Jersey Mike's tops Chick-fil-a 84 to 83 in ACSI ranking
Jersey Mike's edged chick-fil-a 84 to 83 to take first place in the 2026 American Customer Satisfaction Index quick-service restaurant rankings. Chick-fil-A fell to second after topping the annual index in 2025, ending a stretch in which the category had been led by the same chain for more than a decade.
ACSI survey results
The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index study was released on Tuesday and drew on 16,464 completed surveys conducted by email between April 2025 and March 2026. The study described Jersey Mike's as "a new leader among QSRs" and said the result was the first time in more than a decade that a new chain had led the quick-service category.
The margin was one point. Jersey Mike's scored 84 out of 100, while Chick-fil-A scored 83, putting the change at the top of the ranking within the narrow range the study highlighted.
Jersey Mike's expansion
The report credited Jersey Mike's with maintaining high customer satisfaction while rapidly expanding its restaurant footprint. It also said, "Jersey Mike's ACSI success is consistent with their business performance, including rapid unit growth, strong customer demand, and a model designed around throughput and off-premise convenience from high digital pickup usage."
In another note, the study said the chain's menu was "fairly narrow, and they have a model conducive to franchisee success." Jersey Mike's, founded in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, in 1956, now has more than 4,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada.
Chick-fil-A 2025 lead
Chick-fil-A's drop to second place follows its 2025 finish at the top of the annual ACSI ranking. For customers tracking the chain-by-chain score, the new results shift the order at the top of the quick-service category without changing the tight gap between the two leaders.
James Walker, who appeared in a Digital interview, shared a homemade Chick-fil-A-style chicken sandwich recipe, a separate sign of how closely the chain still tracks in the public eye even after losing the No. 1 spot. The ranking now leaves Jersey Mike's in first and Chick-fil-A one point behind, with the study's survey period already closed and the published numbers set.
