America’s largest coffee chain can claim another title: the best drive-thru experience in the U.S.
Starbucks got the top customer satisfaction score out of 13 companies, according to the 2026 drive-thru report from trade publication QSR.
The Seattle-based chain beat 2025 champion Chick-fil-A by 1 percentage point. The researchers highlighted that while technology, including AI, has become an integral part of the drive-thru experience, personalized interactions with staff remained critical to winning brand loyalty.
Coffee shop Dutch Bros, chicken tenders restaurant Raising Cane’s and Taco Bell rounded out the top 5 in the rankings which were based on a combined score from food taste and temperature, and friendliness of drive-thru staff.
"The drive-thru continues to be one of the most important customer touchpoints for quick-service restaurants, but the definition of a great experience is changing," QSR’s editorial vice president Danny Klein said.
Major brands such as Taco Bell and Wendy’s have rolled out AI-led drive-thrus, where a chatbot takes orders and human staff process payments and hand over orders to customers.
The study found that AI drive-thrus correlated with a change in human staff behavior. Instances of workers saying “thank you” or having a pleasant attitude dropped significantly at AI drive-thrus, but they smiled, made eye contact and said “Please” at a higher rate.
The QSR research was based on 165 mystery shoppers who visited restaurants in June and July on various days and times. Thirty-five percent of trips were during breakfast; 28 percent during lunch; 8 percent in the afternoon; and 29 percent at dinnertime.
In the past few months, major fast-food brands such as McDonald’s and Burger King have recognized consumers’ need for human interaction and have changed their customer-service standards because of it.
Giving customers spirited greetings, making humans available for customer concerns, and having staff on hand to verify the accuracy of orders are a few of the measures companies are taking to bring the human element back to fast food.
“[Customers] want a friendly face,” Burger King President Tom Curtis told The Wall Street Journal in September. “We have to lean in to that because that’s evaporating in the fast food space.”
Restaurant execs are coming around to the idea that AI and human interaction don’t have to compete. One can free up time for the other, Taco Bell Chief Digital and Technology Officer Dane Mathews told QSR.
“I’ve never really viewed hospitality and technology as competing realities,” Mathews said. “The best technology creates space for better hospitality.”
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