Here's some hard-hitting news for you: According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Restaurant and Food Delivery Study 2026, Chick-fil-A is no longer the most beloved fast food joint in the United States.
Allegedly.
While it remains at the top for the "chicken category," apparently, it fell to second place behind a new competitor.
So, who is number one now? Jersey Mike's.
Jersey Mike's.
Jersey Mike's? Seriously?
Does anyone actually believe this? As a comment I saw on social media yesterday reads, "Maybe, but I've also never talked to someone who said, 'I went to Jersey Mike's today.'"
Same, sir. Same.
I was talking to my friend and colleague Chris Queen about this, and he told me he's not even sure he's ever eaten at a Jersey Mike's. I was thinking I haven't either. Since we're both Georgia-based, I thought maybe we just don't have them here. But I just did a Google search, and there are at least three within a 10-mile radius of me, in the three main areas where I do my regular errands. Who knew?
Editor's note: I have a Jersey Mike's gift card that I won at my church volunteer Christmas party, and I never think about using it. —CQ
I had a vague memory of going on an out-of-state road trip with my cousin once, and he really wanted a sandwich, so we stopped at some sub chain. Was it Jersey Mike's, I asked him? No, that was Firehouse Subs.
Meanwhile, there are Chick-fil-As everywhere, and I don't just mean here in Georgia, where the company started. It's the Lord's chicken, after all. I hear people of all stripes talk about Chick-fil-A all the time, every day. I've even seen blue-haired leftist white women on the West Coast post on social media about how they're ashamed to admit it, but that's some darn good chicken.
So I decided to look up Jersey Mike's menu. Maybe I've just never paid attention, and it's got some interesting and unique items on it that you can't get anywhere else. WRONG. That is the most basic menu I've ever seen in my life. It's got cold subs. It's got hot subs. It's got little bags of Lays chips, and it's got bottled... Pepsi. Ew. I see nothing life-changing. Oh, a BLT. Oh, a cheesesteak sandwich. Please. Call me when you serve chicken nuggets and milkshakes that taste like my childhood.
Team Chick-fil-A for life. But I digress.
So, here are some actual facts from the study. According to the ACSI, Jersey Mike's scored an 84 out of 100, "recognized for freshness, food variety, and value." For what it's worth, Chick-fil-A got an 83, so I'd call that a virtual tie myself.
"The chain, which added 238 net new locations in 2025 and reached $4.2 billion in systemwide sales, has maintained quality while scaling rapidly," it adds.
As I said, Chick-fil-A led the chicken category, while Culver's and Burger King tied for the top spot for quick-service burger joints with a 78.
When it comes to full-service restaurants, Longhorn Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse tied for the top spot at 82, followed by Olive Garden at 81. Chili's sees the most traffic, but it also has a high customer complaint rating, which may go hand-in-hand.
The study also ranked food delivery services. Uber Eats came in at number one with a 76, followed by Grubhub with a 75, and DoorDash with a 74.
While writing those facts, I think I figured it out. Jersey Mike's is based in, well, New Jersey, and what Yankees probably don't understand is that you can put a sub restaurant on every corner down here in the South, but we're all still gonna get our sandwiches from the Publix deli. The study said it examined the views of over 16,000 customers. Perhaps they were all up north.
What say you, PJ Media readers? Is Jersey Mike's deserving of the number one spot?
And now I'm off to get a Pub Sub.
