/QSR Drive-Thru Time Study, QSR®'s annual ranking of the nation's quick-service drive-thrus. Taco Bell finished in second place, Wendy's in third.

QSR, the magazine of quality and speed for restaurant success, is the exclusive media source for the results of the 2003 g3/QSR Drive-Thru Time Study, based on more than 11,000 mystery shops of drive-thrus nationwide. QSR not only annually publishes the rankings compiled by market research firm g3, but also offers an extensive analysis of the industry's strategies for drive-thru success. Twenty-five chains were evaluated in this year's study, which was co-sponsored by QSR magazine, Phase Research, Delphi Display Systems, and Visa USA.

The study considered four categories in drive-thru service: speed, accuracy, menuboard appearance, and speaker clarity. To say that Chick-Fil-A scored well in all four is an understatement. Incredibly, Chick-Fil-A finished in the top three in each of the four categories. For the second consecutive year, the chain finished first place in the accuracy category and second place in the speed category.

Interestingly, the national average based on the 25 chains surveyed in this study for order accuracy improved slightly in 2003 to 87 percent from 85.88 percent in 2002. Consumers, however, appear to have a lingering hangover from the frustration of inaccurate drive-thru orders, as illustrated by the results of a recent g3ACT study, where respondents reported that on average 18 percent of their orders were inaccurate when using a drive thru window.

As the only business journal focused exclusively on the quality and speed for the restaurant industry, QSR is read by over 27,000 franchisors, franchisees, executive managers, and purchasing personnel across 150 quick-service chains nationwide and in Canada. Visit www.qsrmagazine.com for daily industry updates, highlights from the magazine, exclusive studies and features, subscription information, and more.